22 Scenarios: A Glimpse into Man-and-Nature
Relationship on a Wall Mural
Original Title: A Glimpse into Nature on a Wall
Mural by Dr Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature - School on Blog (avrotor.blogspot.com)
Also open Naturalism -the Eighth Sense
The mural is made of sections depicting the major ecosystems. It measures 90 feet long and 7 to 20 feet high. It is located at the corner or Kudyapi and Lam-ang Streets (Block 61, Lot 55), Barangay Greater Lagro QC. author's residence.
“I who erewhile the happy Garden sung,
By one man’s disobedience lost, now sing
Recover’d Paradise to all mankind,
By one man firm obedience fully tri’d
Through all temptation, and the tempter foil’d
In all his wiles, defeated and repuls’t.
And Eden rais’d in the waste Wilderness.”
By one man’s disobedience lost, now sing
Recover’d Paradise to all mankind,
By one man firm obedience fully tri’d
Through all temptation, and the tempter foil’d
In all his wiles, defeated and repuls’t.
And Eden rais’d in the waste Wilderness.”
- John Milton, Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained 1667
(Paradise Regained, Book 1, Lines 1 to 7) Photo: Typical representation of peaceful co-existence of all creatures in the fabled Paradise.
A glimpse into natural history, longer than humanity’s biography, a span not even imagination can fathom - the rest is omnipotent mystery – from the first day of creation to the seventh and beyond;
A glimpse into Oparin’s spontaneous theory of life, to Stanley’s experiment of chemical to biological transformation, and Darwin’s theory of transformation of life forms through evolution.
A glimpse into Pasteur’s life-saving immunization, Zamora’s Tiki-tiki milk substitute during WW2, Fleming’s antibiotics, to Barnard’s heart transplantation, to Crick and Watson’s DNA model that gave rise to molecular genetics and engineering.
A glimpse into Einstein’s E=mc2 formula of a man-made Armageddon, to Higg’s Boson’s energy-to-matter transformation, ultimately naming the primordial matter, wanting of clear explanation, as God’s Particle.
A glimpse into Gagarin’s first manned orbital satellite, to Armstrong and Aldrin team’s landing on the moon, to Molina et al ‘s theory of Black Hole that devours stars – including our sun and all its planets.
A glimpse into the greatest inventions: Wright brothers’ airplane, Edison's incandescent lamp, Bell's telephone, San Juan’s Moon Buggy, Rotor Syndrome (bilirubin metabolism disorder), and other inventions that boost energy supply, efficient mass travel, among many others.
A glimpse into Green Revolution - beginning with the birth of agriculture at the Fertile Crescent to opening of new frontiers, Magsaysay’s PRRM (rural development), to modernization and diversification, onto hydroponics, aeroponics (city farming) and GMO (genetically modified organisms) farming.
A glimpse into the ancient world culminating in “the glory that was Greece” and “the grandeur that was Rome,” plunging into the Dark Ages, and rising in the Renaissance (15th Century), when the age of colonization placed the Philippines under Spanish rule for 400 years.
A glimpse into the end of the era of colonization, the heroism of Rizal, Bonifacio, Luna, Mabini et al , and later heroes, Quezon et al, and the saga of the unknown soldier during WW2, and the organization of the UN with Carlos Romulo among the founding world leaders.
A glimpse into the Cold War which polarized the world into warring ideologies – democracy and socialism – that gripped and pushed the whole world to the verge of global annihilation; and into its triumphant end symbolized by the tearing down the Berlin Wall in 1989.
A glimpse into the Malthusian warning of unabated population increase outstripping the earth's capacity to produce enough food, thus inviting the Four Horsemen of Apocalypse in the Book of Revelation representing war, famine, pestilence and death
A glimpse into worsening pollution on land, water and air, its consequences being primarily the irreversible destruction of the pristine environment, and the very foundation of productivity.
A glimpse into Haribon’s movement to save threatened and endangered species, with the Philippine Eagle (Remember Pamana!) as flagship, Greenpeace’s militant stand against environmental abuse, among other environmental movements.
A glimpse into neo-exodus to cities - cities growing into metropolises to megapolises - where millions of people are dangerously ensconced, and vulnerable to epidemic, famine, acculturation and loss of values, annihilation by weapons of mass destruction, notwithstanding.
A glimpse into man-induced climate change due to industrialization, population explosion, increasing affluence, extreme capitalism-consumerism, triggering more, and stronger, force majeure that destroy our earth and life itself.
A glimpse into Hans Selye's theory of increasing life expectancy or longevity, although a breakthrough, results in imbalanced demography, shortage of labor, slowdown of economy, increased budgetary requirements and subsidies.
A glimpse into the works of the world’s greatest naturalists, from Aristotle to Da Vinci, to pioneers Rizal, Wallace, Schweitzer, Audubon, to contemporary Attenborough, EO Wilson, for their philosophy of Reverence for Life.
A glimpse into the world’s best works in the Humanities exulting Nature through music (Beethoven’s Pastoral, Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, Lucio San Pedro’s Ugoy ng Duyan), literature (Carson’s Silent Spring, Thoreau’s Walden and Al Gore’s World in the Balance), fine art (Amorsolo’s Harvestime and rustic country scenes ).
A glimpse into the world’s reserves and conservation parks covering natural habitats of wildlife (Palawan’s Underground River), and ecosystems vital in maintaining balance of nature and its sustainability for future generations and posterity.
A glimpse into globalization with the world shrunk and wired, so to speak, running on two feet: the versatility of cyber communication, and convenience and swiftness of travel to practically anywhere on earth.
A glimpse into the magic of cyber-technology, virtually placing “the world on the palm at fingertip command,” from on-line learning, entertainment, commerce, to relationships, thus further shrinking time and space, and fusing biology and machine, natural and artificial intelligence.
A glimpse into Toffler’s Future Shock and Eco-Spasm come true. We are now living in Postmodernism where accelerated change is sweeping the whole world into a chartless and unknown direction, much less of a defined goal. ~
Young and grownup visitors experience virtual reality of being in a pristine landscape. The mural is visited every day by various individuals and groups. The mural is lighted for evening viewing. ~
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