3DN Human Needs
We think of the connections between all things as bridges and bridges are maintained as a function of the flow of value across the bridge. Value is used as a generic term to mean all those things that contribute to the existence of that which is bridged (In human or conscious systems it is that which contributes to human wellbeing). When we map the value flows we are describing system function. Designing the world we want, then, is building the additional bridges necessary for value to flow where it is needed.
The generic term for a "set of bridges" is organization. When we talk about forming an organization that will prosper in the existing structure, it must be stable. It must also have the capacity to grow and/or reproduce. Stability comes from strong attraction between the organization and its components.
The attraction in human systems derives from the needs of individual human beings. I postulate two primary needs – security and hope but there are three subcategories of security, physical security (police, fire, and armies), emotional security (family, church, community), and economic security (food, clothing and shelter). People also participate in organizations out of the hope that it will improve the conditions of their lives or that of their children (schools, rotary clubs, trade organizations). I visualize the interaction of organizations as species interacting in an ecosystem or as spheres connected into larger groupings much like the way I was taught to visualize chemical compounds.
We can also think of community as a compound organization in which individual human beings act as electrons holding together those organizations in which they participate.
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