'The Spirit of the Soil'

Cop this: "Proper farming might be said to make concrete what is latent in humanity's dependence upon the earth, for the act of good farming both releases and replenishes the provision for human sustenance. Farming is the activity that locates the human species most surely in the planetary ecosystem of the earth. It is on farming that we depend for food, and in farming that what we take from the earth is returned to it." Amazing!

This is from a book I found at Amazon.com called The Spirit of the Soil, published in 1995 by Paul Thompson, then Professor of Philosophy and Agriculture Texas A&M University. I must meet him. What would he think of our plans to turn our grazing property in outback Australia into a centre of learning to teach farmers practical uses for the philosophy of agriculture - including the use of paradigm shifting to innovate their enterprises. What does he think of the ancient Hasidic saying that guides our quest:

"When you walk across the fields with your mind pure and holy,
then from all the stones, and all growing things,
and all animals, the sparks of their soul come out and cling to you,
and then they are purified and become a holy fire in you."

And our "spooky stuff" about the parapsychology of the soil?

I'll ask him.

(His current bio: Paul Thompson went to Michigan State University in 2003 to assume a position in the Philosophy Department, with partial appointments in the Agricultural Economics and Resource Development Departments. Previously he held positions as Distinguished Professor of Philosophy and Director, Center for Food Animal Productivity and Well-Being, at Purdue University, and prior to that positions as Professor of Philosophy and Agricultural Economics and Director, Center for Science and Technology Policy and Ethics, at Texas A&M University.)