TIME BINDING AND
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT:
A COMPARATIVE
PRAXIS
(I)
‘Time-Binding’ as a way towards Sustainable
Development.’ – through sanity
The idea of living life with ‘sanity’ was a revolutionary stepping stone
for what now can be called ‘sustainable development’.
Time Binding is a distinctively human attribute which defines the ‘art
of preserving memories and records of human experiences for the use of
subsequent generation’. This quality makes it possible for later generation to
begin to learn from where former generation left off.
In Korzybski’s paper titled ‘The role of language in the perceptual
process, time binding is defined as a characteristic of inter-communicating and
transmitting from individual to individual and from generation to generation
the accumulated experiences of individuals. The experiences are accumulated
when an individual goes through the process of ‘abstraction’ from an
electro-colloidal non-Aristotelian point of view; in which stage I is silent
where the event occurs; stage II is the impact of the event in stage I on an
individual – an immediate nervous impact, may it be emotional, auditor, visual,
pain, heat, cold, etc. which immediately succeeds as soon as the event occurs.
In stage III the feeling is sensed; consciousness of the nervous impact occurs.
This is linguistically expressed, either as an assertion or as prevention to
another individual from possible harm that can occur through similar events.
In most cases, parents or society in general, tries to resolve problems
in such a way that the next generation can have a better lifestyle or in some
sense live a life with hedonism to a certain degree. But one must remember that
one does not turn hedonism into laziness, laziness has negative aspects too.
Similarly, the philosophy of ‘Sustainable Development’ is also
futuristic, and towards establishing a ‘saner’ life through application of
knowledge gained from events occurred in past. It quotes that (i) “People are
entitled to a healthy and productive life in harmony with nature. (ii) Peace,
development and environmental protection are interdependent and indivisible.(1)
The Document of United Nations(2) ‘sustainable
development’ as, ‘it is a kind of development that meets the needs of present
without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Development involves a progressive transformation of society.
If sustainable development focuses
on the future, does that mean we lose out now? Not necessarily. Sustainable
development is about finding better ways of doing things, both for the future
and the present. We might need to change the way we work and live now, but this
doesn't mean our quality of life will be reduced.(3) Korzybski’s in his book titled ‘Science and Sanity’ mentions about the
quality unique to human beings which is the careful cultivation of records and
experiences, events, happenings and their outcome in either verbal or written
form. Going further, the quality of deducing conclusions from the events, the
power of reasoning and a sense of prediction based on facts gathered from study
of records, which we call ‘historical events’ or we may call the heritage of a
family , race polis(city-state), kingdom or country etc is unique to humans. It
is this quality that guides us to sense a confidence for a better future or
casts a gloomy picture of our future. Whatever we may call it, it is indeed a
mental image- inside our mind, a map of our own territory of conclusions
/thoughts which we express using a uniform and ‘frozen’ set of symbols known as
‘words’ which instill same or unambiguous psychological or cognitive responses
and sensation to the reader or listener as desired by the speaker or writer.
When this happens, we can say that communication is complete. Korzybski
suggested it to be applied for conflict reduction, reduce the ambiguity and
mental state of ‘allness’ and making human world less violent and less tension
ridden.
“While the first man survived and then triumphed over
animals by the virtue of power inherent in him, he had to systematically
sharpen and refine this innate capacity (the capacity of time binding) in order
to build civilizations and sustain them over time, so is an ongoing semantic
activity, time binding has thus a futurist dimension, while being dedicated to
the project of reclamation of the time past. In Korzybski’s words, it involves
the process of ‘selection’, ‘digesting’, and ‘absorbing’ the impressions
received from the environment”. (4)
In today’s world laden with information which is often
called as the ‘Information Age’, we tend to get a variety of views, things
which have multiple uses. In such a case we often get confused about what is
right and what is wrong. In such times tools suggested by Korzybski come handy
which guide us to make our choices. Tools of ‘Delayed response’, “How?”,
“informed and thoughtful responses”, “self reflection”, “ enhancing our scope
of map”, “non-allness”, “Believing that map is not the territory”, and to
search for more relevant information to the context. Which means we should stop
coming to spontaneous conclusions and stop shutting our mind in ‘allness’,
instead be patient. i.e. delay response – reaction to ‘happening-event’. This
quality becomes more and more necessary in the age of impulsive reaction and
age of instant gratification.
