Chapter 44: Topics for Research and Exploration

1) The post-Transition Paradigms will be peer-based, synergistic, and non-hierarchical in nature. Yet in the interest of remaining balanced and avoiding the pitfalls of absolutism, it may be beneficial to study and come to a better understanding of what factors determine which individuals will become abusive, destructive and despotic in positions of power or authority in a hierarchy, and which individuals will not. While the dynamics are certainly too complex to quantify, too variable and individual to reduce to absolutes, there are factors which contribute to attitudes and behavioral tendencies. Genetics, nutrition, early and ongoing life experiences, metabolism, training and education, life-changing events, brain structure, neurotransmitter balance or imbalance, cultural factors - all of these and more to varying degrees affect, influence and help to determine how a person is likely to respond to different situations and stimuli.

Human beings are not deterministic like machines, and it is dangerous to attempt to treat ourselves or one another as such. However, if we can learn to identify and recognize what factors predispose a person to abuse authority or rank in a hierarchical context, or to be resistant to these tendencies, then in unusual situations where limited hierarchical structures may be necessary, we can learn to structure and people them so as to minimize the inherent weaknesses and potential for abuse in such structures.

In the systems and structures of the new Paradigms, the need for hierarchical structures will be minimal or nil, and most likely temporary if at all. In such circumstances, we will do well to ensure that they are formed explicitly as temporary, and never allowed to take on a life of their own.

Another possible way to reduce vulnerability to emergence, reinforcement or development of destructive abusive dynamics might be to keep such structures small and train all participants to take on any role in such limited temporary hierarchies. Roles will rotate frequently enough to prevent distorted personality traits or dynamics from establishing themselves as permanent. This will also hopefully reduce the shutting-down of the empathy and compassion centers of the brain that occurs when a person is in a position of power for a period of time.

In addition, the creation or perpetuation of any such structure must be carefully weighed and considered alongside other alternatives, and only implemented when the greatest good is truly served. Any hierarchical structures must be initiated with very clear, and clearly limiting, definitions of their purpose and function, with the understanding that when that purpose or function has been completed or fulfilled, the structure will be disbanded and dismantled.

Another safeguard might be a clear communication and understanding that at any point any participant is free to leave that provisional hierarchy with no harm or negative repercussions. The clearly-understood right to disengage at will, will at least partially defuse the ability of a person higher in such a hierarchy to intimidate or abuse those lower in the structure, should such tendencies begin to emerge. If and when they do, it will immediately trigger a rotation and reassignment of roles.

One dynamic that fosters and entrenches abuse, corruption and destructive dynamics in hierarchies is the existence of punitive enforcement and absence of freedom of choice. Any hierarchical undertakings would, if done at all, be understood to be for purely functional purposes. This principle would be further reinforced by the absolute absence of any stratification of privilege, rights, working or living conditions, or "perks.”

2) It is unlikely that we will ever achieve 100 % positive and constructive human dynamics or perfection. In fact, the concept of perfection is impossible to define. It is too subjective.

We must strive to arrive at ever more empowering and synergistic ways of being, but at the same time we must be scrupulously careful to avoid absolutism. Even the most worthy and compassionate ideologies, philosophies and principles become oppressive and destructive when interpreted blindly, insensitively and mechanistically in an absolutist fashion.

Individualism can be a positive principle when it supports and empowers each human being to find fulfillment and make their greatest individual contribution to the community; but when taken to unhealthy extremes, as is seen in the United States, it creates an abrasive social dynamic where each individual is an alienated island. In such a culture, it becomes difficult and sometimes impossible for many people to engage in any close human relationship or for people to work together in solidarity for common good.

On the other hand, working well in a team for a common purpose is a very positive principle in and of itself; but when taken to an extreme as in many Asian cultures, it can suppress individual initiative and expression and become oppressive.

The principle of equality is central to our Transition and the kinds of community that we will forge afterwards; yet as we have seen in various historical experiments, when "equality" becomes enforced conformity in which people are expected to become identical to one another, where differences and diversity are suppressed, it betrays and oppresses the very people it seeks to free and empower.

No matter how fundamentally compassionate and beneficial a principle or ideal is, we must always be alert and vigilant to apply and interpret it with sensitivity, wisdom, common sense, and enough flexibility to allow it to accommodate variations among individuals, communities, and circumstances. The moment a concept or ideal is treated as above human happiness, empowerment, and well-being and the good of the community (both of which must be the highest priority along with long-term sustainability and the robust health of the natural environment), then it is being mis-applied.

