The ‘Biophilic Organization’: An Integrative Metaphor for Corporate Sustainability

This paper proposes a new organizational metaphor, the ‘Biophilic Organization’, which aims to counter the bio-cultural disconnection of many organizations despite their espoused commitment to sustainability. This conceptual research draws on multiple disciplines such as evolutionary psychology and architecture to not only develop a diverse bio-cultural connection but to show how this connection tackles sustainability, in a holistic and systemic sense. Moreover, the paper takes an integrative view of sustainability, which effectively means that it embraces the different emergent tensions. Three specific tensions are explored: efficiency versus resilience, organizational versus personal agendas and isomorphism versus institutional change. In order to illustrate how the Biophilic Organization could potentially provide a synthesis strategy for such tensions, healthcare examples are drawn from the emerging fields of Biophilic Design in Singapore and Generative Design in the U.S.A. Finally, an example is provided which highlights how a Taoist cultural context has impacted on a business leader in China, to illustrative the significance of a transcendent belief system to such a bio-cultural narrative

Simple models and understanding in science

Most scientific models are idealised and simplified representations of their targets at least to some extent, but some models are very simple and or highly idealised. Yet these simple models are often claimed to help scientists to understand the world of their scientific theories. How simple models might do this is the focus of this thesis. I will first give an overview of different types of simple models. Next, I will discuss on the notion of understanding as is appropriate to this project. Then I will present and consider several different ways simple models are claimed to help scientists understand, including by providing explanations of various sorts and by elucidating concepts

A Bridge Between Two Worlds: a Cultural Interpretation of Dragonwings

Living in the dual worlds of his life as a Chinese American and in places such as Chinatown, Laurence Yep felt that he was culturally alienated and that he did not have a culture of his own. With the driving wish to find out about Chinese culture―his culture, he finished his best known novel Dragonwings after six years of research on Chinese culture. Based on the true story of Fung Joe Guey, a Chinese American who built and flew an airplane in the Oakland hills in 1909, Dragonwings tells the story of Moon Shadow, who comes to San Francisco to join his unknown father, Windrider, who cherishes the dream of flying. To pursue the dream, Moon Shadow and his father have to move out of Chinatown. After enduring a sea of misunderstanding, cruelty and poverty, Windrider finally realizes his flying dream with the support and aid of his beloved son and his fellowmen, as well as his American friends. Trying to show the process from misinterpretation and misunderstanding to mutual understanding and the possibilities of cultural exchange and cultural fusion between two different cultures, we will discuss how the Chinese culture is rediscovered by a Chinese American and how cultural misunderstanding leads to an unbalanced world and how tolerance and understanding restore the world into a harmonious one. This paper attempts to demonstrate, through the analysis of Dragonwings, the author’s exploration of Chinese culture, cultural exchange and human nature transcending cultural differences. Key words: Dragonwings, Laurence Yep, cultural exchange Abstrait: En vivant dans le monde dual de sa vie comme Américain chinois et aux endroits comme la Cité chinoise, Laurence Yep trouve qu’il était aliéné culturellement et qu’il n’avait pas de culture de sa ville. Avec l’espoir violent à découvrir la culture chinoise----sa culture, il a achevé son roman bien connu Dragon-ailes après une recherche de six années sur la culture chinoise. Basé sur l’histoire vraie de Fung Joe Guey , un Américain Chinois qui a fabriqué et manié un avion dans les Montagnes Oakland en 1909, Dragon-ailes raconte le conte de Ombre de lune, qui vient à San Francisco pour rejoindre son père inconnu , Windrider, qui a le rêve de voler .Poursuivant le rêve, Ombre Lunaire et son père sont obligés de bouger de la Cité chinoise. Après avoir enduré une mer d’incompréhension , de cruauté et de pauvreté, Windrider a finalement réalizé son rêve de voler avec l’aide de son fils et ses compagnons, ainsi que ses amis américains. Essayant de montrer le processus de malinterprétation et de incompréhension à compréhension mutuelle et les possibilités d’échange et de fusion culturels entre deux cultures différentes, nous discuterons comment la culture chinoise est redécouverte par un Américian chinois et comment l’incompréhension culturelle conduit à un monde inégal et comment la tolérance et la compréhension reconstruisent le monde à celui d’harmonique. Ce papier tente de démontrer , à travers l’analyse de Dragon-ailes , l’exploration de l’auteur de la culture chinoise , de l’échange culturel et des différences transcendantes naturelles de la nature humaine. Mots clefs: Dragon-ailes, Laurence Yep, échange culture