SolSeed:Helping Life Thrive, On Earth And Beyond

SolSeed < Media < SolSeed book

In book form, the ideas that make up SolSeed will be much more "solid" than they are on this wiki--that is, while a wiki is designed to be easy to change, a book can only be revised relatively rarely. Thus, it's important to plan carefully to ensure that the book represents the best current consensus we can establish about what SolSeed is, where it came from, and what it intends to become.

Some ideas for this iteration of the book could be drawn from Ben's initial work on a previous iteration at AboutUs.org.

Purpose

The purpose of this book is to give both the rider and the elephant a clear picture of what the SolSeed experiment is and a visceral understanding of why it is important even if the person reading the book has never heard of SolSeed before. This book will inspire those who already resonate with the values of the SolSeed Movement, but don't realize that such a movement exists. It will also help us clarify our thinking about the nature of our organization and what we stand for.

Recipe for writing that engages the elephant: 1) Tell a story, 2) tease out the main point from the story, 3) illustrate the main point and a few axioms with a couple more stories.

We need to answer Why before we talk about What and How. The first part of the book addresses Why and the rest talks about How and What.

Title

SolSeed: Helping Life Thrive, On Earth And Beyond

Tentative Table of Contents

Italicized sections are not written yet.

Preface by Brandon

Happy in the sun
More or less alive

Part 1: A Vision for Life

Chapter 1: Life ... it's our epic story!

Life is worthy of veneration
Worthy, but not perfect
The upward spiral of life
The "body of all life"
Life has invested in us
Who you are
Your calling

Chapter 2: Bringing life to ourselves

Being is where doing comes from
Getting into action
Science-based spirituality
Religion-shaped hole
Multiple selves
The divided self
The motivation paradox
Passion, empathy, and wisdom

Chapter 3: Bringing life to each other and our communities

Relationship is critical
Benefits of relationship
Relationship is a muscle
Relationship is a skill
Supporting Positive Identities
From the Individual to the Group
Competition
Cooperation
Collaboration
Supporting earnest beginners
Clubs and Supportive Organizations
Coaching, not just for athletes
Our eco-village vision
The broader movement
Gatherings of Kindred

Chapter 4: Bringing life to our world

A scientific creation myth
Two ways of living
People are animals too
Avoiding the other extreme
An end to progress?
Crossing the gap
What can I do?

Part 2: The SolSeed Movement

Chapter 5: Thriving on Earth

Defining what we mean by "Starfarer"
Growing the movement
Spiritual practices
Forming SolSeed communities
Gatherings of kindred
SolSeed businesses
SolSeed education

Chapter 6: Taking Root Amongst the Stars

Orbiting mini-worlds
Biospheres 3, 4, 5, etc.
Terraforming/ecopoeisis: a multi-species joint venture
Adapting to new worlds
Generations between the stars
On our own, far from home
Coexisting with alien biospheres
Uplift and psychopoeisis

Chapter 7: Growing at the Speed of Gaia

The Misinformation of Science Fiction
The Speed of Gaia
The Icy Outer Worlds of Solar Systems
Dyson Trees (need to mention Dyson and give a brief description of how such a tree could survive)
Living Seed Catapults
Getting to Know Our Neighbours at the Speed of Gaia
Diversity Through Sluggishness
Imagining a human culture with the patience of Gaia?

Chapter 8: Getting Involved