We will do everything possible to set up the new Paradigms in such a way that this kind of scenario is not reinforced and becomes vanishingly unlikely to occur; but should it occur due to the imperfections and unpredictability of human beings, then we must address and adjust the interpretation or implementation, not abandon the principle itself unless it proves for some reason to be truly non-viable.

3) It may seem a small matter, but one important aspect of guarding against allowing the post-Transition paradigms to devolve into inhumane and oppressive ideological cookie-cutter parodies of their original intent, is the importance of striving to avoid developing cult-like rhetoric and terminology of the kind that occurs in many movements. Such rhetoric tends to create a mechanical, unconscious mindset over time that can gradually erode the initial conscious awareness and behaviors and eventually replace them with conditioned responses and rigid thinking. Such rhetoric is the hallmark of many cults and autocratic institutions throughout the world. It tends towards the lumping of people and situations into categories that can then become more important than the people in them.

Some new terminology may be genuinely necessary when new situations require words that did not exist before, just as the term "telephone" had to be coined with its invention, and terms like "President," "Premiere," and "Representative," had to be coined when monarchies were abandoned in favor of democratically elected representational governments.

Where there are already existing terms, however, the artificial creation of new terms often creates a sense of separation and alienation between “Us,” the ones on the Inside who know and use this special jargon, and “Them,” the ones on the Outside who don't use the jargon. This runs counter to the intention of the Transition. We will enjoy a much greater degree of success in creating a thriving, empowered new human renaissance if we succeed in avoiding this pitfall that all too often affects new movements.

4) As mentioned elsewhere in this writing, there are numerous inventions, technological and other innovations, and scientific discoveries with practical implications that languish unknown, un-developed, and untapped in patent offices, corporate records and the basements of unknown inventors. Some of these could have profound beneficial applications, in terms of offering sustainable alternatives to non-sustainable technologies, non-polluting alternatives to polluting applications, more small-scale compatible versions to replace versions requiring large centralized facilities and more.

These intellectual treasures span all aspects of life and technology, from medicine to transportation, from energy generation to communication, from civil engineering to education, from metallurgy to the social sciences. These forgotten, unknown and un-developed nuggets are unknown for a variety of reasons, mostly due to various inevitable dynamics of capitalist paradigms.

Some are untapped because their discoverers or inventors lacked the resources, business skills, and "connections" necessary to bring them to the marketplace. Under capitalism, anything that doesn't make it to the marketplace remains unknown. Even when an innovation does make it to the marketplace, if it doesn't have sufficient marketing and advertising to make it widely visible, it will likely never reach public awareness. This is all the more so when such products compete with the established products of producers who have virtually inexhaustible legal, marketing and advertising budgets.

Other such innovations remain untapped because they are actively suppressed by mega-corporations whose profits, market share and stock prices would be threatened by their introduction. It is not uncommon for an under-funded inventor to approach such a corporation with the expectation that the corporation will welcome the innovation. With few or no exceptions, the corporation either offers them a lump sum payment for exclusive rights to the invention in order to bury it, or else steals it and leaves the inventor high, dry, and legally prevented from developing their own invention.

With the end of capitalism and the implementation of the new Paradigms, we will all benefit tremendously if we embark on a thorough search of patents, records of decommissioned corporations, scientific publications going back at least a hundred years, and making public appeals to inventors and innovators in search of such gems. Those bringing such innovations to light can be publicly celebrated and acknowledged and those invented them even more so. This will be in sharp contrast to their treatment under Capitalism where the overwhelming majority of such innovators languish in anonymity, often stripped of even the ownership of their own creations. The boon to the quality of life of individuals, the larger community, and long-term survival and thriving will be incalculable.

5) In addition to identifying and developing existing inventions, discoveries and innovations that have languished forgotten until now, we will benefit greatly if we encourage a culture of research and inquiry in all areas of science, art and engineering, both pure and applied.

Emphasis of applied research should be on technologies that have minimal or no damaging effects on the environment at every stage of their production and use. This is not to endorse suppression of other kinds of research and development; but we will do well to keep in mind that a guiding principle of the new Paradigms will be to achieve a long-term sustainable human presence in the ecosystem, longevity and upgradeability of products and services, user serviceability and customizability, ease of use, and positive impact on human quality of life.

