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IRCHS Valedictorian Speech : Robin Peckham

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Contributed by: Robin Peckham on 6/8/2006

I love you all; each and every one of you. And let me tell you why.

Recent studies have found that many thousands of kinds of bacteria make their homes inside the living tissue of trees and some other vascular plants. These bacteria colonies are so extensive and so widespread that scientists are now realizing that many cells they formerly assumed to be part of the leaf or stem are actually foreign substances introduced to the inside of the tree when it was just a seed. These bacteria can live around, between, and even inside fully functioning plant cells. But the strangest part is, scientists cannot reach a consensus on what kind of relationship this resembles-no one knows whether it should be called parasitism, mutually beneficial symbiosis, or something else entirely.

I would like this speech to be a vivisection of the human plant. This shall be an opportunity for all of us to slice our selves open, find out what makes us tick, and find out what bacteria may coexist within us-and, most importantly, what our relationship with it might be.

The one defining characteristic of the human organism, the one trait that sets us apart from a palm tree or a coconut crab, is that we possess the ability to metaphysically step back, evaluate our role, and decide what kind of plant or animal we would like to become. With this type of consciousness, we are able to actually influence evolution through behavioral change. This is a powerful responsibility.

In the natural world, there is no such thing as a moral animal. Education, then, becomes not a moral obligation, but a biological necessity-the necessity of maintaining humankind as a population of thinking organisms-organisms that maintain the power to evaluate their own role in the universe. Our system of education exists for the genetic health of the species, or, if you like, for our children, and for the generations to follow.

The only thing that can accomplish this kind of educational training is not government, nor any kind of authority, but pure community. The latest research suggests that ant colonies act as "superorganisms", communities of organisms that undergo the process of natural selection as a whole, rather than their individual components. This would explain the existence of multiple specialized roles within a single population; for example, the worker ant and the queen ant.

This level of complexity of biocultural organization is found in only one other instance in the animal kingdom: humankind. It has been suggested that ants and humans are the most warlike of all species as a direct result of the complexity of their social organization. This is the root of the proverbial "Evil Empire". In our little ant community, whom will we be fighting for? For the superorganism, or for the individual? Neither could survive on its own indefinitely.

We must guard equally against both total anarchy and pure totalitarianism; against both the cult of the individual and the cult of the masses. Both call for static societies; both eliminate the possibility of change. We must strike a balance, and find a "middle way". We must insist on moderation even in our moderation.

As ants, we can act as individuals in community, rather than as a community of individuals. We must be conscious of our own actions and their repercussions: no longer can we afford to thoughtlessly follow genocidal or murderous leaders. We must all, each and every one of us, begin to think, consciously, individually, and for ourselves. This is the concept of dynamic discord.

If the school is viewed as a superorganism, it must be one without a queen. We must insist on the equality and liberty of all thinkers, and due respect for all members of the community-both educators and learners. A modern learning institution can have no extraneous function outside of its original purpose-to serve as a community of learners. The school cannot be a moneymaking machine or a mode of employment. There can be no social or economic function of any high school or university beyond the responsibility of connecting the engaged and developing minds of that community.

To accomplish this, we must recover our humanity. We must revert to a primitive sense of organization and exchange in order to fulfill the promises of our modern society, even as it continues to develop. We must realize the simplest pleasures of such a complex lifestyle. The tool must not control the man; the product must not control the creator. But at the same time, we should realize that man is merely the product of a greater network, a mere ecological tool of the terrestrial ecosystem.

In order to experience new paradigms like this one, we must begin to alter the state of human perception purely through conscious and voluntary activity. We must realize, with our expanded minds, that what seems an eternity to a man is a nanosecond to a tree. We must take this relativistic understanding and, in effect, become human plants-we must view our actions from the perspective of history.

Only then can we realize that life is a beautiful thing-an undeniably beautiful fact. We must realize this and take full advantage of it-we must love life; we must love our peers; we must love everything on earth. This love is entirely nondenominational, grounded in both reason and faith.
We must understand the power of a symbol; that it lies only in the strength and solidarity of those who support it. As we move on into a changing world, we must, each and every one of us, let loose a symbolic "howl". We shall become the storytellers of a new generation; before it is too late, we will, each and every one of us, become a speaker for the living.

We begin by loving the self, then we understand the self, and then we understand that the self is connected to everything. By extension, we must love everything-we will do this for our selves, for our school, for our country, for the sake of history-we will do it for the species.

To paraphrase one of the songs of our childhood, let there be change on earth, and let it begin with me. This revolution begins right here, and right now. It starts with us, the class of 2006, and it starts with love.

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