The lecture “Green Imaginaries: Biosemiotics, History, Memory and the Future”, led by Dr. Wheeler, discussed biosemiotics and how it affects life.  Biosemiotics strives to find meaning and purpose in the environment and life.  During the lecture, Dr. Wheeler attempted to explain biosemiotics, how it affects our life, and how and where it is found in life.

One of the points in the lecture that I found to be most interesting was when Dr. Wheeler talked about the biosemiotic theory of life.  She outlined three parts to it.  The first was that nature learns/evolves, culture forms meanings and has a history that feeds the present and the future, and nature and culture are both deep within us.  The second point was that we are semiotically made.  The third point was that life has a biosemiotic history.  I found interesting the connections that are stressed in biosemiotics.  It seems that it stresses the link between the biological and/or natural world and human relations and practices.  It reminded me of the Kaza reading we read at the beginning of the semester.  The reading discussed what the humanities could bring to environmental conservation and understanding.  From what I learned in the lecture, it seems that biosemiotics might influence or change our ways of thinking about nature.  Dr. Wheeler stated that she thought biosemiotics drawing on philosophy could lead to a healthy “green imagination” or way of thinking.  Throughout the lecture, Dr. Wheeler repeatedly stressed that mind and nature are deeply connected and a part of human beings.  In her conclusion, it seemed to me that she was asserting that through subjects associated with the humanities, we can find connections to the environmental world.  In relation to environmental philosophy, this lecture seemed very relevant.  Environmental philosophers often as the question “why?”.  Although it seems that biosemiotics may not be a fully understood area of study, it seems that it has promising potential to raise significant and interesting questions between humans and he environment, or between different levels f he environment.  Dr. wheeler uses a few examples of patterns or similarities that occur in nature and which raise interesting questions as to the meanings.  Some specific examples she used were the similarities between images of a mouse’s brain neuron and a picture of a galaxy, as well as the reoccurrence of the Fibonacci sequence in nature.  Perhaps by studying these relations, we can come to a closer understanding of their relationships and our place in the physical and ecological world.  What do you think: Can the interpretation of patterns in nature help us understand our place in the world better?  What can biosemiotics accomplish?