Ethics are not meant to be restrictions or constraints, but rather guidelines for ensuring that people, communities and ecosystems thrive in harmony with one another. Aristotle’s Arete, a source for our own modern views of ethics, is really about how to live a good life.
In a culture that prioritizes profit & innovation, with a tech economy that maximizes these, it may be difficult to consider that other values might be critical to thriving as full human beings.
Permaculture, however, is a design system that prioritizes the harmonious interactions of humans, communities and the earth.
Permaculture integrates land, resources, people and the environment through mutually beneficial synergies – imitating the no waste, closed loop systems seen in diverse natural systems. Permaculture studies and applies holistic solutions that are applicable in rural and urban contexts at any scale. It is a multidisciplinary toolbox including agriculture, water harvesting and hydrology, energy, natural building, forestry, waste management, animal systems, aquaculture, appropriate technology, economics and community development.
This semester we’ll be using Permaculture ethics and principles to evaluate and design digital technology that contributes to our culture’s Arete.
To start us off, let’s create a list of beneficial digital tech & tools that support the 3 main permaculture ethics. For each of these, list 3 examples, with a few sentences about why these are beneficial. I will include an example with each.
- Earth Care (helps the earth and its beings to thrive)
eg: Nature’s Notebook, allows citizen scientists to track seasonal events for plants and animals where you live; aggregate data can then be visualized to show patterns of evolution, climate change, and trends. - People Care (helps people and communities to thrive without harming others)
eg: hOurworld timebanking, with a branch in Portland, Maine. Allows people to offer and receive services without the use of money, and so supports local economies rather than enriching the wealthy. “We are Social Architects who believe that people are the true wealth of the world as their talents gracefully flow out to the benefit of all. We are grounded in the principles of simplicity and abundance and in the the joy of giving and receiving. It is our desire to help in the reclamation of local community prosperity by providing our gifts of time, training and tools in a pay it forward model within the Hour Exchange networks of hOurworld®“ - Fair Share (distributes any surplus to anyone in need, and to support the first two ethics)
eg: Wikipedia is an open source encyclopedia created and edited by its users and run via donations of its members/users. The more data is added, the more it distributes this to its users. It collects human knowledge and shares it freely with others to expand benefits to all. It is an example of a “common good” vs ” private property”. See Shareable for more examples.
This quote from timebanks.org’s Instagram links all three ethics: “It’s not oil, water, or plutonium — it’s human hours. We’ve got an idea to put them to use and build a more human-centered economy.”
Post title: Task 1-your name
Category: Task 1
Featured image: An image representing your ideas.
Text: Your examples & explanations
