As a thought for the end of the year, let’s just go through a general guide to maximise the acceleration of healing of the planet, its ecosystems, its species, and human civilisation.
1. HUMAN ACTIVITY:
It is predominantly though not exclusively human activity we can influence.
The central question we need to ask here before any others is this:
How few resources can we use to deliver the maximum quality of life for everyone – but without crossing a threshold of consumption, whereby ecosystems and other species go into decline?
So what we’re really asking here is about our priorities, motivations, and processes for resource harvesting, processing, storage, distribution, utilisation, and recycling.
Under capitalism, we are motivated to maximally exploit resources per unit of resource & time, while taking the least responsibility for the cost of all ecological & social consequences of our exploitation, as this responsibility would reduce “profit” … thus we have a destructive system. There are likely not many systems which would be less resource efficient than capitalism, as any efficiency it gains through technology, is immediately lost again, as such savings open up a new niche for exploitation of the savings, and you’re back to square one again.
Following on from this, is another important question:
What is the Earth’s present capacity to replenish resources, what is its potential (theoretical maximum) capacity to replenish resources, and what natural systems achieve that replenishment?
In other words, what we’re trying to get at here, is to find out what we can do to both:
- Repair the damage we’ve done;
- Nurture & support nature in achieving its potential;
… thus redirect human activity from destructive to creative outcomes.
Summary:
So in summary we need to look at how we decide what human needs are, how we deliver human needs, and how we take responsibility for the consequences of delivering human needs … and in the second part we’re acknowledging that due to ecological damage already done, we can only maximise the delivery of human needs, by supporting nature from which all our needs are ultimately delivered.
2. HUMAN ATTITUDES:
In order to achieve the above, we cannot have our goals of modifying human activity screwed up and sabotaged by human attitudes, so we also need to look at what they are, where they come from, whether they’re beneficial or deleterious, and how they need to be changed.
So what are the most destructive human attitudes?
- Rampant consumption behaviour;
- Irresponsible resource exploitation;
- Exploitation and abuse of other sentients;
- Irrational ideological agendas and priorities.;
- Indiscriminate breeding like mindless replicating machines.
These attitudes are taught by culture and “isms” – nationalism, capitalism, spiritualism etc. People have all sorts of excuses for the things they believe and do, and they use the word “tolerance” as a mutual protection club so that none of them will ever have to face the question of whether or not what they’re doing is harmful, because they’ve all agreed that everyone has to be “tolerant” … it sounds nice on the surface, but ultimately it’s just sensorship against any critique.
Nationalism teaches people that it’s ok to abuse others, via the “us and them” philosophy.
Capitalism teaches people that if you can buy something, it’s yours to do with as you please – even another living thinking being – and with complete disregard to its interests, especially if it isn’t human.
Spiritualism teaches people that there’s a supernatural justification for anything they want to do, and others must be “tolerant”, because this is a “higher authority”.
Summary:
We need to get rid of the isms in order to get rid of the awful things they teach.
3. HUMAN ARCHITECTURE:
It is how we architecturally design strategies, structures, and systems which influences our activity and attitudes, because this architecture guides our movements, as it modifies the probabilities of certain outcomes, thus it modifies our motivations … in other words:
Architecture of strategies, structures, and systems leads to a self-fulfilling prophesy – where that which we see, becomes that which we believe is the only thing possible – we take for granted that the system exists, as if it wasn’t the underlying cause, and as if no alternative system were possible.
Summary:
Humans have designed themselves into a corner, most of which is based on incorrect conclusions drawn from both correct and incorrect data … we saw something was “necessary”, so we designed something to deal with it … BUT … either we were wrong, and it wasn’t actually necessary, or we were mistaken as to what the best solution was, and either way failed to see the ongoing consequences of those conclusions … thus the situation became entrenched, and everyone was too brainwashed by the apparent certainty of it all, to see the flaws in the reasoning.
CONCLUSION:
To change and save the world, we must identify the challenges, their causes, and their connections.
To change human activity, we must change human attitudes, but to change human attitudes, we must change human architecture … if the architecture of our strategies, structures, and systems change, they will produce different results, these different results will show people that previous conclusions were incorrect, and bring about an attitude change, but even before they bring about that change in attitude, they will be producing different results, thus justifying different activities (whether people have changed their attitude or not) … and over time as those attitudes change further, so will the activities, thus the outcomes.
This is the fastest possible track to saving the world, and all who dwell on it – human or otherwise.