People in Western societies seem to be loosing their willingness and perhaps ability to cooperate. Industrialisation, two world wars and the consequent alienation that followed caused people to become increasingly reliant on themselves rather than social groups. This is clearly evident in the degradation of family structures. We all seem to begun suffering from a kind of ’Autism‘ (Under this term I mean deficits in communication and social interaction) Perhaps the ‘cure’ is found in nature and holistic living. Holistic can be interpreted in numerous ways, In my mind it is being part of Nature. This sounds rather obvious until you begin to think about it. How much are we really a part of nature? In nature organisms to do not produce substances of harm or destruction for any other purpose than self-defence. The Sea Anemone is coated by poisonous mucus, which keeps predators at bay. Anemone fish such as the Clownfish is immune to this toxin, it swims in and out and upside-down, ‘clowning’ around, seemingly having a fun time but it’s actually coating it’s own skin with the Anemone’s mucus. In return for this armour, the morsels of food left over from the Clown fish’s dinner will nourish the anemone. It’s a Win, Win situation that Nature is so good and people are so bad at. Nature encourages cooperation where two or more entities mutually benefit from contact. Symbiosis even takes this a step further, where organisms rely on each other for life itself. These levels of cooperation are what makes life possible on earth and what has created its incredible diversity.

How can we get closer and relearn to cooperate again? Perhaps many of the answers will be found in Biomicry. (I am referring to the imitation of a natural phenomenon’s or environment’s efficiency and survival mechanisms) The term so far seem to have only been applied to products and manufacturing processes but I feel that the term also has the scope to cover social issues, such as collective ‘Autism’.