August 14, 2011

Athens, Georgia

It is the end of summer.

The nice cool breezes of  the approaching Fall are in the air. 

I looked at the forest and saw that caterpillars were beginning  to consume the leaves on a nut tree.

They are not eating the nuts, but only the leaves.

As I observed them, I discovered that not all caterpillars are bad for trees.

I did not realize that before now.

Some caterpillars have learned to respect the right of trees to enjoy life just like themselves.

They have learned that if they take care of the trees, then the trees will take care of them.

This is evidence that the caterpillars think about the future and long-term benefits, not just mindless instincts. 

They don't think in the same way as you and I do with logic.

But they learn by experience and retaining  beneficial survival memories that they pass on to their offspring with each generation by evomorphing (evolution and metamorphosis) together with the trees, until eventually there are many groups of caterpillars who learn to nurture and protect the trees for future generations instead of selfishly destroying their host for a one-time feast.

Since this group is beneficial to the trees, they are more able to survive for a longer time and reproduce more generations of offspring, and more groups, of those who are good caterpillars.

They have learned this despite the fact that some of their own kind are destructive and destroy trees.

But, these are good caterpillars.

This is symbiosis.

Can you see how these caterpillars might be beneficial to the tree they are consuming?

Let's look and observe.

Notice how the caterpillars waited until the end of Summer, August 14, and just before Fall to consume the leaves on this branch.

Since the leaves would die soon and drop to the ground anyways, these caterpillars make wise use of their host by choosing the right time to consume that is beneficial to both themselves and their host. 

In this way, both the consumer and the host are evomorphing together.
(evolution and metamorphoses)

Notice that the caterpillars did not eat the nuts. 

In fact, by consuming the leaves before the Fall, the nuts have a better chance to drop directly into the womb of the earth unimpeded by a heavy covering of fallen leaves.

There the nuts will remain throughout the winter and undergo chemical changes within themselves and in the Spring they will be ready to grow into new little baby trees.

Further, the energy that the caterpillars expended while consuming the leaves caused some of the nuts to drop to the ground.

Thus the caterpillars are like farmers who both consume their crops and also plant new crops to assure that life for themselves and their host continues again and again.

There is a theory that some species actually create other beneficial species to support their life. 

That is, that the flowers created the bees; and, in the case of the trees and the caterpillars,  that the trees created the good caterpillars.

Do we do this?

Observe how we have nurtured and created new kinds of pets, such as cuddly dogs and cats who are different from their ancestors, the wolves and lions.

Are dogs and cats evomorphing together to higher levels by symbiosis with humans in ways that wolves and lions are not?

Which species has a more potential to survive longer in time (delay becoming extinct), dogs and cats or wolves and lions?

When confronted with bad caterpillars, fighting them with poisonous sprays are not the solution in the long term  because of its toxicity to all life, but rather, we should learn to support symbiotic ways to put mutually beneficial species together to support each other.

This is the concept of organic farming. that uses symbiosis to produce healthy crops without the toxic side effects of pesticides.

Symbiosis is when two different species mutually share benefits with each other.

The caterpillars consume the leaves, while carefully preserving the nuts that will make more trees, and they are careful not to destroy the tree by over-consuming the leaves nor  feeding during the Spring as those other destructive caterpillars do.

Instead, the good caterpillars only feed during the late summer, just before Fall.

Therefore, we see that there are good and bad in all species.

The good have learned that life is better when we connect to all life in a mutually respectful way.

The good produce more order in the world.

Can you see why the good of all species will eventually become the dominant force on earth?

Can you see how the functions of evomorph (evolution and metamorphosis) support the good species to survive for a long time into future generations but not the destructive bad species?

Symbiosis supports all Life and leaves behind selfishness and destructiveness in favor of evomorphing (evolution and metamorphoses) together with those species who learn ways to get along well with others in a mutually beneficial way.

These good caterpillars assure that next year, they will have food at the end of summer, and that the tree, and, thus, the leaves, are healthy and strong and both species  can, again, reproduce and take care of each other at the end of next summer.

Can we also apply the concept symbiosis in other ways?