Fwd: Re: information sharing and biology

[Susan McCouch]

Ed,

Thanks for sending that note along.  I enjoyed it very much.

Susan


>Susan,
>Thank you for passing along the article.  Its message is clear and
>visionary.
>By coincidence today, my daughter sent the following, which hits the
>same target.
>Best wishes.
>Ed
>
>Growing Good Corn
>
>There was a farmer who grew award-winning corn. Each year he entered his
>corn in the state fair where it won a blue ribbon. One year a newspaper
>reporter interviewed him and learned something interesting about how he
>grew it.
>
>The reporter discovered that the farmer shared his seed corn with his
>neighbors. “How can you afford to share your best seed corn with your
>neighbors when they are entering corn in competition with yours each
>year?” the reporter asked.
>
>“Why sir,” said the farmer, “didn’t you know? The wind picks up pollen
>from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If my
>neighbors grow inferior corn, cross-pollination will steadily degrade
>the quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my
>neighbors grow good corn.”
>
>He is very much aware of the connectedness of life. His corn cannot
>improve unless his neighbor’s corn also improves.
>
>So it is in other dimensions. Those who choose to be at peace must help
>their neighbors to be at peace. And those who choose to be happy must
>help others to find happiness. While one can certainly be happy by
>oneself, maintaining happiness is difficult when those around you are
>unhappy, for the welfare of each is bound up with the welfare of all.


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Susan McCouch
Dept of Plant Breeding
418 Bradfield Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY  14853-1901
Phone: 607-255-0420
Fax: 607-255-6683
E-Mail: srm4 at cornell.edu

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