Hey brother! Good to hear from you! I took a bit of a 'technology fast' if you will!
"We are discussing on which corner of the globe we want to build and settle."
Excellent! I am set to leave my temporary residence in May in search of a permanent place as well. The whole world is available. Where are you thinking right now? What're your dominant criteria?
" With the improvements in solar technology, maybe the entire operation can be powered via solar energy."
All food production methods have been solar powered for a lot longer than our 'technology' has been around ;) Nothing beats the solar effectiveness of photosynthesis :)
I've been heavily involved in stewarding land and cultivating food. For a long while, I was extremely fascinated by the various technocratic methods of food cultivation for some time now. While I believe some of them to be improvements on our present dominant systems they all pale in comparison to the effectiveness and health benefits brought about by mimicking natural systems. In most technocratic systems it's impossible for a complete mycelia web to connect all species. Most systems don't have a large diversity of plants in the same area (as our forests do), plants thrive in cooperation! The food grown in a forest mimicked system is far superior to any technocratic designed system. As it will gain all the information we need for optimal health. It's not like nature hasn't been improving this for billions of years ;) We've only been at it for a couple thousand at best...
Just my 6 cents ;)
We are looking to Canada, maybe Malaysia. We want tropical fruit trees, but also want some amenities of civilization. Political stability would be paramount, but many places in the world are destabilizing, possibly a consequence of our rampant over-consumption and current economic contraction.
I completely forgot about the fungal network that the plants use to communicate. I do not recall where I learned about this, but I think the fungal network is orders of magnitude more complex in connections than our internet. My guess is that the plants can communicate with and exchange resources with other plants on the opposite side of the continent.
Tropical is quite difficult in Canada ;) My partner is Canadian and we both lived there for only 1 year. Needless to say, we're in Indonesia now. We are also tropical people! I saw New Zealand to be a good safe haven and have looked into northland. We were there for several months and cultivated some powerful relationships that may sprout into a ONG being launched in NorthLand. However, still only sub-tropical and not quite the full tropical I'm seeking. Indonesia is a bit rough around the edges but Bali where we are at has offered us some great environments to create our lifestyle. It's just difficult being foriegn, with land and visas... Not sure why our world is still so complicated. Hopefully, a bit more political instability will rectify some of these issues. We've looked into Malaysia too. They seem to have a great offering. What are your reasons for Malaysia?
We were looking to relocate to Singapore, once. Malaysia just happen to be next door, though the recent religious reactionary policies give us a pause regarding moving to Malaysia.
Canada we looked into because much of nature has been preserved and people there seem less driven to acquire and consume. I have not visited recently, but at least in Montreal, the people were more communal and public transport allowed for small grocery establishments to thrive, which also seemed to influence people to plan for day or two in advance, rather than weeks to months in food purchases.
Hmmm, but Malaysia (opposed to canada) isn't permafrost for most of the year :)
I remember a 2 week period in Canada where they were comparing the temperatures of Ottawa to that of Mars (some aspect), and Ottawa was said to be colder ;). Could be facetious. However, if I went outside for too long ~5 min, I risked my contacts in my eyes freezing...
This is all to say, we love canada for the summers but winter has made it impossible to consider. (for us) :)
Though a beautiful place no doubt!
Where are you presently?
We are basking in the warm weather of Texas.
Ah Texas. I would never have guessed! When do you think you'll be making the move?
We are not sure, yet. We are comfortable, which is a problem in itself when considering change.
Not just plants, the noosphere of information permeates the whole planet, and we're able to tap into it as well...
There is the countless phenomenon related to this, one being the coincidences of unrelated scientific discoveries happening simultaneously in different parts of the globe.
Regardless, I am finding it more and more futile to try and 'improve' upon nature. There is nothing in our technocratic world that our natural would haven't done better. So, my path now is one that is to cultivate a better relationship with the natural world and work with her cycles and rhythms to create the best life. Opposed to trying to fight them with 'improvements'. Seriously, we do way more meaningless work than we need to!
I recall reading Herbert's Dune series and realizing the technical advance need not be only limited to overcoming our environment. Improvements in human abilities, shift in perspectives and paradigms, or living in hostile environments by adjusting social discipline are all measures of techincal advance. I think modern men over-value one type of technology over others.
"I think modern men over-value one type of technology over others."
Ahhh another monoculture :) Mono-tech. Mono-food, mono-god, mono-tech, mono-dimension... Another element in the process of consolidating reality.
I like this view, technology need not be limited to the material plane. I would have used different words, but I love the connection this made :) Thank you!! You just again inspired my next thought piece :)