3DN Using a Better Map
USING A BETTER MAP
- In addition to individual action, and more effectively, humans act through organizations. A tribe of hunter gatherers is a super organism in the same way that a bee hive or termite colony is a super organism. The evolutionary leap that occurred with humans is that each individual can participate in more than one organization creating an order of magnitude increase in potential complexity. See also Cycles of Productivity
- All human organization is based on the bond (relationship) between one individual and another or one individual and a group of others. What we might call human civilization is merely the entire set of all of these bonds or relationships. An organization is a subset of relationships within the total set of relationships. All of these relationships are consensual in the sense that each individual has the power to break any of the bonds that hold that individual in any set of relationships. There are consequences to breaking a bond which can be as serious as imprisonment or death but we can think of the relationship as consensual none the less. The relationship of master and slave exists only so long as the slave chooses life in servitude over the consequences of asserting freedom. A slave may also continue in servitude out of ignorance of the choices or a belief that slavery is the natural state of affairs or ordained by god – but still, the slave has the power, if as yet undiscovered, to break that bond.
- In the absence of coercion, organizations are formed as a means through which individuals meet their needs. Conflict arises where an individual or organization threatens the relationships of another individual or organization where that threat is deemed a threat to the survival of an individual or organization. The avoidance of conflict requires that the conflicting individuals and organizations reach a consensual arrangement through which all the parties interested in the conflict both survive and benefit from this new bond (relationship, arrangement).
- There are large numbers of human beings without bonds adequate to meet their needs. Some will suffer in silence and do the best they can. Some will choose to engage in an individual life of crime and suffer those consequences. Still others will join criminal, revolutionary or terrorist organizations and through those bonds obtain what they need, creating conflict within the Whole set of relationships. There is a fourth option, that more of those in need would choose, if they were aware of it, to form new sets of relationships that do not threaten any other person or organization.
- There is nothing inherent or necessary in the current set of relationships. It is merely the accidental result of the historic interaction between conflicting human organizations and it has changed, and will continue to change, through all time. Those who benefit from the existing set of relationships are content, and have the resources, to defend those bonds that are necessary for their continued survival, and are unaware of the fourth option. Those who suffer from the existing set of relationships have resigned themselves to suffering, or will engage in actions that cause conflict, because they are unaware of the fourth option. It is in the interest of the Whole set of relationships that those now suffering become aware of, and engage in, the fourth option. Fortunately, the set of potential relationships is virtually unlimited. Unfortunately, few are aware of this fourth option.
- We are unaware that there is a fourth option because We believe that conflict is the natural state of affairs. We believe that conflict is the natural state of affairs because We believe that resources are scarce and there will always be conflict over who gets what share of those resources. Neither belief is necessarily true, both conflict and scarcity derive from the lack of adequate relationships within the Whole set of relationships. With a better map, We can create the additional relationships that We need.
Back to whole system design
Back to Introduction
Back to Table of Contents
