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September 2022

Space: Satellites

I learned a lot from the concept map and also discovered some new aspects such as space law and the ethics of satellites. Although the smart use of space can enhance life on earth. Satellites are reducing emissions in the aviation industry by optimising flight paths and help container ships boost efficiency and profitability. Elsewhere, space technology helps us measure global carbon emissions more accurately, allows farmers to boost yields and feed the world’s growing population more sustainably. Satellites will be essential if we are to connect people who have yet to use the internet. Whole industries, from mining to retail, simply would not be able to operate without satellite communications. When I explored deeper than last week, I found that 1. the rise in the number of satellites being launched into space is unsustainable. 2. Satellites mega-constellations pose a risk to climate and the environment. 3. Tighter global regulation is needed to ensure space sustainability.

Colonial Organisms: Systems Maps

I was finding it difficult to create a concept map of colonial organisms, because I think that my understanding of the definition of a colonial organism is still quite tenuous. I decided to start out with a boundary map to see if I could solidify my understanding a bit more.

As I continued working, I realized that though coming up with a definition of a colonial organism seems like it should be straight forward, but it wasn’t. Perhaps the complexity I was running into is because human understanding of all organisms exist within the implied context biology taxonomy. I have learned that colonial organisms are animals, but I kept wondering “what is an animal?”. The individual zooids that make up colonial organisms seems like pretty simplistic animals, so how are they different from moss, or bacteria?

I started to build out a biology taxonomy digram, but quickly learned that once you get to the phylum classifications, the tree expands a lot. I’m not sure that documenting all of the known phylum classifications will help me understand colonial organisms any better, so I stopped at the kingdom level, and discovered that animals are in fact separate from bacteria. This was a helpful discovery because one thing I wondered in my early research was why humans weren’t classified as colonial organisms, since we have bacteria in our body, could they be zooids? Apparently the answer is no, bacteria in our bodies are not classified as zooids, and therefore we are not colonial organisms.

 

Links to miro boards:

  • boundary map: https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVPVNaV40=/
  • biology taxonomy: https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVPVSZHYs=/
  • concept map: https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVPWOgdo0=/

Reading response – space

The three pieces of reading inspired me of thinking space differently. In Yoko Akama’s article, I like the part when she discussed the idea of kokoro, and talked about how Japanese traditions, spiritual and religious thinking are incorporated in the design. It reminds me of the yoga topic, in which the notion of space is more about spiritual, non-material power. We often think about the physical space in the outside world, but when we go deeper into our heart, into our kokoro, as mentioned in the article, there are endless space for us to explore. The physical space might be limited by material, but the space in our mind, in our heart, in our imagination is not restrained by anything. And I think that’s the larger space for us to explore compared to the physical world.

That leads to the article of The Poetics of Space. In this article, the author mainly talked about the space of a room. By adding significance and meanings to the limited space in a room, the non-material space of the room is widely expanded. Connecting back to my own topic, plantation, for now I’m merely focusing on all the physical aspects that relate to space. For example, the land used to establish plantation; how plantations occupy of other living things spaces, in other words, their habitat; or from the world market view of how plantations influence the connections within the world. I haven’t think much about how people’s perspectives would connect the idea of plantation and space. I might be able to find more lead in this aspect.

System mapping kinship&quilting

What am I discover:

By making these two system maps, I gained more organized thought about quilting. Especially when I made the iceberg map, I keep asking myself “why” question so that I could think deeper about the reason that women who are in poor family do quilting. The system map could also help me to think about something that I overlooked and help me to explore more details of my guide project. For example, except considering why women doing quilting, men also have their reasons of doing quilting in some cases. I need to do more research on that one. 

Salt: Systems Map

 

I revised the map several times. In the beginning, I thought I could only draw a simple “tree”. But during the process, when an item is listed and adjusted. I find there are many possible angles to see the same items. Take the alternative view on the map as an example, if we consider things from the government’s side, the government imposes salt taxes (or duties) and starts wars. And if we compare the “duty” and “tax”, the duty causes wars while the tax causes revolutions. They are external and internal perspectives respectively. This also reflects “system thinkings”. Besides, The salt tax also supports some wars in history. Which makes things more interesting.

 

Another map:

 

System Thinking Response

  • Which system (type of stakeholder) that Easterbrook identified did you find your own understanding of GMOs most aligned with? Why? What are some of the stakes of these stakeholders?

It‘s hard for me to choose one single system. In my view, system 3 (a system of ecosystems and contaminants that weaken the,), system7 (a system of potential threats to human health and well-being), and system 8 (a system of sustainable agriculture with long time horizons) all align with my understanding of GMOs a lot. If I have to choose a “most,” the answer would be system 7 – a system of potential threats to human health and well-being. One significant stake in this system is the irreversible future. This stake appears in both system 3 and system 7. What’s more, from my perspective, GMOs are food for humans, so food safety must be the very first. Human beings rely on food to be alive. Mistakes in medical experiments are mostly under control in labs, but errors in GMOs would affect people all over the world.

