Let’s play a game. Before you read on, have another look at the title of this week’s newsletter. Can you guess what a Greek myth and a band from the 1970s might have in common with fig trees?
I was looking into how fig trees mineralize CO2 (more on that below) when I found myself humming an ELO song from my youth, so I opened a browser and typed: Turn to stone.
Even though much of the World Wide Web has been polluted by self-interest and automated content, it is still the ultimate treasure trove of people and information — if you know where and how to look.
Is there anything more important in life than knowing where and how to look?
We spend our lives searching. The results are a function of how we negotiate the agreements that frame our journeys: What are the rules of engagement? How do we make decisions? Will we take that risk? Start a business? Get creative? Raise our hand to speak? Use AI? Pitch investors? Tell the truth? Break the law? Lean in for a kiss? Take our time? Listen?
Most of us operate under the illusion that we have chosen our own paths, when in fact we have either followed the orders of childhood authorities or defined ourselves by rebelling against them. When I taught in schools and developed Open-Source Learning, and again when I started using Open-Source Learning principles in my consulting and speaking, I reflected on the idea that all of our learning must begin in the beginning.
The next time you type words into a browser, consider that you're doing much more than that. You are making philosophical agreements about the ways you communicate. Whatever shows up in the results menu is a function of the words you typed, yes, but also the browser you chose, the IP address of the device you're using, and dozens of other variables. And apart from everything that occurs outside your head, you will have reinforced neuronal connections and habits of mind that make some future paths more likely for you than others.
However many years you lived before finding your way to this paragraph, you have my empathy. Redirecting our efforts is a challenge. Everything from Newton's laws of motion to the psychology of adult learning tells us that rebooting and changing course isn't easy. Still, sometimes you have to intentionally break patterns in order to see them clearly and give yourself a choice.
HERE IS WHERE I BURIED THE LEDE
I practice what I preach. Recently I stripped my new book project down to the studs, reframed it, and now I'm building/writing again. You’re hearing about it here first. Here’s the new title:
SEARCH TERMS
Starting next week I’ll share some ideas from the manuscript and reflections on the writing process.
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What search terms (online or IRL) have given you unexpected and/or thought-provoking results? Drop me a line – I’m curious!
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Open-Source Learning is yours. Free. Get the white paper here. Use what works and customize whatever you need, however you want. I’m here to help.
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Curiosity is worth practicing. That’s how we get better at it. When it’s done particularly well, curiosity can be elevated to an art form. Curiosity makes life worth living. I am literally Curious AF. And now you can be too! Click HERE to unlock your free membership subscription.
Here is a taste of what I’m doing, reading, watching, and thinking about.
What I’m Reading (New) –
I knew that trees have the ability to remove carbon from the air and convert it to oxygen in the process of photosynthesis. Basic. But I didn’t know that some trees can also sequester carbon through an inorganic process called the oxalate carbonate pathway, in which the trees use CO2 to create calcium oxalate crystals, which fungi and microbes turn into calcium carbonate when the trees decay. Calcium carbonate is the primary ingredient of limestone and chalk. Termites sometimes help by carrying fallen leaves to their mounds, where microbes convert the carbon to calcium carbonate and store it underground. Last week at the Goldschmidt geochemistry conference in Prague, researchers presented data that suggested Kenyan fig trees are able to help sequester more carbon for longer periods than we thought.
From Discover: “Some fig trees can stash atmospheric CO2 as ‘rocks’ in surrounding soil, they show potential to become an unexpected icon for climate change strategies. ‘As the calcium carbonate is formed, the soil around the tree becomes more alkaline,’ said Mike Rowley, a biogeochemist at the University of Zurich who presented the research. ‘The calcium carbonate is formed both on the surface of the tree and within the wood structures, likely as microorganisms decompose crystals on the surface and also penetrate deeper into the tree. It shows that inorganic carbon is being sequestered more deeply within the wood than we previously realized.’”