One of the example of time-binding can be seen in the
joint family system when many family members having their own professionals and
experiences share their experiences thus younger generations are able to learn
from elders about events and mistakes which can help them prevent same mistakes
and learn about past legacy of family. This phenomenon is reduced today due to
disintegration of joint family into nuclear family. In the context of
phenomenon of passing the information and experiences that can be picked up
from where other members left, whether within one generation or across
generations is the human inclination of sustenance whether they are memories of
past or are achievements. Many a times we come across an opposite quality where
people see in limited context of ‘today’. The attitude of ‘I have money today
hence I will spend it’. This kind of actions will leave a lesser surplus for
their future generations which can lead to an inability of future generation to
spend money for higher education, skills, arts and end up taking jobs where
monetary benefits are not fair and just.
There is a need to raise our levels of consciousness
and to know the correct path towards our goal of sustaining with sanity.
Application of the Principles of General Semantics can help here. General
Semantics is a method that can help raise one’s level of consciousness. General Semantics is a new set of metrics to
change the dogmas that exist in our nervous system, General Semantics deals
with the process of how we perceive, construct, evaluate, and respond to our
experiences in life. The more we practice the methods, the more we tend to
de-clutter our web of thoughts, thus reduce our anxiety due to
multi-directional flow of thoughts and thoughts about thoughts thus helping us
to channelize our thought process. This shall help us develop to become a saner
‘organism -as -a -whole - in-an -environment’. If we can be optimistic about
the power of compounding, we may develop a saner environment as a whole. If you
observe Nature’s creations other than human beings, what can be observed is
that these creatures do not destroy each other unnecessarily, they co-exist and
co-habit. Although, there is a fair share of parasites but these are much fewer
than those who live in symbiotic relationship with each other.
In following the Korzybski’s non-Aristotelian system,
where extremism of ‘either-or’ is avoided, here in the sense of whether only
human beings exist or Nature. Quite probably if we battle eventually nature
would win over. Hence we should find a middle path of co-existence, for which
attempt towards ‘elimination of self deception’ that all is well and shall be
so forever should be avoided.
Change happens at microscopic or even sub-microscopic
levels, which is experienced not only when you pass through a shady tree on
road, but also when we use words and tone of using the word, the perception and
mood of listener changes, also in the world of things, the presence or absence
of things whether in solid, liquid or gaseous state affect our life.
(II)
Are we living in an era of insanity and unconscious
abstraction? Are we dying due
to progress?
One of the concerns of Korzybski was to reduce
conflicts and conflicting situation. Here I take the context of humans in
conflict with their own nature and the Nature at large. There can be a
mis-communication between Nature, human natural biology and our habits in daily
life. The phenomenon of Arctic and Antartic ice sheet melt down (5), Uranium
dumps a type of Nuclear waste can have drastically bad effects on life,
causing cancerous growths, for instance, or causing genetic problems for many
generations of animal and plants due to radiation,(6) Karachay is the most
polluted spot on Earth. It was used by the Soviet Union as a nuclear dumping
site, and now the radiation level here is so high that it's sufficient to give
a lethal dose after just an hour of exposure. Next comes Chernobyl. (7)
fracking method
for extraction of mineral oil (8) and air and water pollution which cause
health problems.(9), Plastic used for daily lives although has revolutionized
lives of humans but which forms waste causing problems, At least 267
different species are known to have suffered from entanglement or ingestion of
marine debris including seabirds, turtles, seals, sea lions, whales and fish.
The scale of contamination of the marine environment by plastic debris is vast.
It is found floating in all the world’s oceans, everywhere from Polar regions
to the equator.(10) Sitting at the southern end
of a 400-kilometer-long belt of industrial estates, the town of Vapi is a
dumping place for chemicals of every kind. Levels of mercury in the groundwater
are 96 times higher than safe levels, and heavy metals are present in the air
and the local produce.(11) Deforestation and land degradation
contributes to about 20% of global CO2 emissions and forest sector
provides a large opportunity to mitigate climate change, particularly through
the REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation) mechanism.
