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[The 4000 word essay below is one that I wrote in-character for my Son of Ether in a Mage game. All references to bio-ether or bio-etheric are essentially referring to orgone. Bionomist/Ecolonomist is something I took out of the recent Traditionbook: Sons of Ether Revised, as -omist is used by the Sons of Ether at the end of titles rather than -ogist. As I recall, its to differentiate them from regular scientists.]
"Regarding the Sciences of South American Native Tribes, and Their Adaptive Uses in Ether Science, With Specific References to the Inkilanu Tribe of the Ecuadorian Andes, and Assisting in the Betterment of Mankind"
by Jim Granger, Doctor of Etheric Science, Bionomist/Ecolonomist, Utopian
It is evident that, if mankind continues his frenzied pace of deforestation, urbanization, and use of fossil fuels that within the next decade these resources will become scarce. These three key factors are crucial in taking a reductive, rather than inductive, view of the changes that must be made in order for humanity to survive in this new millennium. It is not enough to look at the problems and attempt to solve them, but the problems must themselves be eliminated and replaced with better, more ecologically viable solutions if the problems are to be solved permanently, rather than removed and replaced with a new set of problems. The first factor, deforestation, raises several important questions. First, how can widespread deforestation be avoided? Second, how can a) new land be cleared without removing crucial layers of animal, vegetable, and mineral life, and b) construction materials still be produced without the aid of wood products? Third, what new construction materials are viable without the use of wood products?
The second factor, urbanization, also brings with it several key questions. First, how can the spread of urbanization be halted? Second, how can already urbanized and partially urbanized areas be returned to close to their natural states? Third, how can humanity learn to live in a semi-urbanized setting without resorting to total environmental destruction? Fourth, what materials can be used that will not provide an immediate detriment to the local ecosystems?
....
The answer to these problems lies partially not in general applications of Science, but within a very specific Scientific sphere that has been largely ignored by the scientific community at large, including the Sons of Ether, for an incredibly long period of time. That sphere is the type of Science used by indigenous peoples the world over, especially those that still use their Science to live in harmony with the natural environments in which they currently inhabit. One specific example and reference is the Inkilanu tribe of the Ecuadorian Andes. The tribe is a small unit, though is large for most mountain tribes, numbering close to one hundred members and living in a village smaller than a city block. The tribe contains, surprisingly, four generations of members, ranging in age from a few months to very close to ninety years of age. While the average age is between twenty and thirty, the tribe's size, and the fact that it contains a fourth generation of family members, is astounding in a mountain-based tribe in a range like the Andes. This longevity, and the other innovations that are described below, is indicative of a surprising fact: for a tribe that has no written form of their language, they possess an astoundingly advanced grasp of Science. Although all mountain tribes have learned to adapt to their environments, very few possess the same level of sophisticated engineering, bionomical, and psychonomical knowledge as the Inkilanu, and fewer still have worked these arts into a Scientific form, one largely bereft of mystical and superstitious overtones, as the tribe in question.
While from the outside the tribe's Science may seem nothing more than the small ingenuities of an indigenous people, a closer study provides a large variety of ways in which the tribe uses incredible acts of Science to enhanced their lives. Using live trees as the base for their small dwellings, the Inkilanu use only a few boughs of wood supplemented with a complicated lattice work of branches and leaves to create a structure that easily possesses the strength of brick. These structures also incorporate complicated chimneys that allow only the smoke of a fire inside to leave without allowing drafts in, as well as sheltering the fire away from directly flammable surfaces, keeping the shelter warm even in the coldest mountain weather. Another engineering marvel is the construction of the sandals and basket packs worn by the tribesmen when out gathering food. The sandals are constructed in such a way as to provide maximum traction with the least amount of resistance to the foot. Constructed out of vines, leaves, tree sap, and bark, the footwear provides several times the comfort and effectiveness of a modern hiking boot, but built with natural materials gathered from around the forest. The tribe's agricultural techniques as well bear notice. Several crops are cultivated, including beans and a variant of corn, as well as several fruits and nuts, and all without clearing a sincle acre of land. In fact, the techniques used by the tribe are so effective that they often must trim back the crops themselves to keep them in balance with the surrounding wilderness.