  • Using your own topic for research, can you Identify 3 stakeholders with different perspectives, and then describe the system from which they are operating?
  1. Scientist doing research:  Focus on how different types of fenestras function for different kinds of animals, plants, and insects. The problem they would face might be animal protection during their experiments. Also, their research might pose a risk to ecosystems.
  2. Artist doing art projects: Fenestra is treated as a biological pattern under this perspective.
  3. Medical investigator: They would focus on potential diseases related to fenestra in human bodies. Their research might pose a risk to people.

Kinship Cohort Reading

For the cohort group reading I am interested in Lynn Margulis and Dorian Sagan’s article “Introduction from Slanted Truths”. I resonate with the concept of “Gaia theory”. For my point of view, it is a materialistic explanation of our planet’s mechanism. Every planets are generated after the big explosion of universe. The area where has the high energy aggregated dust and different materials together in the universe, then the earliest planets were formed. Based on Gaia theory, our earth is just the sum of energy and it is “a single, self-regulating entity”. Each creature grows up by absorbing the sun’s energy and the energy transfers between different spacies. Besides, from the article, Gaia is Symbiosis. From my understanding, all creatures in our earth have either close or far connection. This idea is related to Buddhist book I have read. For example, every time when we take breath, we gain the energy from the space. After we die, our body will transfer to energy that other creatures will absorb, or the energy will be part of new life. In this case, we become different life form. If we trace back to the root of life, all we might be from the same ancestor. Therefore, we can even say that you are me and I am you. 

For Donna Haraway’s “The Companion Species Manifesto Dogs, People, and Significant Otherness”. I am confused about the differentiation and similarity between cyborgs and dog. Also I quite don’t understand why she said “I consider dog writing to be a branch of feminist theory”. For my understanding of the article, Donna Haraway treated dog as a trustworthy companion. The kinship between human and dog is strong and has long history.  

Systems Thinking and Satellites

Q1: Which system (type of stakeholder) that Easterbrook identified did you find your own understanding of GMOs most aligned with? Why? What are some of the stakes of these stakeholders?

System 8, A system of sustainable agriculture, with long time horizons, is the system I aligned with my understanding of GMOs. As a student with the food safety background and who graduated from an agricultural university, I have studied specific assessments and safety laws for GM foods. In fact, GM foods are subject to systematic and comprehensive safety evaluation before they are marketed. China has established a safety evaluation technology system that is in line with international standards, which includes nutritional and toxicological evaluations in the area of food safety. Therefore, after the safety evaluation of these products, there is no problem in terms of food safety.

As for sustainable agriculture, we rely on excessive inputs of chemical fertilizers and pesticides to achieve high yields in agriculture at present, which actually puts pressure on the environment, and this problem is becoming more and more prominent.In terms of labor demand, rural laborers are gradually moving to the cities and towns, and this contradiction is becoming increasingly prominent. To solve these problems, we need large-scale, mechanized and intensive cultivation, and GM crops can meet such needs. However, GMOs are helping to solve these problems, although I’m not a 100% supporter I think using GMOs to break through bottlenecks that other biological breeding technology occurred is necessary. We still need to evaluate of the effectiveness, the ability to compete for survival, and the evaluation of biodiversity, including plants, animals, and other aspects.

The stakeholders of system 8 might be farmers, government, enterprises and customers.

 

Q2: Using your own topic for research, can you Identify 3 stakeholders (groups or phenomenon) with different perspectives, and then describe the system (the stakes) from which they are operating?

Stakeholders of Satellites:

  1. Users, satellites improve our living system for example safety, remote connections/communication, entertainment, etc.
  2. Government, the initial idea of satellites use is for national security system and some military needs.
  3. Rocket manufacturer and related services company, operating in a system of business. The system reduces launch costs and ramped-up orbital space tourism.

Puppets – Systems Mapping

Concept Map

Reinforcing Feedback Loop:

Through concept mapping, I realize there is a lot more I can talk about than I original thought. The connection between life is like a play, the play becomes the life – puppets reinforced how we see soulless humans and how we think of humans without souls when seeing a puppet, the two create an interesting feedback loop.

Skin: Fenestra – Systems Map

Concept Map and other system diagrams:

 

My discover:

For the topic: Although “fenestra“ is a technical term used in several different disciplines, it has something in common.  The function behind this constructure is always about transportation and interflow. It helps create a balance in the system and facilitates communication between the inner side and the outside of a single system.

For the system diagrams: I’m used to using a mind map to help me think and organize my thoughts. This is my first time using a concept map, and I felt a little uncomfortable while building it. I think it is because these two kinds of maps are similar but different that the old way of thinking influenced me. The iceberg helps me a lot by showing the development of the word’s meaning. I connected these fragments by following how fenestra’s meaning is added.