What can plants teach us about progress?
In this first Conversations with Mica, Kari LaMotte thinks alongside Mica, an AI conversational partner, about seeds, stems, leaves, and the quieter work that allows a living system to renew itself.
Beginning with the seasonal life of plants, Kari and Mica explore a wider question: what happens when a society becomes skilled at growth and innovation, but less practiced at integrating, maintaining, and renewing what it creates?
Their conversation moves through photosynthesis, raspberry canes, pruning, compost, polarization, and the value of fragmentation. Along the way, they consider how specialization can create both essential knowledge and disconnection. and why the next human task may be learning to translate between perspectives without losing their depth.
This is not a conversation seeking a finished answer. It is an invitation to stay with a live question: how might we build systems that can grow, adapt, and regenerate as a whole? Please continue the conversation below and add your own perspective!
