How looking through a different lens may allow you to see the world differently
Ecology is often thought of as a sub discipline of biology, while this initial understanding of ecology as, “the study of ecosystems and how they work”, is correct we can expand on this definition. Ecology can also be applied as a framework to just about anything even outside of biology and the natural world. Ecology can be used as a framework in the same way that economics can be applied broadly as a framework to systems outside of the business realm. In applied economics, you can study a situation, whether it is something classically studied in economics like a bank or something untraditional like a library. In order to approach untraditional topics using economics one can start by applying economic thinking and concepts to help solve problems, specifically when using an economic lens you would look at choices, limitations, flows of funds, supply, demand, and equilibrium. These ideas can be applied to the study of a library.
Similarly applying “ecology” or ecological thinking to nontraditional applications takes an understanding of what ecologists fundamentally look for when they study something using an ecological lens. Ecologists by trait are very focused on complete systems, interconnectedness, and interactions between elements of a given environment when looking at an ecosystem. Using the same example of a library we can see how applying ecologic thinking is similar to applying economic thinking to a new application. When studying a library through ecology you would approach it as if you were looking at a plant using ecology. You would study the over all environment of the library, the inputs, outputs, flows, storages, and complexities of whole library as a system. As you can see ecological thinking is different from Economic thinking, however they are both “frameworks” or “views” that can be used to approach any situation. Therefore, depending on the problem that is being addressed; a person who knows something about how economist think and ecologist think and how they differ, this person can choose to apply the lens they think is the most effective in the given situation.
In class we have learned many reasons why taking an ecological view on the world is very unique and powerful. Additionally ecological views can also lend themselves to helping people reach sustainable solutions. There are a few key reasons why an ecological view of the world and its problems is in many cases superior to other approaches and result in sustainable solutions. First, Ecologists recognize that every action has an effect on something else in any given system therefore they believe that every thing is interconnected. When you look at any system in question with an ecological lens it may become very clear that a system has unintended effects on other parts of the system that make it unstable. Recognizing and correcting this could help solve the problem and prevent future problems from occurring as a result of unwanted or unexplained interactions. A second thing ecologist’s take into consideration is that every system has inputs and outputs. When inputs and outputs are out of balance feedbacks occur and cause the system to be unstable. For example taking an ecological lens when studying the library you many notice that there is more information going out than coming in. With this discovery one may uncover a variety of issues such as the prices of information being too high and so on. Overall because ecologists study both interactions and inputs and outputs and many other unique elements of a system they are able to make unique discoveries and offer sustainable solutions to everyday problems that occur in any area even far outside of the realm of biology. Overall, ecological views of the word are very powerful. — Madison Haas