In a previous post, I shared David W. Orr’s writing about Fast & Slow Knowledge. Here are some more from scholars & friends who opened me to different meanings of knowledge & knowing.

“To me the most interesting thing about man is that he is an animal who practices art and science and, in every known society, practices both together.”

— Jacob Bronowski

“A picture is the expression of an impression. If the beautiful were not in us, how would we ever recognize it?”

— Ernst Haas

Khing, the master carver, made a bell stand of precious wood. When it was finished, all who saw it were astounded. They said it must be the work of spirits.

The prince of Lu said to the master carver: “What is your secret?” Khing replied:

Wanting more knowledge is not considered surfeit, even by those who despise human excesses in this world. David W. Orr., in “The nature of design - Ecology, culture & Human intention” calls us to ponder this subject.

Writing that, “The twentieth century is the age of fast knowledge driven by rapid technological change and the rise of the global economy. This has undermined communities, cultures, and religions that once slowed the rate of change and filtered appropriate knowledge from the cacophony of new information.” He says - The culture of fast knowledge rests on these assumptions:

Carrying out the Great Work of making an ecologically durable and decent society will require us to confront the deeper cultural roots of our problems and grow out of the faith that we can meet the challenge of sustainability without really changing much. The evidence, I think, shows that we will have to change a great deal and mostly in ways that we will come to regard as vastly better than what exists now and certainly better than what is in prospect.

— David W. Orr

As I am running out of my green, white and oolang teas during the covid19 lockdown, I got an opportunity to diversify my teas and change my tea habits. An interesting addition to my teas comes in the form of Blue pea.

There has never been a grand plan or design for our garden. Our little wild garden, shaped by all its inhabitants including us, has emerged organically over the years. Even while I am sure that this garden wouldn’t have been what it is without our participation, our approach has been that of minimal, gradual changes called for by our needs, and in response to the garden itself. Being what it is, our garden has some mysteries in stock, that it often reveals.

It was while trying to harvest Ivy gourds from a vine that had climbed up a henna tree, that we found a hive of the red dwarf honey bee. Delighted as we were about Ivy gourds, we were more delighted that the red dwarfs had made our henna tree their home.