Urgent Evoke

A crash course in changing the world.

Are you ready to simplify the mission of taking good care of the world?

In elementary school, I remember a simple lesson we were taught about using the right tool for the right job. You know, using millimeters to measure tiny details of life, like seeds, using centimeters to measure small details of life, like flowers, using meters to measure big things of life, like trees, and using kilometers to measure really big things of life, like how long it is from where we are now to wherever we want to go on this planet.

And in the social innovation tips collection from our first mission, Amy Smith suggests:

Do the hard work needed to find a simple solution. As Leonardo da Vinci said, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”—and it is the key to this type of design work.

When we are precisely as simple and as sophisticated as we need to be with our tools (including the most important tool of our thinking!) we become as efficient and effective as we possibly can be given the situation. Which is precisely why understanding the following set of levels of simplicity~complexity is so powerful, as it gives us a way to start at the most general approach to social problem solving or to move down into a more detailed approach of human problem solving, depending on what's most appropriate for the situation.

The top level is the simplest, most broad way of thinking about solutions, akin to, perhaps, a light year in measuring terms.

The second level down is the next simplest way of thinking, more like measuring the world in kilometers.

The third level down is the more architectural scale of solving problems, similar to measuring life in meters.

The fourth level of detail is where things get practical, where people's solutions are broken down into specific, but still basic, elements like so many ancient cultures speak of the powers of the Earth, Water, Air, and Fire, and this level is where we humans spend most of our time looking at life, essentially using the centimeter to measure the things we encounter in our daily explorations.

The fifth level is how we start to look for solutions when there're any kinds of sickness or serious deficiencies going on, and this is the level that doctors, biologists, engineers, and other specialists measure things in real detail, like the millimeter option of rulers.






And the levels can keep going, for even more detail, as more clarity of understanding becomes valuable for looking at how to best take care of the world and all the individuals in it.

So, the next time you are looking to take care of the world, consider using the right tool for the job, based on what level of simplicity~complexity seems most appropriate for the problem. Is it simply more love, in general, that is needed to solve the problem? Or is it a more specific kind of love that's going to do it? Where do you think your thinking would be for the most simple solution?

...

This post is part of a collaborative series on Changing Mindset, with the goal of helping people understand how to think more skillfully.

Views: 60

Comment by Ezra Ho on April 2, 2010 at 5:02am
Sadly, such thinking is a rarity nowadays, especially when you consider that this was written back in 1969.

The Venus Project, as expressed in Zeitgeist Addendum has managed to express these ideas very clearly, since Buckminster Fuller was one of the many who influenced Jacque Fresco. I recommend you take the time to familiarised yourself with it.
Comment by Turil Cronburg on April 2, 2010 at 12:43pm
I checked out more of the Zeitgeist site and read a fair bit and watched a video of the recent conference in NYC. I agree completely with the problems, but tend to differ a bit on the solutions. I'm definitely interested, though, as we share many of the same views of the universe.

I'm wondering, though, what does this group want me to do? My own efforts right now are going into research and education about the basic needs for human health and development, and I'd be happy to contribute my efforts to the The Venus Project, if it seemed beneficial.
Comment by Ezra Ho on April 2, 2010 at 12:46pm
Right now our priority is educating more people. Our numbers are too small to make any impact though our growth has been phenomenal. So rather than abolishing the monetary system, how would you go about solving our social problems?
Comment by Turil Cronburg on April 2, 2010 at 1:46pm
How I am going about solving our social problems is described here: The Prime Directive.
Comment by Ezra Ho on April 2, 2010 at 2:30pm
With all due respect, laws are just another form of patchwork. Our system creates laws when it has no other way of solving a problem. Why not design society in such a way that makes it impossible to commit what we would call crime. We have more laws against human rights violations and crime than any other period in human history and yet, such behaviour is still prevalent in our society.

As stated in the Zeitgeist Movement's Activist Orientation guide:

"Laws are band-aids. Instead of depending on a failed system of punishment or incarceration after the damage is done, we need to address the inadequacies of society which lead to socially offensive behavior, such as poverty, malnutrition, homelessness, depravity, social distortion, failed education, financial stress, neglected child care, and the like. Therefore, if we want to alter the behavior of people, we have to alter the social conditions. We want to ‘design out’ the flaws. We design out the need for paper proclamations and laws. Laws are
byproducts of insufficiency. You don’t put up a sign that says: ‘Speed Limit 55 mph’ for safety. You design the system technically so safety is built in and human error is not an option. If you don’t want a person to steal, you make what they need readily available to them without the need for subservience or competition."
Comment by Turil Cronburg on April 2, 2010 at 2:34pm
Ezra, you say:

"Why not design society in such a way that makes it impossible to commit what we would call crime."

And I say I just did that. That's the wh*** point of the Prime Directive. The "laws" are actually turned into guidelines about what the role of the government is, which is to take care of people in all ways, but only when they ask for help. There is no such thing as crime under the Prime Directive. The term law is used in a new way, as self-regulation, rather than other-regulation.
Comment by Starling on April 2, 2010 at 2:38pm
Hey Turil have you come across David Abram's 'Spell of the sensuous'? He develops some similar ideas with different axes.
Comment by Ezra Ho on April 2, 2010 at 2:42pm
What is stopping people from breaking that Prime Directive, which like the laws we have today, just tell people what do, other than fear of being caught, or because they voluntarily adhere to it?

That's just like telling people not to take drugs or not to smoke when there's enormous financial vested interests behind it. Or asking the US Government to stop the socially offensive mass surveillance of the American people?

I understand I'm using "Law" in the context of what you call "other-regulation". But I just do not see it happening under the present social system. In a TVP world however, yes, when people are able to trust one another unlike today, your set of laws would probably be part of normal behaviour rather than a codified set of ethics.

It's a matter of looking at what kind of behaviour our social system promotes and then modifying social conditions in such a way so that such behaviour becomes totally unnecessary and unacceptable.
Comment by Turil Cronburg on April 2, 2010 at 3:01pm
Thanks for the suggestion, Starling, I just requested a copy from the library. Looks wonderful!
Comment by Turil Cronburg on April 2, 2010 at 3:16pm
Ezra, you're right, it won't happen on a global scale under the present social system. That's the wh*** point, to change the system. :-) And this system is what happens naturally, but a lot of people have rejected their natural instincts, so at this point it's useful to codify it, to help people reconnect with their own natural motivations.

And the easiest way to change the system is to begin by choosing to use the Prime Directive yourself - to make those three simple guidelines for your own role as a leader in whatever groups you are involved in.

When you choose to make it your job to help the people around you get their basic input needs and their output needs (freedom to express themselves), and also to offer mediation for anyone who's having a conflict and wants your help finding solutions, then you will automatically change society, either in a small way, or possibly in a much larger way, as your actions affect the world.

So when I say that you deserve wh*** food, clean water, fresh air, warmth and light, and the freedom to express yourself, physically, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually, and that I very much hope to help you get these things whenever I possibly can, and that I'm available to work with you and anyone you're having a conflict with, to find a solution you are happy with, I am changing the social system to one where there is more capacity to heal and grow more beautifully.

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