H.E.A.L's Appreciation of Bios

H.E.A.L’s Limb 3

Appreciation

Definition

What is appreciation? Here are some relevant definitions from the net:
• Gratitude; thankful recognition, the act of estimating the qualities of things and giving them their proper value, clear perception or recognition, esp. of aesthetic quality, favorable critical notice; evaluation; opinion, as of a situation, person, etc.
• An increase or rise in the value of property, goods, etc.
I would like to define ‘Appreciation’ using both of the above. It is a feeling of gratitude and well-being as a result of perceiving increased value and resulting benefit of a commodity.

Origin of care

The definition implies that something that has laid there unnoticed could suddenly have meaning. Suddenly the girl (Henna) who has always been there looks prettier. Love is in the air! And you start caring about the person. Maybe you marry her (she becomes yours) and take good care of her (Henna becomes ‘Honey’) now that you need her. But how did it start? It is by taking a second look. But what made you take a second look? Or if it is a new person, what makes you take a look? Well, it’s probably because something attracted your attention; her physique, her outfit, her personality or her make-up?

Something in a dress attracts a girl (Shanti). She observes it. She appreciates it. She loves it. She buys it (makes it hers) and cares about it and needs it.
Let us recapitulate; Attention (Attraction), observation, appreciation, love and then care.

So, if we want people to care, it has to start with some form of attraction or attention. Attention implies turning the neck and eye-balls in order to observe. If you do not observe by yourself, somebody else could help you see. Your friend, Salim asked you to take a second look at Henna. Kim asked Shanti to look at the dress.

Similarly, if we want people to take care of their health, their environment and of other people, we have to nurture their appreciation of those things. But first we need to get their attention. We should create ways to attract people’s attention, help them observe and let the appreciation come naturally. Love and care will follow.

Drawing attention

When we say, ‘Look,’ we are drawing someone’s attention to something. Now, if when the person looks he does not find something interesting, he might stop looking. But if he does, he might appreciate it. It is sometimes up to us to make it look interesting so that the person learns to appreciate it.

‘Look at that flower! It’s lovely, isn’t it? Look at the shape of the petals, aren’t they unusual? Look at the colour- amazing!’
‘Yea, you’re right, it’s really pretty. Funny, this is a common flower around and I never noticed how beautiful it is. Thanks for showing me this.’

The first observer was attracted ‘instinctively’ and drew the attention of the second observer to the flower. Thanks to the former, the latter is experiencing pleasure he had not felt before. This is a cause and effect situation where the feeling and words of the first observer had a positive effect on the second observer.

This is what poets do. They see the same things that we see, but they see them differently. They would describe a rose in a way we have not thought before and we learn to appreciate the rose more than before. As a result, we probably would love roses and possibly buy a rose plant and take care of it. Love and care comes naturally once we have appreciated. And of course love and care breed responsibility and respect. We respect the plant and feel responsible about it. Next, we might even want to learn more about it so that we can take better care of it. We may even feel that we need our rose plant because we enjoy it: we obtain pleasure looking at it.
Indeed, we only take care of the things we love and need because we derive pleasure from them. That is how mankind is. In fact that is how all living things are. We protect what we love and need because we are genetically selfish. This is a biological fact. So it is clear that once we get the attention of people, it is our duty to make sure that they find what we are showing them, interesting. They should derive pleasure from it. These facts should be considered when formulating pedagogy for mass education.

H.E.A.L’s Appreciation proposal

What the UN is doing when it nominates a day for something, say the Environment Day, it is in fact drawing our attention to that thing. I would like to see an ‘Appreciation Day’ for a number of Bio-related things- Trees; Animals; Birds; Fish; Microbes; Reefs; Food chains; Natural and Home Gardens; Balance Diet; Exercise; Sleep, to name but a few. On each of those days, employers and schools would run a special day. At school, for instance, each teacher, whatever the subject is, could teach an aspect of their subject which is related to Bio-concepts. H.E.A.L could help here. On ‘Animals Appreciation Day’ for example, a passage on ‘Animals’ could be done in the English Language lesson.

We would like to introduce the poets, singers, artists and actors to biology. They would find inspiration, beauty, and ingenuity as they have never seen. An optical microscope, let alone an electron microscope show structural details of unimaginable beauty.

What one sees is only the tip of the iceberg. Only the biologist can appreciate the grandeur and the infinite detail in the structural and functional beauty of living things. If poets, singers and performers could get access to this beauty, they would be amazed and would use their talent to raise awareness. A poem, a song, a painting or even a comedy can instantly invoke strong emotions in us. Think of the love song that can instantly make you melancholic. Think of a comedy on a subject that you want, which may suddenly refine your nerves.

Furthermore, we intend to devise an appropriate pedagogy, based on the above, which would stir the right emotions in children and adults. We would like to nurture the following characteristics: Ability to Observe, Appreciation, Love, Care, Pleasure, Respect and Responsibility in matters relating to health, environment and mankind. (See next section).

All teachers (and parents) probably know that for a child to understand something, his attention must first be drawn. Shouting does not work. There are more subtle ways which neither frustrates nor diminishes the child. We also intend to show to parents how to nurture the appreciation of nature in children. Passive lectures or instructions will not be enough. These apply to adults as well.

Emotion

We are touched by songs, poems, films because they play with our emotions. Emotion is a feeling that is ‘wired’ to other feelings in our brain. It is physiological but profound. It is some kind of chemical energy that can be transformed into various forms; happiness, sadness, anger. Too much of it brings stress which causes disease. None at all means we are already dead. Just enough of it can make miracles. Emotion influences people’s behaviour as Vincent Van Gogh puts it, ‘Let's not forget that the little emotions are the great captains of our lives and we obey them without realizing it.’ Emotion can cause change- good or bad.

We can use logic to change people but this may be temporary. Emotion has the power to change permanently. ‘When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but creatures of emotion,’ says Dale Carnegie. Lecturing involves using logic alone. Good teaching practice involves using both logic and emotion. If we believe in and appreciate what we teach, there is a higher chance that the right emotion will be there. The message may go through. The change might occur. This is the magic, the mystery of emotion.

Life is full of mystery. It is often said that Education demystifies things. But often when the mystery is gone, off goes the emotion. ‘The finest emotion of which we are capable is the mystic emotion,’ affirms Albert Einstein. The mystic emotion is the strongest of all emotions. So we will try to accentuate this mystery in our method of stirring appreciation.

We would like people to exercise more appreciation in many of the attributes of life and existence. It is not a question of ‘To be or not to be’. It is more ‘Let it be.’ Let us keep nature and its mystery as it is as much as we can. The Earth changes with time; everything does. All living things on Earth adapt to Earth changes, except Mankind. He effects change and shapes Mother Earth the way he wants. Man wants to change things not only because of his inability to adapt but also because of his inability to appreciate. But alas, change we need. The least we can do is appreciate, love and preserve what we have left unchanged. We can learn to appreciate ourselves too; we can learn to appreciate, love and preserve ‘Mankind’.