Some thoughts on Biomimicry

A summary of:
Janine Benyus (2004). Biomimicry: What Would Nature Do Here?. In Ausubel, K. & Harpignies, J.P., eds., Nature’s Operating Instructions: The True Biotechnologies. Sierra Club Books: San Francisco.

The argument presented here is that we need to learn from nature how to “create the conditions conducive to life.” This does not mean learning how to create better and better simulations of ourselves (see Turkle’s Alone Together), but rather to learn the fine art that nature seems to do so instinctively, of being OF NATURE. Our problem begins by thinking of ourselves as something outside of nature, and therefore positioning ourselves in opposition to it. Sadly, we need to learn how, or remember how, to be nature; and our teachers are all around us. Hence the sense in biomimicry: “Biomimicry is innovation inspired by nature, looking to nature as a teacher.”

What we find, if we are humble enough to see it, is: “In fact, organisms have done everything we humans want to do but without guzzling fossil fuels, polluting the planet, or mortgaging their future” (5). So since we seem to have lost our way in this respect, we should “step outside and ask the local geniuses that surround us.” This means changing our questions, e.g. “…when we want to clean a surface, we get hung up on questions such as ‘What’s the least toxic detergent to use?’ or ‘How can I reduce the energy involved in sandblasting?’ A more helpful question might be ‘How does nature stay clean?’” In short, we should be asking questions along the lines of “What would nature do here?” The result: “Instead of seeing nature as warehouse, you begin to see her as teacher” (8).

What are some of the lessons, then? One is that we are living completely out of proportion to our share of the planet. Things that we assume as human rights now – e.g. the right to Internet access, the right to electricity – are predicated upon this disproportionate use of nature’s resources. Consider: “And how does nature power itself? Obviously, not the way we do. Of course we all rely on photosynthesis, on sunlight captured by plants. But in our case, it’s ancient sunlight trapped 65 million years ago by plants that we now dig up and ignite in a huge bonfire. We burn 100,000 years of ancient plant growth every year” (7). Wes Jackson (quoted here) points out that our greed is founded upon a disrespect for nature as a teacher (“When we begin to see nature as mentor, gratitude tempers greed and the notion of resources becomes obscene”). Benyus argues that we need to finally realize how amazing nature is in order to realize how self-evident the rationale is for protecting it. My question is, how are our technologies helping us realize this? I would say that this is precisely what many of our technologies push further and further from our awareness. What if they were instead designed in a way that mimicked nature, thus bringing that to our awareness?

Another lesson is that the world is a web. We do not contribute additively to our environments. As Postman pointed out, introducing a technology into our social lives, for example changes the entirety of social life. Furthermore, this means that the only way to approach the world is in a holistic way. “In order to deal with that kind of complexity, we need to start paying attention to how organisms live in context. We need to throw a party where people who are asking, ‘How does life operate in a way that enhances place?’ can get together with people who are asking, ‘How shall we live?’” (12). So how DO we want to live?

Benyus finds hope in humanity’s distinct skill: “One thing that seems to make us different from other creatures, as far as we know, is our ability to act collectively – as a whole species – on our understanding” (12). If we take this statement as true, it means that there is hope for mass change in our thinking about the world, which would then prescribe an entirely different relationship with it.