Beyond social-ecological traps: Pathways to a sustainable future

The artist John Olsen is known for his depictions of Australian landscapes through rich paths of meandering lines overlaid with colorful splotches that catch the imagination and connect the mind to a scene. To me, Olsen’s reflection on his creative process resonates with the way we sometimes imagine science:

‘You can paint pretty pictures all your life … but without metaphor, you’re nothing.”

Metaphors attract the imagination and help conceptualize abstract or complex concepts. Conceptualizing complex systems is an important feature of both scientific discovery and research that is driven by its potential use… Read the rest