This is my second time being in a class dealing with the topic of sustainability. Last year in problem solving strategies I was introduced to the concept for the first time. I knew that the basis of it was being more friendly and conscious about the environment and the way that we were using resources to produce different materials. Now after being brought back to the concept I realize that it is actually more than that. It’s a responsibility we have not only to ourselves but to the future generations as well to make sure that we practice and pass on an Eco-friendly lifestyle because if we choose to be irresponsible now we are also choosing to make the lives of the future generations something that we would deem unlivable and being set back a thousand years to something like a prehistoric society. That’s why I believe a class like wicked problems is so important to figuring out and learning and expanding our minds to the idea of sustainability. With wicked problems it’s important to remember that even though they have no definite solution or end point we can get really close just by looking at it from a creative perspective and using both logic and empathy when trying to solve it. That’s why it takes a special kind of person, a right side thinker, to look into a wicked problem. People that use the left side of their brain would be more useful in trying to solve a tame problem because it’s more sequential and linear and leads to a direct answer. When we watched the 11th Hour in class it was a very interesting documentary to watch because it made me think about things that had never even crossed my mind before. Like how we as a society are so technologically advanced and most problems that we deal with can be solved with the click of a button or dealt with at our fingertips from our smartphones. Yet we haven’t realized even though we’ve stepped so far into the future technologically speaking we’ve become so dependent on it that we don’t know how to function without it. If one day all the technology we’ve created came crashing down we would basically be back in the dark ages. All of the resources we use for just our day to day activities are causing issues like climate change, global warming, toxic waste and so many others. We have conditioned ourselves to believe that we can survive without nature when that is the furthest thing from the truth. The norm for our society is that if we have a problem it can be solved with some sort of technology when in reality some things need to be left alone and left up to nature because if we’re not careful all of our “technological advancements” will end up being the death of us. For example like it was mentioned in the documentary the way we go about growing our food and all the hormones and chemicals that we are injecting into them is not natural and having food extend their shelf life just so it can be preserved longer than it was intended to. We make it so that the unhealthy food that is going to kill us in 30 to 40 years is easily accessible and the natural and organic food that is actually good for us and was meant to be put into our bodies is crazy expensive and few and far in between. Then again looking at this issue it could technically be labeled as a wicked problem because of the characteristics of it. The variable solution of it is that some people believed that this problem has been solved while others think that we are far from a solution that actually works. It has no end point, even if people could choose to always have healthy options would they because they don’t go as far or last as long as the unhealthy ones. It requires a unique approach to it and there are multiple different solutions because what works for some people may not work for others. The urgency of the problem also comes into affect 40 to 50 years may seem urgent to some people while not so much to others. With our in class activities of meditating and breathing and just being in the moment I have really enjoyed cause with being in college everything gets so busy and so hectic so fast you rarely ever have time to just stop and breathe and think. Even taking 30 seconds to let a piece of chocolate just melt in your mouth while you wiggle your toes and roll your shoulders is something that I have really appreciated. It really is just the little things sometimes that can make you have a better and clearer understanding of life and everything that goes on in it. The Easter Island story is a perfect example of what a society without sustainability looks like and how it can fall apart so fast without it. When you look at how many people lived in Easter Island and how small the land was and compare it to cities now and the amount of people you would be able to tell we have a serious overpopulation problem. All of the trees on the island died out and so went the plant life and at the end the people were reduced to cannibalism and that’s how the island died out. Now I don’t think we are even close to having to be reduced to cannibalism but if we’re not careful with the way that we choose to live our lives within the next few hundred years we might be.
Blog Administrator
Contact
For more information contact cosette.joyner_martinez@okstate.edu.
-
Recent Posts
- Lastly, before we go our separate ways…
- The reality
- Sustainable Evolution: The Diversified Solution
- Have Compassion and be aware
- Mindfulness of Wicked Problems
- Time for Change
- Sustainability is a Paradox
- A New Learning Opportunity, Wicked Problems
- Problems in the Environment
- Compassion Towards Sustainability
Archives
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- August 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- June 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012