Climate change modelling studies for India show that the Indian sub continent
is likely to experience a warming of over 3-5°C, increased flood and drought
frequency and intensity. Forests provide a wide range of ecosystem services
such as protecting water quality and quantity (including stream flow, drinking
water supplies, and groundwater) by retarding runoff, protecting biodiversity,
sequestering carbon; providing wood and other non-timber forest products and
providing an aesthetic element in the landscape that has both important
economic and spiritual values. Although these ecosystem services are generally
defined as “the life-support and life-enhancing services of natural
ecosystems”, human activities are already impairing the flow of these ecosystem
services from the forests on a large scale and if these current trends continue
with climate change posing to be an added stressor, a large share of the
Earth’s remaining natural forest ecosystems will be altered within a few
decades. (12) Drought is the most widespread hydro-meteorological syndrome of
‘prolonged period of water scarcity affecting natural resources, environment
and, thereby, the people’. Environmental changes, viz. climate change, land-use
changes and natural resource degradation have aggravated drought occurrences and
vulnerability, thus disrupting the normal socio-economic settings. Scientists estimate that trees contain more
carbon than 10 years worth of human-produced greenhouse gases. Clearing the
forests, usually with fire causes the carbon stored in the wood returns to the
atmosphere, enhancing the greenhouse effect and global warming. During extended
droughts, such as during El Niño events, the forests and the peat become flammable, especially if they have been degraded
by logging or accidental fire. When they burn, they release huge volumes of
carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.(13)
A sizable part
of India is still smouldering under the grip of drought. Bundelkhand and
Marathwada are just samples but in reality more than 250 of the 680 plus
districts have experienced severe droughts, where even drinking water has
become a major problem. Wisdom lies in converting this water crisis into an
opportunity to change policies and programmes so that future masses do not
suffer. Irrigation accounts for nearly 78 percent of water consumed in the
country. With expanding urbanization, the share of agriculture in water
consumption along with availability of water for agriculture will reduce.
Therefore, better water management will inevitably require a closer look at agriculture,
with a view to use water resources more rationally.
In ground water,
the problem is over-exploitation and falling water tables. More than 80 percent
of administrative units in the States of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi
are over exploited, and the water table is depleting by 1 foot every year. This
is eating away resources of the future generations. So where do we go from
here?
Innovative
solutions such as installing metres for power consumption and cut in water
incentives should be made. As an even more realistic solution to save water,
drip and sprinkler methods of irrigation should be promoted, especially for
sugarcane, banana and paddy crops which can save around 40-50 percent of water.
So far, less than 5 percent of India’s cropped area is under micro-irrigation
and potential is at least three to four times more. Similarly, flooding of rice
fields needs to be replaced by SRI (System of Rice Intensification) technique,
which can save about 30 percent of water. Lastly, stop protecting water
intensive crops. In short, we need to incentivise farmers to save water. (14)
Air
pollution and increases in mental illness, but there is a plausible mechanism.
“We know air pollution can get into bodies and brains and cause inflammation.”
There have also been several earlier studies that found associations between air pollution and autism spectrum disorders and learning and development in children.
“This study adds to evidence that air pollution may have detrimental effects on
the brains of children and adolescents.” (15) “Climate change is one of those
problems that seems perversely designed to make humans flop around
ineffectively. If air costs us nothing, we’ll happily use it as a limitless
dump for the waste from our cars and factories and farms. Legal scholars call
this “the tragedy of the commons”: we tend not to look after what isn’t
strictly speaking , “ours”, so resources used in common are abused. The
publication by the British Government of the ‘Stern Review of the Economics of
Climate change’ feels like a tipping point, one of those moments when a lot of
trends converge to make obstacles look punier. The 588 page report (16) is a
carefully calculated price of scholarship-cum-political theatre, written by
Nicholas Stern. It is a design to make the case that climate change is real and
dangerously costly. British voters now rate the environment just as high as
economy. Its one thing for politicians to recognize that there may be votes in
being green. Fixing global warming will require more than unleashing the
invisible hand. New taxes and regulations will be required to give it a nudge,
such as levies on air transport, and gas guzzlers, banning incandescent light
bulbs, and mandates on power companies to ‘sequester’ the carbon that now goes
up as smoke, by pumping it under ground. The growth in China’s carbon emissions
over two years (2004-2006) equals Britain’s entire annual output. Yet countries
now industrializing don’t like paying to clean up the mess created mostly by
those who are already by rich. The administration of United States of America
no longer dismisses global warming as junk science. The Stern report might
change the debate towards seriously stopping global warming outside Britain.
