The Intelligence of Nature by Gunter Pauli

Author:Gunter Pauli
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Edizioni Ambiente
Published: 2018-11-12T16:00:00+00:00

Trend 7—From Chemistry and Genetics to Physics

Bringing physics back, following nature’s genius design,

leads to environmental restoration and regeneration,

and a productivity that compares with the wealth

that is continuously generated by nature in rainforests.

When we shift from maximization to optimization (trend 5) and we evolve from standardization to diversity (trend 6), there is no longer a need to take control of production conditions relying on chemistry, nor to intervene in the genes of species to improve productivity. As we have already shown in the shift from 2D to 3D (trend 1), innovation will be driven, as in nature, by physics. Here is an impactful technology shift that will rapidly speed up and scale economic transformation.

Every second some 500 trees, which on average take 20 years to become fully grown, are cut on the planet. That is 15 billion trees every year. Most of these trees are cut to make space to grow more food. It is sad and painful that the planet is still losing valuable forest cover, which protects the soil from drying out; it is even sadder and more painful that deforestation ultimately hampers the very agriculture and food supply for which the trees make way. Over 50 percent of the planet’s tree cover has been lost in an unrelenting process that is like pulling off the skin of the earth. It not only hurts, but after a while there is no way you can continue to warrant the same living conditions without trees. Europe is the only continent where the number of trees growing is constantly increasing.

Growth in nature is highly directed by the laws of physics in a 3D environment. Subtle changes in temperatures determine vast amounts of dew and rainfall. The difference of temperature between soil and rain determines if the rain will percolate and replenish the underground. Morning dew brings essential moisture for plants. Wind is the result of differences in pressure. Capillarity and surface tension help overcome the law of gravity. Cell membranes let nutrients in and keep pollutants out with specific water surface tension. Hot air rises and cold air drops. Electricity for the muscle contraction of our heartbeats is distributed through highly conductive cells. Polar magnetism determines the path for migratory birds. Ultraviolet sanitizes with light and controls bacteria. A family of seaweed blocks the receptors of bacteria in the sea so they cannot communicate. In short: Nothing happens without the laws of physics. While chemistry can be changed with different pressure and temperature and a solvent, and biology is an ever-changing story, physics is what it is: no surprises and high levels of predictability.

Over time, agriculture, and later manufacturing, moved away from the framework of physics, which drives all natural processes. Once we had understood the basics, we designed systems of production and consumption wherein we made abstractions of these natural laws and decided to further ignore the laws of physics. We pump cold air up through air-conditioning systems. We convert solar power to a high voltage even when 80 percent of

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