RE: Survival and change

["Dirk van Putten" <dvanputten@linear.com>]

In my honest opinion, Bill Bryson's book, "A short History of Nearly
Everything" does look at interactions of geological and biological cycles
within different system including space, galaxies, the earth, etc. He does
look at things from a system standpoint. I believe it is hard to convey this
in e mails with text taken out of context.

Mr. Bryson does not look at life on earth, the earth, the dynamics of the
physical earth, galaxies, inputs from space, as separate things but as quite
interrelated; more than I ever considered.

Regards, Dirk van Putten
dvanputten@linear.com



Snip<It occurs to me that Mr. Forte's quote from Bill Bryson,
an author whose work I have enjoyed for many years, really
shows a reductionist rather than systems point of view. The
planet and the life in, on, and around it are not separate
entities.  We live in a system.  The planet is not "in
charge".  The idea of the planet extinguishing life is
meaningless, in my view.

I have been reading and listening to the works of Margaret
Wheatley in recent months, and find her views, and those
of Lynn Margulis and Dorian Sagan, very helpful in thinking
about systems, order, stability, and change.  If you have
time to take a little side trip to broaden your view of
systems thinking, I recommend Wheatley's books and speeches.>End Snip