A product that most people can build at home from easily understandable instructions is preferable to a similar product requiring a large, complex and polluting factory to manufacture. A product whose production requires destruction of forests, damming of rivers, strip mining, toxic or noxious waste as a byproduct, and so forth is to be discarded in favor of an equivalent product that does not have those effects. A medicine easily derived from a common weed or plant is preferable to one requiring a huge lab to produce, all other factors being equal.

Of course, not all goods and services will easily fit these criteria. Aircraft, cars, and ships for example are impractical to translate into small-scale production. We can, however, transition to renewable and non-polluting fuels, electric motors, artificial muscles, and other technologies to power these vehicles. We can manufacture them to be durable, easily serviceable and upgradeable, thus dramatically reducing waste and resource depletion. We can produce them in quantities sufficient for actual need, with a small surplus as reserve to accommodate the unexpected, and then dial back production to keep pace with real need, thus even further reducing waste and freeing workers from the constant demands of keeping up with forced overproduction imposed by Capitalist paradigms.

In the new Paradigms, we will benefit tremendously from greater emphasis upon psychological, sociological, anthropological, and historical research. The better we understand our own inner workings as individuals, in relationships and in groups, the better we can tailor and fine-tune our paradigms to reinforce and bring out those aspects of ourselves that will most enhance our happiness, well-being, health and thriving as individuals and communities.

Much is already known, but we have only scratched the surface of our potential. We have barely begun to identify and understand the factors that impact us, how we are inclined to respond and why. For far too long, we have tried over and over to force ourselves to function in non-viable paradigms while ignoring what we already know.

This will change in the new Paradigms. No longer will we conceive arbitrary rules contrary to human nature and punish those who do not follow or thrive under them. Operant conditioning will replace reward-and-punishment schemes. Peership will replace hierarchical command structures. Sustainability will replace compulsive overconsumption.

To address questions that may arise in your mind due to pre-existing propaganda and programming, this is not about controlling people or brainwashing. It is the opposite.

Every human environment reinforces some behaviors and attitudes and does not reinforce others. So far in human affairs, these reinforcers have either developed haphazardly or have been crafted to allow some people to control others. Thus in Capitalism, people are conditioned to accept and perpetuate the economic Pyramid, to work and consume within its enforced parameters, and to take on the role and burden of carrying the crushing weight of those at the top of the pyramid upon their backs.

In the new Paradigms, reinforcers will be scientifically crafted to reinforce those aspects of human nature that lead to the greatest achievable degree of empowerment, actualization, fulfillment, creativity, productivity, and synergy within and between individuals and communities. History will be studied with the goal of identifying what has and has not worked throughout human history to further these goals and values.

6) We will also become a more vibrant, thriving community if we re-dedicate serious resources and efforts to opening frontiers such as deep space, deep sea, and even interstellar exploration. Such endeavors have historically and repeatedly shown themselves to have major beneficial effects across many parameters in the human community.

Technological advances arising from such efforts translate into innovations that improve the quality of life for people here on earth. In medicine, communications, computation, energy technology, quantum mechanics, locomotion, and more areas than one can imagine, the ripples of beneficial advances spread to all sectors of the human community.

Having such frontiers and endeavors in active full swing also has immeasurable beneficial effects culturally and in terms of inspiring, uniting and invigorating generations of human beings worldwide. Under Capitalism the greater human instinct to push the frontiers of knowledge and exploration have been gradually sublimated, re-channeled and short-circuited into an insatiable fascination with and hunger for more, fancier and newer consumer goods.

After going to the Moon, we have contented ourselves with military and commercial satellites and some half-hearted limited, tame token research. After Jacques Cousteau's inspiring deep-sea explorations, we have degenerated into cruise ships, military exercises, massive floating continents of human-generated trash, and offshore drilling.

Inspiration, passion, curiosity and reaching beyond have been supplanted with addiction to acquiring objects, money and status. The resulting culture is one of alienation, cynicism, short-sightedness, lack of compassion and connection, proud ignorance, apathy, harsh selfishness, disempowerment, lack of critical thinking and creativity, lack of authentic passion or inspiration, conformity, and enshrined mediocrity.

Capitalist society is an embodiment of soulless, heartless addiction, a lobotomized parody of the human essence reduced to a scripted, toned-down unconscious loop, replaying endlessly, going nowhere while steadily consolidating the power and control in the hands of the capitalist neo-feudal lords who themselves are addicts, slaves to money and power. This is a lose-lose scenario that will be our extinction if we don't change it as quickly as possible.