Another astounding aspects of the Science if the Inkilanu tribe is found in their strange, but effective, mastery of human psychonomy. Detailed studies of animal and human behavior in their wilderness environment over several centuries have been refined into an exact Science, the equivalent to many psychonomical sciences practiced by the Sons of Ether and the Tradition's counterparts, the Akashic Brotherhood. First, gauging the reactions of humans to the various movements, vocalizations, and body language of animals, the tribe learned how to induce a variety of emotions in both humans and animals by mimicing the creature in question. The terrifying shriek of one of the mountain apes sends rival tribesmen running in fear, or scares off a dangerous predator. The slow, silky movements of a snake are hypnotic, allowing a dancing tribesman to stop prey in its tracks, making its demise quick and painless. Other sounds, the calming drone of insects, can be used to calm the injured and frightened into almost trance like states which, assisted by local anesthetic plants, allow many advanced surgical procedures to be performed while the patient is awake and aware, and recovers quickly with feelings of general good will and well being. These psychonomical techniques provide several major benefits over current techniques. First, they show an incredibly deep and developed understanding of the natural state of the wilderness and a willingness to see it as something to emulate rather than conquer. Second, many of the techniques provide a much greater insight into the human mind than modern techniques like "talk therapy" and courses of chemical treatment. Third, combined with several different herbs the trances induced through these techniques create a state in a patient far superior to the common "bedside manner" used by most physicians, as well as the concept of "treating the disease, not the patient" used in modern medicine.
...
On Adaptive Engineering
One of the base problems involved with modern engineering is the methodology that there are only a few set ways of building a given structure, following preset measurements, equations, and coordinates. This is not to say that every structure is the same, but rather that the advancement of modern engineering is based upon previous works of modern engineering, so on and so forth without looking into another spectrum to find further means of advancement. The main problem from this arises in the allocation of resources, however, as while the advancement can work upon the idea of newer, better designed materials it does not solve the problem of how to use less materials in an object’s construction.
The Inkilanu methodology of building is a good contrast to this and provides a suitable solution. Whereas a modern building is constructed through careful laying of foundations, and massive amounts of metal, concrete, and glass, Inkilanu buildings are comparatively simple, requiring very very little time to build and cause very little in the way of ecological impact. First, a suitably large tree is found, and a rough scaffolding of collected boughs and sticks is built around it. The scaffolding is built to specific base measurements, but a great degree of fluidity is incorporated in the design. The reason for this is that the sticks and boughs are not only organizing a solid framework for the building, but are also acting to conduct bio-Etheric currents from the ground and the tree into the framework of the building, strengthening the latent bio-Etheric energy inside the wood used to construct it.
Following the scaffolding, alternating layers of different leaves, fronds, and roots are constructed in a complicated lattice over the scaffolding, trapping high density patterns of bio-Etheric energy between them. This serves three purposes: 1) The large amounts of harnessed energy makes all the disparate pieces effectively one single piece, lending amazing strength and stability, 2) The bio-Etheric energies redistribute themselves upon impact to the object, meaning that an impact of several centimeters spreads out over the course of several meters, minimalizing even the worst impact, and 3) Because the house is built against a tree and the lattice work conducts the tree’s bio-Etheric energy rather than disrupted or destroying it, the tree is allowed to flourish and when the building is taken down it is allowed to return to its normal growth cycle. A fourth reason also exists, and runs parallel to the second. Because of the insulating properties of the pockets of bio-Etheric energy, the building maintains a consistent internal temperature, meaning that it remains warm while it is cold outside, and cool when it is hot.
Now, adapting this to the modern engineering methodology, a similar creation can be designed through work with normal materials. Although it is unlikely that humanity could be convinced to set up a hut beside a tree, it is far more likely that they could be convinced to utilize a more energy efficient and cost effective living accommodation. First, research has discovered that iron girders cored with copper can reroute Etheric energies through them when built into firm earth that allows the same effect of joining the structure together as one solid piece. Further, steel paneling with a high polish and copper wiring along the back acts in a similar manner when constructed following the general principles of the Inkilanu leave, frond, and root layering over their buildings. The copper wire conducts the Etheric current and energizes the panels, which then interlock energetically with the girders, powering the structure by making it an alternating current loop of energy running through the structure from the earth, conducting through the girders, into the wiring coils on the backs of the panels, back into the girders, and back into the earth. Careful construction of the panels traps the Etheric energy inside, causing the same impact distribution as the Inkilanu buildings. |
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