I10 & Quantum Mechanics
When I made the decision early in the new year to “up my game” with regard to finding solutions and bringing awareness to many of the environmental issues that we are currently facing, it was a bit overwhelming. Where to begin? Well, luckily I have at my disposal a problem-solving framework that I developed as part of my doctoral studies. The framework is known as I10 and I have utilized it regularly ever since its inception for all kinds of problem-solving.
The gist of I10 is that you need to envision what it is that you hope to attain, while also acknowledging any fears that exist along with other aspects. All together there are ten different areas of consideration with I10. If you would like to learn more, simply click on the the image to the left. This will take you to a page on my website where you can learn more about the framework and download a PDF of it.
For me, one of the fears that emerged while engaging with I10 was related to how I was going to communicate my ideas. It has always been easy for me to convey my ideas and concerns visually as an artist, but what I was envisioning now was going to require a shift towards more writing. Through working through the various phases of I10, I quickly realized that there were a number of ways that I could begin to wade into the literary waters. One way was to start writing the blog that you are currently reading.
With further engagement with I10, I also began to see that I was leaning towards a Walden-like experience and that the f/64 window through which I wanted to tackle my concerns was by simply focusing on our small, suburban property in CT.
At first I thought my idea was a bit crazy. Could I really relate my experiences on my property to the wider world and would they be relevant? As bizarre as it may seem, my answer to this question came in the form of a Centrum vitamin commercial that I saw on the television. It was the ad where all the people are made of multi-colored hexagons. As you can see in the image to the right, there are spaces between the hexagons and there is no outline. The human bodies appear to be permeable. This is where the lightbulb went off. These figures reminded me of something I had learned about quantum mechanics.
On Quara.com, Tom McFarlane explains what I was thinking about very clearly, “Consider a rock, for example. The atoms that make up the rock are bound together in a relatively stable form which has the identifiable physical characteristics of rock under certain conditions...The atoms in the surrounding air have different properties (e.g., they form a gas instead of a solid), making the boundary relatively clear to identify. However, if one examines the boundary at the atomic level, it does not have a fixed or exact location, and some of the atoms in the air may react with those in the rock and be assimilated, for example. So, the boundary between the rock and the air is an approximation based on our conventions for distinguishing certain physical properties from others…Nature does not impose such distinctions or select these conventions, we do.”
This line of thinking shows how all things, including ourselves, are bound and influenced by each other . So perhaps, like Thoreau and his time at Walden Pond, I could influence the world in a positive way by becoming an observer and a steward of our property. As I the possibilities became clearer, I knew that I had to start writing, observing and responding visually immediately.