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the_big_here [2010-01-23 12:49] – created nikthe_big_here [2010-01-23 12:53] (current) – nik
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 +===Are You Really Here Now?===
 +Kevin Kelly via http://www.kk.org/cooltools/archives/000957.php 
 +
 +You live in the big here. Wherever you live, your tiny spot is deeply
 +intertwined within a larger place, imbedded fractal-like into a whole system
 +called a watershed, which is itself integrated with other watersheds into a
 +tightly interdependent biome. (See the world eco-region map ). At the ultimate
 +level, your home is a cell in an organism called a planet. All these levels
 +interconnect. What do you know about the dynamics of this larger system around
 +you? Most of us are ignorant of this matrix. But it is the biggest interactive
 +game there is. Hacking it is both fun and vital.
 +
 +The following exercise in watershed awareness was hatched 30 years ago by Peter
 +Warshall, naturalist extraordinaire. Variations of this list have appeared over
 +the years with additions by Jim Dodge, Peter Berg, and Stephanie Mills among
 +others. I have recently added new questions from Warshall and myself, and I have
 +edited or altered most of the rest. It's still a work in progress. If you have a
 +universal question you think fits, submit it to me.
 +
 +I am extremely interested in hearing from anyone who scores a 25 or better on
 +the quiz on their first unassisted try. I'd like to know how you got your Big
 +Here education. I have a few small prizes for anyone who scores (on the honor
 +system) a perfect 30, without Googling.
 +
 +The intent of this quiz is to inspire you to answer the questions you can't
 +initially. I'd like to collect and then post the best step-by-step suggestions
 +about how to answer a particular question. These are not answers to the quiz,
 +but recommended paths on how one might most efficiently answer the question
 +locally. Helpful websites which can provide local answers are wanted. Because of
 +the severe specificity of local answers, the methods provided should be as
 +general as possible. The emerging list of answer-paths will thus become the Cool
 +Tool.
 +
 +Post your methods in the comment section for each question linked in red to my
 +Help Wanted page. I will award a copy of the next paper-book version of Cool
 +Tools to the person providing what I consider the best solution method(s) for
 +each question.
 +
 +-- KK
 +
 +
 +===30 questions to elevate your awareness (and literacy) of the greater place in which you live:===
 +
   - Point north.    - Point north. 
   - What time is sunset today?   - What time is sunset today?
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 ===The Bigger Here Bonus Questions=== ===The Bigger Here Bonus Questions===
  
-  * 31) What species once found here are known to have gone extinct? +  - What species once found here are known to have gone extinct? 
-  * 32) What other cities or landscape features on the planet share your latitude? +  - What other cities or landscape features on the planet share your latitude? 
-  * 33) What was the dominant land cover plant here 10,000 years ago? +  - What was the dominant land cover plant here 10,000 years ago? 
-  * 34) Name two places on different continents that have similar sunshine/rainfall/wind and temperature patterns to here.+  - Name two places on different continents that have similar sunshine/rainfall/wind and temperature patterns to here.
  
  

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