Oversimplification and disconnection

“In some ways I feel as though in our rapid adoption of reductionist science we lost all true understanding of the world.  We reduce things down to the simplest terms so that we can more easily describe the complicated - but in the process, we lose sight of the whole.” - Zach Weiss

Zack Weiss hit the nail on the head with this quote from his Water Stories Core Course. Whether it be the horse world or the world of resource conservation, there are many similarities in terms of how people are taught to think about challenges with their horse, or challenges with the environment.

As part of my work with the conservation district, we are organizing a workshop in early March. During a planning session we were discussing the ‘drivers of change’ identified in a series of interviews. I find this concept of identifying ‘drivers of change’ quite interesting. We are focused on the ‘drivers of change’ around water availability for agriculture in our Watershed. Of course, the subject of climate change comes up as a rather large ‘driver’. 

The ensuing conversation around how we consider climate change as a ‘driver’ during our workshop was fascinating. I suggested that perhaps we should be thinking more specifically about what is driving climate change in our region rather than focusing on climate change on a global scale. As I listened to the comments and discussion it dawned on me that people were focusing on the climate as something separate from themselves - outside of their control.

After all, we can’t do anything to change what others are doing that impacts climate badly, whether within our watershed, or on other continents, so this is not something we can affect. Climate is climate and it will do what it will do regardless of our interventions or our lack of interventions. Instead, we must accept that the climate is changing. Our watershed is likely to get hotter and drier with less frequent but more intense storms. We simply have to learn to adapt to that state.

And this is what I think Zach so eloquently stated in his quote - by trying to reduce these large concepts like climate change down to something simple, we effectively separate ourselves from it and from our capacity, our agency, to act on our own behalf. Climate is something separate from us and outside of our control and climate change is inevitable.

Even the concept of resource conservation troubles me as I continue to learn. Conservation implies that our resources are finite and must be conserved. In my area, conservation becomes a bit like trying to squeeze blood from a turnip after a while. When the conversation efforts turn to paying farmers to fallow their fields as a strategy to cut water consumption this is scary territory. Are we so disconnected from where our food comes from to think that targeting agriculture to save water is the best we can do?

All of these situations illustrate this idea that we have lost sight of the whole as we lose our connection to the natural world. What drives the availability of water in our watershed is complex and cannot be simplified. Furthermore, it is something that each and every one of us can positively impact in our own backyards. What if we stopped thinking about conserving our resources and started thinking instead about renewing them? Or recharging them? 

Soil, water, clean air, diverse plants and animals all work together to create a cycle that is renewable. We have systematically broken down these cycles to make the world more comfortable for human civilization but in the process we are destroying the very cycles we need to live at all. 

Last week I learned that the Colorado River is the most endangered river in the US. In my Colorado River community large corporations are buying up vast tracts of land so they own the water rights and can sell those rights to the highest bidder as water becomes increasingly scarce. My home is significantly threatened and I refuse to stand by and watch it happen. I see the whole picture and I cannot unsee it, so if I’m a bit quiet in the horse world it’s because I’m consumed by learning what I can do to help keep my home habitable. 

I don’t know right now what the future holds for me as a teacher of all things horse. What I do know is that if things don’t change I won’t be able to keep horses here anymore. I could move, but I’d rather take a page from Brad Lancaster’s book and stay here and become part of the solution for this valley. 

As I work on a new way to teach about horses, I realize I run into many similar issues in the horse world. Try not to get so caught up in ‘the science’ of one aspect of horses that you lose sight of your connection to YOUR horse and what you see, feel, touch, taste and hear in response to them as a whole, and in relationship to their environment - including you. 

This week, I challenge you to go learn something about your watershed. Share it in our online community here.