Andrew Walsh
New Blood
- Joined
- Oct 4, 2007
- Messages
- 0
Dear JREF members,
as I’m new to the forum I am unable to post website addresses, so in this post I use references to web searches if you wish to follow anything up.
In Swift 28Sep07 the article on the Waldorf Steiner stream of education in secular government schools in Australia might have allayed some people's concerns that this stream of education was not infiltrating the Australian culture with more outlandish Anthroposophical principles, as suggested by your correspondent Andrew Kelly. However I suggest the process is little more covert than it first may appear.
I live in another Australian state, Tasmania, and just up the road from me is a private Waldorf school, and their garden proudly displays the Flowform water feature. You can see it on their own website, search for Tarremah Steiner and Tasmania. So what you may ask? Well have a look at websites like the UK based Virbelaflowforms and you'll see why. The Flowform is a favourite of the Anthroposophical agricultural offshoot, Biodynamic farming (the method that bases its practices on magic, for example they plant seedlings depending on the zodiac, or the moon phase). Apparently Flowforms have something to do with pulsing the water with harmonic energy from the universe, etc.
Yeah right!
Again, so what? This is a private school, so it is not surprising it is more inclined towards mystical Anthroposophical practices than a secular government school with a Steiner stream. Well for one thing, isn’t it just a bit disappointing that medieval magical thinking still persists in the education of children in our society?
Well anyway, while I was searching for more information about this Flowform “water feature” I discovered the Waldorf woo-woos have managed to even infiltrate this structure into the Australian Government’s own National Botanical Gardens (ANBG) in our nation's capital, according to an ANBG website article (search for anbg gov public art friends cascade). The ANBG website article almost (almost) makes the science behind the structure sound plausible, but for the fact that it mentions that the man who made the Flowforms for the garden project, and assisted with providing much information, was Phil Sedgman from LivingWaterFlowforms. According to his own website, he is a board member and technical advisor for Biodynamic Agriculture Australia.
Ah.
And another clue, the disclaimer at the end of the article: "These notes have been re-edited and assembled from much written and verbal information on flow forms and all comments are not necessarily endorsed by the Australian National Botanic gardens" .
I can see why, check out the references cited in this article on the ANBG website!
"Flowform rhythms’ in Science Forum (Anthroposophical Society in Great Britain)
‘Flowforms : Rx for dying water’, Design Spirit
etc
You can tell simply by the titles most of them are from woo-woo journals/sources, but there are two cited from the prestigious journal Nature! I checked them out. Both have an author in common (Philip J Kilner). A search of the journal reveals that one article is simply a letter of opinion by the author testifying how Flowforms (AND his art teacher John Wilkes, who is from the website Virbelaflowforms…) inspired him to examine the fluid dynamics of the human heart. That’s okay, but it's by no means a peer reviewed scientific paper or a source of proof of the mystical modality of Flowforms that one would want to cite.
The second, and later paper (Asymmetric redirection of flow through the heart) is a proper scientific paper, and is quite heavy reading to those of us who aren't cardiologists. But the take home message was basically that Kilner et al postulate that the looped structure of the heart affects the blood’s fluid dynamics in such a way that it makes the heart particularly efficient at moving blood through it during exercise. Well, that may be so, but exactly how does that support the mystical nature of Flowforms, or for that matter, justify putting a Flowform structure into a garden on the basis of ecological science? Again, it's a tenuous link, so why cite this reference? Well it sure helps the article on the ANBG website look more credible.
Now I have nothing against the aesthetic appeal of the Flowform structure in gardens. Having children myself, I have no doubt it would be a popular, fun and fascinating attraction. But the point here is that the philosophy behind it is unscientific mysticism. Justifying this simple garden water feature in a taxpayer funded garden on the basis of ecological sustainability illustrates how covertly Steiner mysticism can insidiously incorporate itself into a modern culture, and undermine science.
Not only that, the rationale behind it was for it to be environmentally friendly. There is no debate that we must manage our use of our environment in a responsible manner. But clearly stated at the start of the ANBG article is the justification for installing this type of structure: “sustainable and environmentally friendly water use on a large and small scale “. Surely our approach to being environmentally responsible should be based on science, not fantastical magic.
I’m glad Andrew Kelly and his children think they were immune to the mystical aspects of Steiner education, but many young people are not innately endowed with critical thinking skills. I wonder how much disguised Anthroposophical theology filters through to more vulnerable students, and corrupts the way in which they view science and how we should manage our environment. I’m afraid the issue of Steiner education stream in government schools in Australia still needs close and constant examination.
