Maui and a local man

Sadly I don't remember the names of these two speakers. It was several weeks ago and I didn't write down the names of the presenters. In any case, the first section was likely taught by the teacher (^_^). It was a map of Maui in which was shaped like a human silhouette.

The first part of my notes was likely a presentation via TED about the future of China and how they are building new cities in previously farmland. Instead of completely wiping out the agricultural land, they will instead move the farmland from the ground level to the top of the building. It greatly reminds me of Dr. Allen's sustainable buildings with green roofs. The green roofs while slightly heavier, help the land become sustainable since it uses the land to grow crops and helps produce O2 via the plants instead of cementing over the land. It was an idea that I really liked because it encouraged to use the land while not destroying the traditions of China.

Other topics included how the culture and religion affect the environment. Which was talked about in other posts. Or how human evolution has evolved socially and economically to the point in which earth can't even balance itself anymore. Earth's system of balancing the population seems to be environmental disasters.

While terrible because of the loss of life, it is understandable that the Earth balance itself. Humans have grown exponentially since the Industrial Revolution, since the increase of health care and medical technology, Earth's natural disasters doesn't seem to be balancing out the population anymore. Instead it seems to ever growing and doesn't seem to be stopping any time soon. While the idea seems harsh, but there is a reason for everything and Earth does have it's own defenses and balances to the world.

The second part of the class had the guy who was a native martial artist who taught us about the Hawaiian elements and the language. It was pretty cool to see the different ways that the elements reflect back into the people. His philosophy was back casting and forecasting. To look back and learn from past mistakes for the betterment of the future. Essentially, this means to learn via Trial and error. Anything thing that has gone wrong, accept it, learn from it and move on. The presenter talked about how westerners "found" Hawaii even though their own ancestors have been around for hundreds of years. That someone could "found" even though they've been there for generations.

He was very knowledgeable about Hawaii's own history and the traditions of the native Hawaiians. The presenter talked about the breath of life "Ha" and water "i" and the creative energy of all things define the relationship between the people and the environment.

The last thing I learned was how the various vowels of the Hawaiian language represented various elements of Earth. "A" for Fire, "E" for wind, "I" for water, "O" for earth, "U" for spirit of man, and "Po" for darkness/chaos. It was cool that mere vowels could represent such elements in this way. It was a great lecture.