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One of the most pressing problems facing humanity at present is
actually a set of consequences of various "metabolic" processes. These metabolic
processes include direct physiological metabolic processes (human food
production/waste treatment and disposal) as well as human societal metabolic
processes (industrial and city-based raw material acquisition/waste treatment
and disposal).
It occurred to me that perhaps our recycling efforts may best be
employed at the molecular level, since molecules are "simple systems" that we
can easily take apart and reconfigure. A molecule of H2O is the same-- and just
as pure and clean, whether it is derived from some long chain of hydrocarbons in
a different molecular configuration or derived from raw sewage.
My thinking on this began when it was clear that only certain types
of plastics are "recyclable" in our local waste collection scheme. We were told
that the types not recyclable are impossible to separate into pure plastic types
(or perhaps it's just too expensive)... but I suspect that not enough "thinking
outside the box" has been put into solving the problem. Perhaps that kind
of thinking has to be more inclusive of all stages of the processes we utilize
to provide our various "metabolic" needs. Cradle to grave analysis would be
useful, with the difference being that there is no grave. It should be cradle to
cradle, even if the cradles are different (meaning that the end material of the
first process becomes the beginning material for a different process,
etc.).
The development of a fuel cell which uses water as the
beginning fuel, a solar-battery-rechargeable electrolytic mechanism to separate
the hydrogen and oxygen from one another at the molecular level (something we
did in high school chemistry class; it's easy), burning the hydrogen and oxygen
to power the car, and the end product is water vapor and heat... is a
perfect example of a good solution to the toxic side
effects caused by our dependence on using fossil fuels for so
much of what we do.
I would love to develop other applications like this, based on
Rosennean Complexity Theory, to ameliorate the myriad "metabolic" processes
human beings engage in. Anyone on the list have thoughts or ideas in this
vein?
Judith
BioTheory: An E-Journal of General Science in the Rosennean Complexity
Paradigm http://www.rosen-enterprises.com/RobertRosen/BioTheoryLaunch.htm
Website address: http://www.rosen-enterprises.com/ |