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--- the_big_here [2010-01-23 12:49] – created nik
+++ the_big_here [2010-01-23 12:53] (current) – nik
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+===Are You Really Here Now?===
+Kevin Kelly via http://www.kk.org/cooltools/archives/000957.php
+You live in the big here. Wherever you live, your tiny spot is deeply
+intertwined within a larger place, imbedded fractal-like into a whole system
+called a watershed, which is itself integrated with other watersheds into a
+tightly interdependent biome. (See the world eco-region map ). At the ultimate
+level, your home is a cell in an organism called a planet. All these levels
+interconnect. What do you know about the dynamics of this larger system around
+you? Most of us are ignorant of this matrix. But it is the biggest interactive
+game there is. Hacking it is both fun and vital.
+The following exercise in watershed awareness was hatched 30 years ago by Peter
+Warshall, naturalist extraordinaire. Variations of this list have appeared over
+the years with additions by Jim Dodge, Peter Berg, and Stephanie Mills among
+others. I have recently added new questions from Warshall and myself, and I have
+edited or altered most of the rest. It's still a work in progress. If you have a
+universal question you think fits, submit it to me.
+I am extremely interested in hearing from anyone who scores a 25 or better on
+the quiz on their first unassisted try. I'd like to know how you got your Big
+Here education. I have a few small prizes for anyone who scores (on the honor
+system) a perfect 30, without Googling.
+The intent of this quiz is to inspire you to answer the questions you can't
+initially. I'd like to collect and then post the best step-by-step suggestions
+about how to answer a particular question. These are not answers to the quiz,
+but recommended paths on how one might most efficiently answer the question
+locally. Helpful websites which can provide local answers are wanted. Because of
+the severe specificity of local answers, the methods provided should be as
+general as possible. The emerging list of answer-paths will thus become the Cool
+Tool.
+Post your methods in the comment section for each question linked in red to my
+Help Wanted page. I will award a copy of the next paper-book version of Cool
+Tools to the person providing what I consider the best solution method(s) for
+each question.
+-- KK
+===30 questions to elevate your awareness (and literacy) of the greater place in which you live:===
   - Point north.
   - What time is sunset today?
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 ===The Bigger Here Bonus Questions===
-  * 31) What species once found here are known to have gone extinct?
+  - What species once found here are known to have gone extinct?
-  * 32) What other cities or landscape features on the planet share your latitude?
+  - What other cities or landscape features on the planet share your latitude?
-  * 33) What was the dominant land cover plant here 10,000 years ago?
+  - What was the dominant land cover plant here 10,000 years ago?
-  * 34) Name two places on different continents that have similar sunshine/rainfall/wind and temperature patterns to here.
+  - Name two places on different continents that have similar sunshine/rainfall/wind and temperature patterns to here.