Heroes Not Zombies

I stumbled across these two photos today and was immediately struck by the similarities between them. The one on the left shows a flower with a fabulous array of stamens, spreading out like whiskers, each one just waiting for its pollen to be collected, then hopefully used to fertilise some new seeds. The one on the right shows a single seed with its wind catching fibres reaching out, again, just waiting to be collected and transported somewhere else.

In both cases there is something astonishingly passive about these important features. I suppose passivity is much more obvious in plants than it is in animals, but looking at these images reminds me just how much of Life is dependent on chance and good fortune. But is this really passivity? Or is it maximising their chances?

The plants have no way of ensuring either their fertilisation, nor the successful dispersal and future growth of their seeds, but they have invested all their energy and evolutionary development into maximising their chances.

I’m struck by the rise of uncertainty in recent times, by how nobody seems to know for sure what’s going to happen next in this pandemic, or even how best to respond to it. And, yet, alongside that heightening of uncertainty there seems to be an increase in the numbers of people claiming certainty……whether it’s government ministers claiming that at all times they are taking, and have taken, the absolute best decisions, or it’s experts confidently predicting what’s going to happen next.

Maybe uncertain times increase dogmatic, authoritarian voices to meet the unmet need – the need we all have for a degree, at least, of certainty and predictability in our lives. But surely another way is possible. Surely we could opt for transparency, honesty and humility?

In several spheres at once…..Public health, the environment and climate, the economy, politics and society…….we are more acutely aware of uncertainty and unpredictability than ever before. So, maybe instead of seeking false reassurances we’d be better investing our time and energy in developing resilience and adaptability.

Isn’t that a better way? Like these flowers we can do our best to maximise our chances of both surviving and thriving…….not by seeking certainty, but by focusing on the underlying principles of Nature – diversity, adaptability, flexibility, and making “integrative” connections (mutually beneficial bonds between diversely different parts).