Fractals + Free Will

​with Abrah Dresdale and Adam Brock

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"What is the biggest, brightest future we can imagine using our free will?"​
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You might have heard of the term "biomimicry," a practice of applying what we observe in the natural world to human design challenges. Maybe you even know of "permaculture," a practice of taking what we see in nature and applying it to our design systems—most often in gardening and agriculture.

But have you ever thought about taking concepts from nature and applying them to human behavior and even social change? What you might call "Social Biomimicry" or "Social Permaculture"?

My newest episode is a conversation with Abrah Dresdale and Adam Brock, and that's what Regenerate Change, their organization, is all about.

Abrah Dresdale is a cultural artist, visionary educator, and consultant in the fields of regenerative social design, prison food justice, and Jewish earth-based traditions. She has a new book, out within the last couple of weeks, called Regenerative Design for Change Makers: A Social Permaculture Guidebook. It’s an essential guide for organizational change-makers, consultants, higher education students, and trans-disciplinary educators pursuing a regenerative future for the 21st century.

Adam Brock is a Denver-based cultural artist practicing regenerative social design. For over a decade, he’s worked to create the conditions for regenerative relationships among individuals, grassroots initiatives, and institutions throughout the country. Adam also has a book, published in 2017, called Change Here Now: Permaculture Strategies for Personal and Community Transformation, a recipe book for social change inspired by the more-than-human world.

In this conversation, Abrah and Adam chat with me about one specific pattern in nature—fractals—and what they teach us about radical agency, power, and free will, even when operating inside of our most oppressive systems.

We also discuss:

• Their teachings around "Social Biomimicry.”
• The “principle of positive contagion.”
• How healing can ripple to the past—another example of fractals.
• How we can create a “yes” where the world has told us there’s a “no."
• Having to reassert your own agency when your whole humanity isn’t seen.
• Reintegrating our “ancient technologies," keeping only what works now.
• And so much more.

Enjoy!
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Listen Now
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EP 009

Fractals + Free Will
with Abrah Dresdale and Adam Brock

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​Or, listen wherever you get your podcasts.​

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Related Reading & Listening
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​In addition to the episode's show notes, here are some great pieces that I think connect to my conversation with Abrah and Adam—
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1. Join Abrah for a virtual launch event for her new book, happening exactly one week from today. You can also buy Adam's book here.​
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2. Read “Design for Living: The Hidden Nature of Fractals” by Kim Tingley.
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3. Check out “Emergence: The Remarkable Simplicity of Complexity” by Andy Martin and Kristian Helmerson.
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4. And, listen to some of my favorite podcasts on the planet, which all speak to "fractals" and agency. Three by adrienne maree brown: How to Survive the End of the World, the Emergent Strategy Podcast, and Octavia's Parables. Closely related, I've also adored Prentis Hemphill's podcast, Finding Our Way.​

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Know of someone else connecting the seemingly un-connectable or talking about why it matters? Think I should interview them? Reply here and tell me!