[ 22/March/24 ]
The most pressing issue is getting people generally to accept the evident complexity present, and the fundamental need for cooperation for the survival of complexity (all levels), and to recognise the bias for simple certainty that evolution has installed in our neural networks as such.
Yes, the more stressed we are, the more simple and certain things appear to us; but that is a function of our brains, and the need to make rapid decisions to survive, not an actual aspect of the reality of our existence.
The simple notion many seem to have, that evolution is all about competition, couldn’t actually be more wrong if they tried.
Certainly, there is always a competitive aspect present in evolved systems, but the emergence and survival of every level of complexity actually requires a new level of cooperation.
If we as a species are to survive, with the complex languages and technologies and cultures that we have, then we must accept the need for cooperation in diversity, that is demanded of any level of complexity that is to survive long term in reality.
Our survival as individuals is predicated on the cells in our body cooperating. Any cells that compete for resources and fail to cooperate are a threat. We have a name for that condition – cancer. From the perspective of the cancer cells all seems to be going well as they grow and consume resources, right up to the point that everything dies.
It is our ability to cooperate (not our ability to compete) that allows us to develop language and culture and technology. In this sense, cooperation, and maintaining effective communication, is fundamental to the survival of all levels of complexity.
When one is able to see life as systems capable of searching the space of the possible for the survivable, then it become clear that life is eternally exploring novelty. In this sense, freedom is an essential aspect of search, and responsibility is an essential aspect of survival.
Freedom without responsibility is every bit as destructive and responsibility without freedom. Both are necessary for survival.
We all have dual natures, We are all both individuals, and members of groups. Both natures are essential to being human.
We must all have the freedom to exercise our creativity, and we all need to do so responsibly.
We need to be responsible to our social and ecological contexts.
And we have created new levels of systems with our economic and political systems, and for the most part, as complex as they are, they are based on principles that are not sufficiently complex or cooperative to allow for our long term survival. Many of our social systems are in urgent need of fundamental reform; and there is nothing simple in such a reform process, other than the fact that it needs to be both cooperative and respectful of diversity at all levels.
The more stressed individuals are, the less likely they are to be able to recognise this.
We have many sets of issues that require technical solutions, and doing those is trivial compared to getting people and systems (economic and political and legal) to accept the fundamental need for cooperation and freedom and responsibility. I have no shadow of remaining reasonable doubt, that the complexity present is such that no set of rules can ever be sufficient in all contexts – the need for freedom and responsibility is eternal, and applies to each of us, each to the best of our limited and fallible abilities.
Ted Howard NZ's Blog 