The challenge of
climate change will be met only by a global consensus on how to construct a low
carbon economy. What’s the opposite of tragedy of the commons- a triumph of the
collective?” Such pretext of industrializing countries will not help for
resolution of problem. (17)
These
happenings are abstracted by humans are negative because these are unfavourable
for humans to live in. But, these events motivate us to do what Korzybski says,
‘Abstraction by necessity involves evaluating, whether conscious or not’; what
he meant was that after viewing such phenomenon it should stimulate us to bring
a conscious change in our live styles or decisions in life. The terms ‘Time-binding’ as well as
‘sustainable development’, the thought process behind them are in the direction
of self preservation and to keep a safer, healthier, bright future and enhance
positivity in life.
Food and Sustainability
problems: What’s important –present or future?-a conflict.
Increasing
obesity due to consumption of junk food and the lack of time to cook healthy
food by ourselves is an irony in itself. Is that making us think and evaluate
on the question as to what we are passing on to the future generation? This is
one of the aspects of Time-Binding.
If
we assume that our abstractions makes our thoughts, and in line with the quote
of Swami Vivekananda who quoted, “As we think, so we act”, we can start
contemplating that, if we do not abstract what can be good to us, we do not
pass on to others good things; now, the question is that what is good to us? In
general we can consider that the things that help us live with sanity are good
for us. One of the things that help us survive is ‘good health’. ‘Good Health’
can be described as a physical and mental condition that leads us to a life
free of disease and conflict with our mind and body.
Scientists
have found out that one of the indicators to good health as ‘Body Mass Index’;
which is calculated by dividing a person’s weight in Kilogram by height in
meters squared. The body mass index value above 25 is considered overweight and
above 30 is considered obese.
Consumption
of fast foods, junk foods, high sugar contained food, highly processed foods, has
become order of the day. Although it has something to do with our fast paced
life, or due to the pleasure and taste of these foods etc. the problem is not the
food, it is its consumption coupled with sedentary lifestyle.
Obesity rate in
children has risen from between 4 percent and 6 percent, depending on age
range, in the early 1970s to between 10 percent and 20 percent by 2008. A diet
laden with junk food not only affects weight but other facets of a child's
life, too namely (i) Effect on Obesity and Disease Risk, (ii) unhealthy junk
food and low in nutrient-dense food were linked to behavioural and emotional
problems, including anxiety and depression, (iii) students who consumed a low-quality
diet did worse on the standardized test. Results were published in 2008 in the
“Journal of School Health.”, (iv) increase in blood pressure and diabetes, (v)
Hyperacidity and acid reflux disease. (18)
With increasing waist
line there is a marked increase in morbid obesity, where a person’s weight
interferes with basic functions such as breathing and walking which now affects
1 percent of men and 2 percent of women in the world. (19)
What
do we analyse out of it? In my opinion, it is a ‘conflict’ of the body with the food consumed as the body
‘communicates’ with our consciousness by disturbing balance of ideal blood
pressure and sugar levels and insulin that enhances span of human life.
Korzybski was also concerned with the same while he used the word ‘sanity’. Fast
foods with limited physical activity lead to blood pressure and diabetes which
in turn again limits our capacity of physical activity. (20)
The
question is that can such foods, lead us to true development; and can we
sustain with such foods for longer duration than without them? It is a serious
aspect of life as today’s fast paced and heavily demanding life prevents us
from time out of the schedule to cook or consume healthy ideal diet and have
enough physical exertion that is beneficial for humans. Is the quick solution
to today’s problem of satisfying hunger leading us to ‘existential crises for
tomorrow? Do these foods give us relief from hunger, help us live with ‘sanity’
and is life by consumption of such food sustainable?
A
quote by an English Naturalist and Physician Mr. Thomas Muffett(1553-1604) fits
aptly to this situation of the 21st century, “Men dig their graves
with their own teeth and die by those ill fated instruments more than weapons
of their enemies’, he quoted this in his book titled ‘Health’s improvement’.
The
point in the making is in line with the aim of Korzybski about reaching to
‘sanity’ in life which is not attained by consumption of foods that disturb
good health (a kind of sanity), which is related to the kind of food consumed.
This brings us to the point of ‘personal responsibility’ which is to ‘raise our
consciousness to abstract what is good or bad according to the rules (knowledge
of past laid down) regarding what meets our nutritional/ physiological requirements and capacity of our biological
constitution to assimilate to turn it into positive(life force) energy(Our
quality as ‘energy binders’).
