Monday, March 10, 2014

It's Not Easy, Being Green



But, for what it's worth...



My dad - My favorite Green.



This can get us in trouble, so we tend to stay out of the limelight. We are used to being misunderstood, misinterpreted, dismissed. Our inventions are wierd, pointless, a waste of time. Our words are cryptic, nonsensical. Until 10 or 20 years later when everyone has one in their pocket and is quoting us like a mantra. Except it's usually not our name assigned to the quote, and the invention was made famous and mass-produced by someone else. Someone else takes the fame and the money, we're just forgotten nobodies, smiling small, self-satisfied smiles and thinking "Yes, but I did it first." Not that we always get shortchanged. Steve Wozniak seems to be pretty pleased with his lot in life.

If you are reading this and thinking "Wow, I am really a green! Finally, someone who gets me!" take this tip from me and I believe you will get much farther in life. Learn to play a game I call "Outside-Inside." I first conceived of Outside-Inside in the Training, studying for exams with note cards. On the "outside" of the card, a simple term or a picture. On the "inside," the full explanation. The nuts and bolts, so to speak. Most people in the world are only interested in the outside. Unlike us, they don't care how it works, they just want to know that it works. People like you and me, we are so fascinated by the details of how, we can find ourselves monologuing about filaments and fixtures, or knits, purls, and pssos, or a href= tags and extensibility, while the eyes of those we are with are glossing over and they are looking for the nearest exit.
from Anthony He on Flickr
Imagine removing the hood - no, the entire fiberglass body - from a car. Now you can see EVERYTHING that goes on in there. But...that level of detail is exhausting for most humans. They like it pretty and shiny. So do I, really. KISS. Keep It Simple Stupid. You and I know that nothing is truly simple - there are layers of complexity waiting to be peeled back everywhere we turn - but go ahead and let the masses think it's simple. Don't cast your pearls before swine. Leave the hood on the car. Play the game - just show them the front side of the card while you enjoy the complexities that only you know are there. Oh, and save the condescending attitude - it won't earn you any friends.

Apple plays Outside-Inside extroardinarily well. Unix...not so much. But then, the inventors of Unix weren't trying to get rich or famous or have their work become ubiquitous in every household. They were just trying to make something that works. Classic Greens.

I'll end with two objects that represent the best of Green to me, one from popular culture and one from nature. I mentioned them at the beginning of this post: the bunny from "The Last Mimzy," and a leaf.

I don't know how many of you have seen that wierd 2007 sci-fi movie, the "Last Mimzy." The general consensus seemed to be that it was kind of creepy and almost beautiful. *SPOILER ALERT.* The storyline revolves around this stuffed bunny discovered by a little girl. The bunny moves, murmers, and acts so lifelike that the little girl falls in love with it - it feels like a living being to her. But inside the soft fabric, crude stitches and fluffy stuffing it is actually the most advanced AI technology the world has ever seen, from the future in fact. It is sent back to the past to accomplish a mission to save the human race. But its mission has been condensed, crystallized, and presented in terms so simple, even a little girl can understand and play her part.

Leaves at Table Rock.
Leaves are a gift from God that I thank and praise Him for. Today I was lying in my hammock under the canopy, gazing up at the beautiful, fractaline chaos of leaves from all different trees, cutting relief against the sky. How can such chaos feel so peaceful? It's more than a common color palette. A leaf is a simple looking thing. Usually a solid color, some shade of green, often flat. One end is attached to a plant and the other is free. There are lots of variations of leaves but you can still pretty much tell one when you see one. And I have to say, leaves, on the whole, are pretty attractive, shapely little things. But a leaf is by no means simple. 
Firstly, it is composed of cells. Cells of at least two different types, with different functions. Those cells are composed of molecules, and those molecules are composed of atoms, the atoms of electrons, the electrons, quarks (somebody correct me if I'm getting this wrong - I really didn't pay much attention in science class). Taken as a whole, the cells in a leaf are working together toward a common goal. A beautiful thing known as photosynthesis - the conversion of sunlight to food. They are also taking in carbon dioxide and converting it into oxygen (awfully convenient for us oxygen-to-CO2 creatures) and often serve other functions simultaneously. 
That's an awful lot for one little piece of one little plant to accomplish, don't you think? Do you ever just stop to marvel at the complexity, the efficiency of it all? The beauty, the elegance? For me, it just makes me marvel and praise the Inventor of this ingenous, ubiquitous machine, this perfect system. In classic Green fashion, He has always been ahead of the curve, delights in making marvelous things that work, and doesn't need our praise or credit. Still, don't you think He enjoys it when we stop, notice, and let Him know we appreciate His brilliance?

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