Exvironmentalism

The concept of Exvironmentalism, which I posted about as my contribution to the Space Settlement Blog Day, has seemed to find some resonance within the blogosphere. I thought it might be useful, therefore, to expand more on the concept of Exvironmentalism by providing some definitions, some background, and maybe some general philosophical meanderings to get us going. So here we go:

Exvironmentalism is a broad philosophy and social movement which seeks to develop a perspective which transcends terrestrial concerns.  Instead of looking inwards only on the Earth, Exvironmentalism turns to look outwards, encompassing not just the Earth, but as much of the Cosmos as can be comprehended.  Although in a sense, Exvironmentalism can be thought of as extending, expanding, and broadening the meaning of Environmentalism, Exvironmentalism has concerns that are not addressed or considered within Environmentalism, and therefore cannot be extrapolated from Environmentalism itself.  As such, we need a bigger concept; we need a philosophical basis that can embrace this increased understanding of our life in the Cosmos.

The first time humans saw pictures of our blue planet floating in the blackness of space, we had an intuitive understanding that not only was our Earth our island home, but that we were more than just Earthlings, and that the space we lived in was more, infinitely more, that just the surface of our planet.  I don’t know about you, but the word “Environment” just wasn’t big enough to convey the vastness of our life in the Cosmos.

And so, whereas Environmentalism is focused on conservation and improvement of the environment of the Earth, Exvironmentalism seeks to turn the focus outwards, so that the ideas of conservation, and improvements of terrestrial environments are part of much broader and more inclusive notions regarding life not just on Earth, but also of life in our solar system, and out into the Cosmos.

I think that there is another important distinction between Exvironmentalism and Environmentalism.  I believe that Exvironmentalism should see human beings as part of the solution, as opposed to being part of the problem.  Humans can and must play an important role in enabling the growth of living creatures, plant, animal, and other, in the otherwise sterile exvironments of the cosmos.  As such, human life has intrinsic value and worth, like all living and sentient creatures, and therefore is also worthy of respect and should be valued.

The word Exvironmentalism has its etymological roots in Latin, just as does the word Environmentalism does.  In Latin, the word environ comes from the words “en”, meaning in, “viron”,  meaning circle, and “vertere”, meaning to turn. Thus, environ means literally “to turn in a circle inwards”.  Thus, Environmentalism is the concern for what one encircles, for one’s surroundings.  By contrast, Exvironmentalism would substitute “ex”, meaning out, for “en”.  Thus, Exvironmentalism would mean to turn in a circle outwards.  Thus, the concern and focus moves from an inward-gazing, to an outward-gazing perspective.

Philosophies need symbols to help carry the message.  The symbol the we developed over the years for Environmentalism emerged from our increasing understanding of natural systems, and we now know and recognize it well:

In a like manner, Exvironmentalism needs a symbol, and we’re just at the beginning of working the details of the symbol out.  Whereas Environmentalism circles inward, Exvironmentalism circles outward.  Whereas Environmentalism is green, symbolic of photosynthesis and life, Exvironmentalism is blue and black, the color of Earth and of the atmosphere and of the vacuum of deep space.  Thus, here’s a concept for the symbol for Exvironmentalism:

 

We turn in a circle outwards, transitioning from the blue of Earth to the black of space.

In this humble first post, I’ve tried to provide a bit more background to the concept of Exvironmentalism.  I’m looking forward to seeing more interest and discussion regarding it, and I will provide more postings accordingly

Comments

[John Bossard]

This is a test posting to see if the comments are showing up. If you can read this, and want to provide a comment, I would really appreciate the interaction. Currently, I do not have the "approval" feature turned on, meaning that comments get posted as they entered, and I do not have to approve them before they are posted.

[John Bossard]

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[John Bossard]

another test post

[MG]

If you would like to draw a clearer symbolic contrast between exvironmentalism and environmentalism, I recommend that the exV symbol use the "language" of the enV symbol.

Specifically:

-- Use the same color of green
-- Same arrowhead style
-- same "half-twist" in the arrows

BUT (and this is the "symbolic dialogue"):

-- the arrows spiral outward
-- in contrast to the triangle of the recycling symbol, the arrows create a circular envelope.

The recycling symbol communicates the idea that Nature (the green color) is a closed system that reuses everything in an endless loop. The equilateral triangle suggests stability and equilibrium.

The exV symbol could use the same color (Nature) to emphasize that the way Nature works is an open system (the spiral), that it succeeds by spreading out to fill all possible spaces.

Finally, the implicit circle is a clearer reference to Earth than the recycling symbol's triangle, and the arrows more clearly suggest that human agency is behind the functioning of the arrows spiraling outward.

[John Bossard]

MG,
thank you for your thoughtful suggestions regarding possible exvironmentalism symbols. These are good comments. I also like your notation "exV" (in contrast to enV).

In some ways, I want to break from environmentalism ideas, and draw a strong distinction between exV and enV. Green is the color of photosynthesis, and as such represents a fundamental base of the terrestrial food pyramid. However, not all life is photosynthetically based, or relies on the solar energy. Even on Earth, thermal vent life has established a fundamentally different energy cycle. In addition, the emergence of consciousnesses in machine intelligence cannot be adequately represented by green, IMHO. So I thought blue and black made for better colors.
The equilateral triangle has deep mystical and religious symbolism, and is echoed in the arrowheads and overall shape. I also thought it looked better than the flattened, 70's-era type of arrowhead.
I'm glad you brought up the notion of closed vs. open systems. I contend that exvironmentalism is predicated on the notions of open systems (as opposed to closed systems), whereas environmentalism seems more closely aligned with closed systems (i.e. recycling).
Perhaps it didn't come out clearly in the graphic (thanks to my limited skill in creating graphics), but there is a circle around the Earth symbol, but its a bit jaggy. Also, it's probably not very clear, but the shafts of the arrows that emerge from this circle are curved and are meant to denote an outward spiraling effect, just as you suggest.
Anyway, its interesting to discuss these symbolic notions. Perhaps I can hire a graphic artist to clean things up. Discussion and the exchange of ideas always helps.

[vert]

Thx for the explanation of the environmental symbol !! very interesting