(III)
Change Management the
Time-Binding way
A
change in the thinking process, to transform ourselves from the state of
‘learned helplessness’ of whether it will be profitable to me or, will a small
contribution matter or not, towards a state of ‘learned optimism’ which
means looking at good things in life and self motivating ourselves, that your
actions, if they are unique, they shall grab attention, and can motivate others
to follow you further, thus helping towards a collective change in a way we
execute our actions, thus affecting a change at macro level in the environment
we live in. For example a small action of putting the tea powder after
preparation of tea, in kitchen garden which you may be having instead of
throwing it in dustbin can help you save few rupees on fertilizers, the traffic
jam through which you go for purchase of fertilizers, fuel cost, stress due to
travel and time management you need to do, disposal of bio waste, all vanishes
due to small change; thus helping you in some small way to live a better life
in some small way. If we keep searching for such small changes; it can help us
make daily schedule better to live.
In ‘conscious time-binding’, we learn from our
mistakes and instead of making excuses and blaming, we tend to learn from
ourselves and from others. Humans learn from their mistakes and
accomplishments. We learn to improve our learning.
The question is, are we considering our present
actions of pollution of air, water, soil as mistakes? Do we admit it? If we do
so, that is not enough; are we blaming it on others; are we excusing ourselves
of it as it happened due to our circumstances at those past times? If so , then
, still the question remains that , whether we are passing a better place to
live in? Do we want to pass on this place to future generations or do we don’t?
By our nature/behavior, and intellect, we may think, why to let go? Why pass on?
Command, control, dominance should be ours! (Oops, mine!-each one of the reader
individually exclusive of others might think so.) Is that so? If so, let me say
sorry to Korzybski, that his time has gone, an era passed since he passed away
on 1st March 1950 and we are now in the year 2016, and yes , he
proposed that ‘X is NOT Y’ , and ‘Time is asymmetrical and one cannot go back
in time’. So by this logic, time in era of 1950 is not the time in year 2016.
Let us not make this happen. Let us apply heuristic
approach with all its definitions specifically, “using a method of
encouraging a desire in learners to find
their own solutions”, “serving or leading to discovery”, “principles used to
make decisions when all possibilities are not explored”.
With application of heuristic approach we modulate our
ability as individuals to create new things, improve our creations – both
environmental degradation as well as beautiful and enchanting surroundings we
live in, our homes, offices, cars, all objects that we use in our daily life.
Let’s take steps to improve upon things our previous
generations and we left until now; improving in the sense of reducing actions
and objects that hinder cohesive and coherent co-existence of ours with nature
while focusing on end results namely reducing draughts, floods, heat sinks that
are caused due to too many high rise apartments and no trees, water shortage. We
can learn to improve our air quality (such as , reduction in particulates
matter, elements causing pollution are reduced), by listening, looking at
other’s actions, gestures, disapproving those objects and actions that harm us
and nature and at the same time rewarding those persons who work towards and
breathable future.
Let us time bind by reviewing and reformulating
situations we saw, said or did or we are going to execute.
In the book
“Manhood of Humanity”, author, Korzybski mentions about ‘spiral theory’, that
is a thought at a moment of time in a direction gives rise to new thoughts at
another moment and grows further in a direction giving rise to new ideas, or we
can say, the ‘cause-effect’ relation and the effect of the first thought is the
cause for second thought and so on. Our capacity of time-binding is based on
the feedback mechanism and ‘chain reaction of cause-effect’ without which human
as human, doesn’t exist. Going by this statement, of Korzybski that
‘organism-as-a-whole-in-an-environment’ including its neuro-semantic and
neuro-linguistic environment, then it could be understood that nature has given
enough signs and symbolized that it can destroy humanity and that the
environment is not conducive to survive.
With the rise in pollution of air and water and food
habits, there is a rise in diseases such as blood pressure , which not only
harms an individual but the expressions of anger, irritability also creates a
conflict in the environment which the person exist thus reducing sanity in
co-existence. Further , the actions(events) performed a person with higher
blood pressure may become a cause for further events which may be harmful not
only for the person oneself but such decisions / effects of the actions impacts
overall state of mind and thoughts and actions of people around such a person.
Thus, a single person’s health not only affects personally to that person but
also to the territory of his/her work and his/her territory of influence which
may affect development and sustenance of the whole group. Decline is not
destiny. We can learn from choices, wise and foolish made by people in the
past.
