"A cell is the basic unit of an organism. An organism is an individual within an environment. An individual human mind seems self-evidently separate from other humans. And national borders, though they might occasionally be disputed, seem a straightforward idea: lines across which national rules and responsibilities differ.

But cells are processes with permeable barriers, and they interact with other cells to form an organism. An organism, in turn, must take in nutrients from the environment as well as expel waste, or it will die. A human is intrinsically dependent on other humans from birth, and the modern individualist consciousness seems somehow at odds with our social nature. For much of history, the borders of countries and empires moved frequently, and sometimes even their occupants did not know which side they were on.

What defines a part in relation to the whole? How defined is the line between self and other? What can the permeability of cell membranes or ecological boundaries tell us about the permeability of concepts? Why can it feel so transgressive to cross these lines? What is a thing, and what is the relationship between thing-ness and nothingness?" - Salon Hosts Taylor Pullinger and Bryan Kam

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Good to read or watch pre-Salon:

• What is an individual?
• Stefan Zweig on Passports and Borders
• Tao Te Ching #11
• Walt Whitman: Song of Myself (a subset: # 3, 7, 14, 20, 27, 45, 47, 50)
• Heidegger: The Thing
• Fences dub ecological winners and losers, shape ecosystems

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