I love your work, team at JREF.
Yours sincerely,
Andrew Walsh
as I’m new to the forum I am unable to post website addresses, so in this post I use references to web searches if you wish to follow anything up.
In Swift 28Sep07 the article on the Waldorf Steiner stream of education in secular government schools in Australia might have allayed some people's concerns that this stream of education was not infiltrating the Australian culture with more outlandish Anthroposophical principles, as suggested by your correspondent Andrew Kelly. However I suggest the process is little more covert than it first may appear.
I live in another Australian state, Tasmania, and just up the road from me is a private Waldorf school, and their garden proudly displays the Flowform water feature. You can see it on their own website, search for Tarremah Steiner and Tasmania. So what you may ask? Well have a look at websites like the UK based Virbelaflowforms and you'll see why. The Flowform is a favourite of the Anthroposophical agricultural offshoot, Biodynamic farming (the method that bases its practices on magic, for example they plant seedlings depending on the zodiac, or the moon phase). Apparently Flowforms have something to do with pulsing the water with harmonic energy from the universe, etc.
Yeah right!
Again, so what? This is a private school, so it is not surprising it is more inclined towards mystical Anthroposophical practices than a secular government school with a Steiner stream. Well for one thing, isn’t it just a bit disappointing that medieval magical thinking still persists in the education of children in our society?
Well anyway, while I was searching for more information about this Flowform “water feature” I discovered the Waldorf woo-woos have managed to even infiltrate this structure into the Australian Government’s own National Botanical Gardens (ANBG) in our nation's capital, according to an ANBG website article (search for anbg gov public art friends cascade). The ANBG website article almost (almost) makes the science behind the structure sound plausible, but for the fact that it mentions that the man who made the Flowforms for the garden project, and assisted with providing much information, was Phil Sedgman from LivingWaterFlowforms. According to his own website, he is a board member and technical advisor for Biodynamic Agriculture Australia.
Ah.
And another clue, the disclaimer at the end of the article: "These notes have been re-edited and assembled from much written and verbal information on flow forms and all comments are not necessarily endorsed by the Australian National Botanic gardens" .
I can see why, check out the references cited in this article on the ANBG website!
"Flowform rhythms’ in Science Forum (Anthroposophical Society in Great Britain)
‘Flowforms : Rx for dying water’, Design Spirit
etc
You can tell simply by the titles most of them are from woo-woo journals/sources, but there are two cited from the prestigious journal Nature! I checked them out. Both have an author in common (Philip J Kilner). A search of the journal reveals that one article is simply a letter of opinion by the author testifying how Flowforms (AND his art teacher John Wilkes, who is from the website Virbelaflowforms…) inspired him to examine the fluid dynamics of the human heart. That’s okay, but it's by no means a peer reviewed scientific paper or a source of proof of the mystical modality of Flowforms that one would want to cite.
The second, and later paper (Asymmetric redirection of flow through the heart) is a proper scientific paper, and is quite heavy reading to those of us who aren't cardiologists. But the take home message was basically that Kilner et al postulate that the looped structure of the heart affects the blood’s fluid dynamics in such a way that it makes the heart particularly efficient at moving blood through it during exercise. Well, that may be so, but exactly how does that support the mystical nature of Flowforms, or for that matter, justify putting a Flowform structure into a garden on the basis of ecological science? Again, it's a tenuous link, so why cite this reference? Well it sure helps the article on the ANBG website look more credible.
Now I have nothing against the aesthetic appeal of the Flowform structure in gardens. Having children myself, I have no doubt it would be a popular, fun and fascinating attraction. But the point here is that the philosophy behind it is unscientific mysticism. Justifying this simple garden water feature in a taxpayer funded garden on the basis of ecological sustainability illustrates how covertly Steiner mysticism can insidiously incorporate itself into a modern culture, and undermine science.
Not only that, the rationale behind it was for it to be environmentally friendly. There is no debate that we must manage our use of our environment in a responsible manner. But clearly stated at the start of the ANBG article is the justification for installing this type of structure: “sustainable and environmentally friendly water use on a large and small scale “. Surely our approach to being environmentally responsible should be based on science, not fantastical magic.
I’m glad Andrew Kelly and his children think they were immune to the mystical aspects of Steiner education, but many young people are not innately endowed with critical thinking skills. I wonder how much disguised Anthroposophical theology filters through to more vulnerable students, and corrupts the way in which they view science and how we should manage our environment. I’m afraid the issue of Steiner education stream in government schools in Australia still needs close and constant examination.
I love your work, team at JREF.
Yours sincerely,
Andrew Walsh