In the paper titled “Time binding- a general theory”,
page 4, of Korzybski, it states that, “lately the natural sciences have firmly
established the fact that an organism should be ‘treated-as-a-whole’. The
theory of relativity has established another fact, that all we know and may
know is a ‘joint phenomenon’ of observer and the observed. Korzybski introduced
the term, ‘time-binding’ to cover all the factors “as-a-whole”, which made man
differ somehow from animals by the capacity for building the accumulative
affair called ‘civilization’. In this accumulative affair, communication by
elders and assimilation by juniors; the compatibility and mismatch between abstractions
as well as with the milieu and circumstances play an important role.
Civilization is a generalized term and is said about a community in an era as a
whole. What defines an ‘era’ is another question. Does an era have an abrupt or
a gradual change, or what made humans civilize or in Korzybski’s words ‘What
made Humans’ human?
“Civilization can be defined as a cultural entity,
villages, regions, ethnic groups, nationalities, religious groups, all having
distinct cultures at different levels of cultural heterogeneity, for example
the Arabs, the Chinese, the Italian, the Tamils, the Punjabis, the Germans, the
Ahomis all have different culture constitute a part of civilization thus
civilization is a highest cultural grouping of people and broadest level of
cultural identity. A Culture has common elements of religion, customs,
traditions, language, institutions and sense of subjective self identification
of people”.(21)
Thus, we humans are very different in this respect. We
do and pass our knowing from one generation to next. Alfred Korzybski explains
: “ Human beings posses a most remarkable capacity which is entirely peculiar
to them – I mean the capacity to summarize, digest and appropriate the labors
and experiences of the past; I mean the capacity to use the fruit of past
labors and experiences as intellectual or spiritual capital for developments in
the present ; I mean the capacity to employ as instruments of increasing power
the accumulated achievements of all previous lives of the past generations
spent in trial and error, trial and success. I mean the capacity in virtue of
which man at once is the inheritor of the bygone ages and the trustee of
posterity; and because humanity is just this magnificent natural agency by
which the past lives in the present and present for the future. I define
‘humanity’ in the universal tongue of mathematics and mechanics to be the
“Time-Binding Class of Life”. (22) Both animals and human offspring begin their
lives in nearly total ignorance. The differences that exist between them are
small then. While the animal seems to begin life with a greater store of what
is advantageous to it (inherited knowing), but it possesses little ability to
learn from its parents. The animal is condemned to rediscover new knowing of
its parents. The wise old owl may know a great deal, but it has no way to pass
what it knows to its offspring and their offspring have no way to receive it.
The power of ‘Time-binding’ is to understand – to
observe and remember change over time. Understanding comes from an awareness
that allows humans to experience time as sequential or as linear. Time Binding
is a new way of thinking - an analytical thinking. Time binders can make one’s
decision based on understanding changes in one’s environment over time.
Analytical thinking recognizes cause and effect. Time binders are masters of
cause and effect, they make scientific discovery. They make knowledge. They
make technology. When knowledge is incorporated into matter-energy, it becomes
a tool.
Similarly, “Sustainable development recognizes that
growth must be both inclusive and environmentally sound to reduce poverty and
build shared prosperity for today’s population and to continue to meet the
needs of future generations. It is efficient with resources and carefully
planned to deliver both immediate and long-term benefits for people, planet,
and prosperity.
The three pillars of sustainable development –
economic growth, environmental stewardship, and social inclusion – carry across
all sectors of development, from cities facing rapid urbanization to
agriculture, infrastructure, energy development and use, water availability,
and transportation. Cities are embracing low-carbon growth and public
transportation. Farmers are picking up the practices of climate-smart
agriculture. Countries are recognizing the value of their natural resources,
and industries are realizing how much they can save through energy and supply
chain efficiency.
An analytical framework and priority steps for helping
clients design public policies and encourage the investments needed to
strengthen sustainable development and improve standards of living in rapidly
developing countries. Much that is useful can be done now: clean air and water
and solid waste management are basic needs, and many urban planning and
environmental policies enhance productivity and poverty alleviation.
Ultimately, sustainable growth hinges on good growth policy, which aims to get
prices right, fix markets, address coordination failures and acknowledge
externalities.
“Sustainable development practices help countries grow
in ways that both mitigate and adapt to the challenges posed by climate change.
