“Theme-park approach to nature. We judge plants and animals by whether they're entertaining to us. We gravitate toward animals and plants that are big, dramatic, beautiful and at eye-level.” BigsEyeBeautifulAnimalLevelsJudgingApproachPlantDramaticParksThemeEntertainingPlants And AnimalsTheme Parks Author:Gary Larson
“The artificial intelligence approach may not be altogether the right one to make to the problem of designing automatic assembly devices. Animals and machines are constructed from entirely different materials and on quite different principles. When engineers have tried to draw inspiration from a study of the way animals work they have usually been misled; the history of early attempts to construct flying machines with flapping wings illustrates this very clearly.” WayMayDifferentProblemInspirationAnimalPrinciplesStudyDesignMaterialsApproachDrawsMachinesWingsFlyingDevicesArtificial IntelligenceArtificialEngineersConstructsAssemblyMisledFlappingFlying Machines Author:Maurice Wilkes
“A second possible approach to general systems theory is through the arrangement of theoretical systems and constructs in a hierarchy of complexity, roughly corresponding to the complexity of the "individuals" of the various empirical fields... leading towards a "system of systems." [...] I suggest below a possible arrangement of "levels" of theoretical discourse...(vi) [...] the "animal" level, characterized by increased mobility, teleological behavior and self-awareness...” SelfIndividualAnimalLevelsAwarenessFieldsTheoryBehaviorApproachSelf AwarenessVariousComplexityArrangementsDiscourseConstructsHierarchyTheoreticalCorrespondingMobilitySystems Theory Author:Kenneth E. Boulding
“Inwardness is the characteristic feature of the vegetable rather than the animal approach to existence. The animals move, migrate and swarm, while plants hold fast. Plants live in a dimension characterised by solid state, the fixed and the enduring. If there is movement in the consciousness of plants then it must be the movement of spirit and attention in the domain of vegetal imagination. (...) This is the truth that the shamans have always known and practiced. Awareness of the green side of mind was called Veriditas by the twelfth century visionary Hildegard Von Bingen.” IfsMindStatesMovingSpiritSidesImaginationAnimalExistenceAttentionConsciousnessKnownCenturyAwarenessMovementApproachGreenPlantEndureFeaturesFixedCharacteristicsDimensionsVegetablesDomainVisionariesHold FastSwarmsMigrate Author:Terence McKenna
“The magical approach is indeed the natural approach to life's experience. It is the adult version of childhood knowledge, the human version of the animals' knowledge, the conscious version of 'unconscious' comprehension.” HumansNaturalAnimalMagicChildhoodApproachConsciousAdultsVersionsUnconsciousComprehension Author:Seth
“Animals learn death first at the moment of death;...man approaches death with the knowledge it is closer every hour, and this creates a feeling of uncertainty over his life, even for him who forgets in the business of life that annihilation is awaiting him. It is for this reason chiefly that we have philosophy and religion.” MenFirstsReasonPhilosophyMomentsFeelingsHoursForgetAnimalApproachUncertaintyAnnihilationPhilosophy And Religion Author:Arthur Schopenhauer