In Practice
Healthy Land. Healthy Food. Healthy Lives.
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NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021
From Hierarchy to Relationships BY ANN ADAMS
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n a recent article “Plants Feel Pain and Might Even See” in Nautilus by author Peter Wohlleben, the author is making a case for the retirement of the classification of living things. When I read this article, I found myself excited about the possibility to move past hierarchy to the recognition of all the symbiotic relationships that make up the natural world that makes such hierarchies a lesson in futility. The author begins his article with discussing his interview with philosopher Emanuele Coccia who wrote the book The Life of Plants. In this book Coccia notes how such hierarchy implies superiority and distorts our view of nature (and of ourselves). After all, don’t we owe our continued survival on plankton and fungi which may be perceived as “lower” species. Certainly I can appreciate the familial relationships that are noted in the taxonomical
a publication of Holistic Management International
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system but most of us can track family trees without assuming that one family is more superior to another. Superiority as noted by economic class certainly has encouraged that kind of thinking and many have argued that our scientific classification of species has encouraged this kind of thinking that doesn’t serve humanity. Has that hierarchy been influenced by our values? Does it continue to influence our values? What would our management of the natural world be like if there wasn’t a hard boundary between the plant and animal world in our thinking? As biologists continue to study plants, there is more questions of plants’ consciousness as they react to stimuli. A German scientist, František Baluška, believes plants are intelligent because they can process information and make decisions. He also notes that, of course, plants must feel pain because any species needing to determine appropriate response must have that ability. For example, plants produce substances that suppress pain. I think if we think something or someone is “beneath” our concern because they are lower down on the hierarchy then we are more likely to make a quick decision about how we
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will treat them or respond to them than we are if we feel they are equal to us or we fear or respect them. Holistic Management has helped me recognize the incredible importance of all species in the web of life. It has helped me respect animals (including people) and plants, and all the myriad life forms more than I ever have before. The more I understand and learn about each life form who inhabits the land I’m managing, the better able I am to help create symbiotic relationships. If I come from a place of humility and ask questions instead of assuming the “value” of a given life form, I may actually be better off. It’s another example of “enlightened self-interest.” I think our indigenous ancestors lived this type of life, recognizing themselves as part of an intricate web of life. They believed that they were in relationship with all of creation, not the supreme beings of creation. Science is now allowing us to understand “scientifically” what we once knew or understood intuitively. Given the finite nature of all our natural resources, there has never been a better time to shift our paradigm from competition to one of collaboration and solidarity as we work to figure out how humans can work and create within the natural system in a regenerative manner. As Wohllenben points out, trees have been around for 300 million years and humans have only been around for 300,000 years. What can we learn from them to help us be around for another 300,000?
Do You Have a Story? Do you or someone you know have a great story to share with the IN PRACTICE readers about what has been learned or achieved with the practice of Holistic Management? Share your ideas at: anna@holisticmanagement.org.