Through its work in urban development, energy, transportation, infrastructure,
agriculture, water, environment, climate change, and information and
communication technologies, by creating the policies, development plans, and
practices that form the foundation for sustainable growth.
The World Bank Group incorporates sustainability and
climate change resilience into its work across all sectors. It is helping
countries take action on climate change and working through partnerships, such
as the Greenhouse Gas Protocol and the Energy Sector Management Assistance
Program (ESMAP), to help cities account for their emissions and increase their
energy efficiency. The Bank Group supports adaptation and mitigation actions on
the ground to finance the kind of projects that help the poor grow their way
out of poverty, increase their resilience to climate change, and achieve
emissions reductions.
In support of sustainable urban development, upgrading
work in Vietnam, for example, improved infrastructure, housing, and the
environmental and living conditions for the poor in four large cities. A
municipal services project in Bangladesh helped plan and finance critically
needed urban infrastructure and services, such as water supply and waste
removal.
In China, the low-carbon growth projects, energy
efficiency, and renewable energy development. Public transportation is an
important element of low-carbon growth in cities, for lowering both vehicle
emissions and pollution.”(23)
In the book ‘Manhood of Humanity’, page 55: Korzybski
futuristic vision is seen, as he quotes, “Nature’s laws are supreme; we cannot change
them; we can deviate them for a while, but the end is evil. That is the lesson
we must learn from the history of Humanity’s childhood. False conceptions of
Man’s ignorance of the laws of human-nature have given us unscientific
economies, unscientific ethics, unscientific laws, unscientific politics,
unscientific Government. These have made history the history of social
cataclysms – insurrections, wars, revolutions- sad tokens not so much of human
lust as of human ignorance of laws of nature. There is but one remedy, one hope
– a scientific art of human engineering based upon the just conception of
humanity as the time-binding class of life and confirming to the laws of nature
including the laws of human nature”.
Every moment can be a fresh new moment and hence I
feel we can make an attempt to take steps towards Sustainable development from
now; because as we think our future can be better, it can be worse too. What we
prevent depends upon our direction of our attempts collectively as humanity.
Humanity is a great brotherhood by virtue of the sameness of the material form,
which is formed physically and morally. Unless, however, it also becomes a
brotherhood intellectually, it is no better than a superior genus of animals.
A
few tips on this website can guide you on small changes that can help you
contribute to the greater cause that Korzybski proposed without affecting your
life. http://www.worldwildlife.org/pages/change-the-way-you-think
“Let’s our talks work.”
References:
(1)http://www.unep.org/training/programmes/Instructor%20Version/Part_1/readings/Principles_%20of_Sustainable_Development.pdf
(2)
www.un-documents.net/ocf-02.htm
(4) Page91,
Journal Name: Anekaant: A journal of polysemic though: Author name : Prafulla
Kar, Title of article: Time binding as a scientific(social) praxis.
(5)Source: Page 11 Deccan herald Newspaper, Saturday,
April 2, 2016)
(12)http://www.sikkimforest.gov.in/climate-change-in-sikkim/8-Chapter_Climate%20Change%20and%20its%20Impacts%20on%20Forests%20of%20Sikkim.pdf
(14)News
paper: Financial express, dated: 9 May 2016, Page 6, article title: “ Caring
for Water”
(15)https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jun/13/air-pollution-linked-to-increased-mental-illness-in-children)
http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/6/6/e010004.full
(16)(www.sternreview.org)
(http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/sternreview_index.htm) (http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100407172811/http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/Summary_of_Conclusions.pdf
(17)
(Source: Title: ‘Warming to a global theme’, ‘TIME’ magazine, issue November
12,2006).
(18) Source: News paper : Deccan Herald page 6, Saturday April 2nd ,2016
(19)http://www.thehealthsite.com/diseases-conditions/reasons-junk-foods-are-bad-for-your-health-sh214/
(20) http://www.livestrong.com/article/456624-negative-effects-of-junk-food-on-kids/
(21) Source: www.bintjbeil.com/articles/en/d_huntington.html
(22)Source: Book: Manhood of Humanity, Page 34: http://lipn.univ-paris13.fr/~duchamp/Books&more/Neurosciences/Korzybski/%5BAlfred_Korzybski%5D_Manhood_of_Humanity(BookFi.org).pdf
(23) (Source: http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/sustainabledevelopment/overview#3)
