I recently finished reading Tim Ferris’s latest book, The 4-Hour Body. His previous novel, The Four Hour Workweek, proposed innovative and unconventional solutions for over-worked employees. His newest book, An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat-Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman, at first glance sounds gimmicky and sure to disappoint.
As I skeptically read The 4-Hour Body, I was pleasantly surprised to find a well structured novel founded in sound science. Obviously, many of the book’s section were not applicable to me (I’m not particularly interested in the chapter “From Geek to Freak: How to Gain 34 Pounds in 28 Days”). What stuck with me the most, though, was Ferris’s over-arcing message of taking charge of your personal health.
Ferris meticulously tracks his own blood sugar levels and insulin with an implanted device in his abdomen. And instead of waiting for a doctor to prescribe blood tests, Ferris regularly demands samples be drawn, as well as bone density scans and MRIs conducted.
While his forays are undoubtedly extreme and he does not claim you should be your own doctor, he does make the case for self-experimentation and taking your health into your own hands. Ferris outlines how to collect data points, inexpensively, track them on your own and implement minor changes to induce positive results. He argues for the value of self-experimentation to produce measurable improvements in your health and daily life.
Now, you may be wondering, “What does any of this have to do with marine and coral reef conservation?” Well, as I latched onto The 4-Hour Body’s idea of empowering people to be the advocates of their own health and experimenting for improvements, I wondered if we could apply these same ideas to ocean health.
Obviously, the ocean cannot step forward and demand that it be treated better or taken better care of. Nor can it be the advocate of its own health. It is the people most closely associated with the ocean, fisheries and scuba diving community that must bring marine conservation issues to the rest of the population’s attention.
There are people who do not depend directly on the ocean for a livelihood or resources. Without knowledge of the issues and how the preservation of fish populations and coral reefs affects them, these people cannot be advocates for ocean health.
I would ask, then, how do we impassion people to feel as strongly about ocean health as they do about their own health? What data, images or video can we put in front of people’s eyes to help them see how they are connected to the ocean? Would the people most closely linked with the ocean best spark the “blue revolution?” To whom should we demand better care for our oceans?
One thing we can all do is get out there and collect our own data, propose our own solutions and start experimenting for improved fisheries, better managed MPAs, increased coral reef health and overall ocean health. Yes, scientific integrity must be maintained during experiments, but I do not believe that conducting science need only be reserved for elite PhD graduates (Read the chapter Spotting Bad Science 101 in Ferris’s new book). Your data, pictures or videos shown to a wide audience may have a greater impact for change than a marine scientist’s obscure journal publication. It is it also up to the marine biologists and ocean scientists to be proactive at putting their research into the hands of policy makers and the public.
I think its time we take a page from Tim Ferris’s book. Just as we need to take responsibility for our own personal health care, we must also bring marine issues to the forefront of our political, economic and social systems. Will you step up?
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Christine Beggs is the founder of Project Blue Hope, a site dedicated to spreading her wish for a “Future of Blue.” Currently pursuing her Master’s degree in Marine Conservation, Christine is passionate about communicating ocean sciences. |
I fear that if our messaging, in these dire times is divided, our people will not gain enough knowledge to make the big differences.
After centuries of runoff into our oceans and the world population explosion, the amount of toxic material and floating garbage that only breaks down over yrs, and the build-up to massive amounts of fishing, the oceans are no longer able to cope and remain healthy and produce a bounty of food.
I am not near an ocean now, and have not been schooled in marine eco-systems or how to regenerate them. But I am pretty sure that without a robust inland change in how our earth is treated, our oceans will continue to flounder.
It has taken generations (and will take more) for the gospel of conservation in all areas to penetrate the human habit system. To be honest, there are also the type of fools that are unable to learn from observation and reasoning. That is why legislation is essential.
I have had the luxury of time, a fair liberal arts education and thru 6 decades of observation. I now live on a small rocky rural area. Where earthworms are common when you dig in the earth and that is not common in much of the USA. So I’d suggest your younger generation find a Rosanne Barr or Archy Bunker to carry the message, hopefully with humor.
When I married we made the decision not to have more than one child. The big conservation message in the 60′s was about population growth. And we only had one child, & between him and me only have 2 Grand children. Luckily we were not the only children of our generation to have heard that message.
I believe stats will bear out that American families before the Viet Nam era had 4-5(on average) kids, while post VN families have evolved to having 2 kids. Through the span of one generation that is an amazing feat.
So, what did the trick? I credit movies and TV shows that taught nightly viewers about things from race, gays to the treatment of women in society, even to ecology being at the basis of a healthy world. Flipper is not only the name of a dolphin, the show was a teaching laboratory for people that had never heard of husbanding the earth before.
However we now face an opponent whose wealth and reach of a counter message is set to infiltrate and powers of persuasion will become daunting. International Corporate monopolies are set to steal all messaging getting into American homes.
As witness to this process, you have seen how American businesses have been decimated by International Corporate monopolies. The middle class has lost vast amounts of manufacturing jobs and a large percentage of Americans have fallen from the middle class into poverty, with many more to come soon.
I advocate creative, factual, messaging to the youth of the nation, with warnings about the power of the opponent. And a call for willingness to husband our earth.
We must also combine our efforts with those interested in other fields like politics, the arts, businesses(home grown), economics, ect ect-willing to add their skill and talent to our message.
It is not enough to have all the necessary facts, but have them only available to academics. Education is not only done at Universities or labs. If we choose, we can learn every day.
It is only the people of the nation that have enough power to turn back the tide of failed governance, easy fixes to eliminate bugs, fungus and mold, and it is only the people that have anything to loose if we fail.
You are right Dava, without a large push for inland changes & overall decrease in carbon emissions, our oceans will continue to be in danger. You’ve hit on most of the major players contributing to environmental degradation (big business, poor legislation, lack of information & engaging means of social change). But you’d also be surprised at the small efforts that can really add up on the part of people. One of the most effective ocean conservation tools, in my opinion, are marine protected areas (MPAs). I will always advocate that hope, even if others are saying the little things cannot possibly make a difference. Margaret Mead once said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” Never underestimate the ripples one person’s small act can create.
I really appreciate you sharing your insights into and examples of successful conservationists. With the advent of the internet, it is now easier to spread knowledge and information quickly and engage a wider social group in many different ways (video, blogs, texts, photos, social media, etc). I agree that movies and documentaries are some of the most powerful tools for causing people to take on a cause. This is one of the reasons I’ll be getting certified as a professional underwater videographer in July, 2011 through Oceans Below in Koh Tao, Thailand. So keep your eye on this blog in the coming months, as I hope to have some of my underwater footage and more conservation articles posted.
You are 100% correct that conservation is also entirely interdisciplinary – something that is not taught much in higher education. You are told to specialize, not try and learn every discipline. I graduated from college with my B.A. in Biology and a very narrow view of environmental issues (only from the side of a scientist). I’ve had little to no education in the social, political and economic issues surrounding environmental issues and I hope to attend a graduate school that can help “fill in the gaps” for me!
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