(Related: More than a few articles I found on this topic characterized the fig tree finding as a “new weapon” for “combat” in “the war on climate change.” Huh. Trees aren’t new (unless you ask the ocean). Standing around and waving in the breeze doesn’t seem particularly weapon-y. Going to war against the climate doesn’t seem like something Sun Tzu would do. I believe that language does more than describe reality. Especially in today’s digital/political climate, language creates a sense of reality. Our species might want to take a look in the “mirror” and choose our words more thoughtfully.)
What I’m Listening To –
One of the first albums I ever bought was “Out of the Blue” by The Electric Light Orchestra. Everything about that record was fun. The cover art was fun. The liner notes were fun. The fact that I played it on a Fisher all-in-one stereo with a turntable on the top was fun. Most of all, the music was fun. Listening to ELO fuses the energy of Earth, Wind & Fire with the precision geekcraft of Rush. So, the online search results for Kenyan fig tree carbon sequestration put a huge smile on my face. I paused, put on my headphones, and listened to “Turn to Stone.”
What I’m Reading (Ancient) –
While listening to ELO and thinking about things turning to stone, I read a little about the Medusa myth. I already knew this Amazon commercial had it all backward, not to mention an irreverence for human life and contemporary societal norms (killing someone for a flirtatious look and saying they were “asking for it”???). Now I realize that I never really knew the whole story at all.
Most of us get the quick version: “Medusa was so ugly that she had snakes for hair, and if she looked at a person they’d turn to stone.”
It turns out there’s a lot more to the myth. In various versions, Medusa was a beautiful priestess. In the first version I read, she was cursed by Athena for “an ill-fated love affair with Poseidon.” It sort of sounded like Romeo & Juliet. As I started reading different sources on both Greek (Poseidon) and Roman (Neptune) versions, it became clear that Medusa didn’t have a choice. The sea god raped Medusa in Athena’s temple, and Athena punished the only party she could. Then Perseus (whose mom got pregnant with him when Zeus hunted her in the middle of the night) killed and decapitated her to make a turn-enemy-to-stone weapon for Athena’s shield.
So the commercial-friendly, weapons grade-ugly monster of my childhood memory was, in all probability, twisted from a story of a beautiful woman who was raped, cursed, killed, and beheaded. Her story, from the earliest Greek versions to the Roman version by Ovid, includes elements of betrayal, transformation, and portrayals of the basest motivators in human nature.
Zeus is a predator. Poseidon/Neptune is a predator. Athena is all sorts of savagely mean and vindictive. Hermes is a punk. Perseus is a dupe. The most destructive characters prevail. In case it needs saying, no one should ever be raped, killed, or turned to stone, even if they don't have cool sunglasses. Makes you wonder about our collective political karma. Have we made any progress since Ancient Greece? Are our leaders remaking themselves in the image of douche bag gods? If we want a more peaceful, amicable society, maybe we should start telling a different kind of story, instead of making everything into figgy weapons of war.
Quote I’m pondering –
Search others for their virtue, and yourself for your vices.
– R. Buckminster Fuller
Thank you for reading! This publication is a lovingly cultivated, hand-rolled, barrel-aged, ad-free, AI-free, 100% organic, anti-algorithm, zero calorie, high protein, completely reader-supported publication that is not paid to endorse any political party, world religion, sports team, product or service. Please help keep it going by buying my book, hiring me to speak, or becoming a paid subscriber, which will also entitle you to upcoming web events, free consultations, discounted merchandise, and generally being the coolest person your friends know:
Best,
Know someone who is also Curious AF? Please share this edition with them!
David Preston
Educator & Author
Latest book: ACADEMY OF ONE
Header image: Head of Medusa by Godfried Maes (1680) via Wikipedia and Art Institute of Chicago. ELO cover via Wikipedia. Wakefield fig credit: Mike Rowley.
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