Glimmerings of Emergence
Paradigms of Order
Ours is a society so dependent on centralized order that the concept of order itself is inextricably associated with a centre from which it can emanate. Nature on the other hand has little to do with order of this type. Yet our habits of thought make us see its order as originating from some grand design and controller. So, for example we speak of Queen bees and termites but it is now becoming apparent that the order of a hive or mound does not come from the Queen's orders but from individuals responding to neighbours and the immediate environment.
Natural Order
The important thing about Nature's order is that it has an amazing track record for adaptation and survival. If this way of order is so durable and effective then we ought to emulate it. In fact, there are various domains where the superiority of this process is a proven success even in modern technology and systems. Fuzzy logic, pattern recognition engines, …
The chief characteristic of such systems is not the absence of order but the absence of centralization. We can study it in our bodies, in cells, in a forest and perhaps in the planet too. The order emerges as a result of neighbourhood interactions between the individuals in these systems. Global order emerges from local interactions rather than the reverse: Global orders controlling local interactions.
The Paradox of the Reformer
Reforming our system of order has a peculiar constraint which needs to be examined because it brings into focus a fundamental difference between the two kinds of order. Let us say that I become convinced that emergent order makes external governance redundant. I then go on to form a group of people to promote this philosophy. We then attempt to influence or get into positions of authority and power in governance, mass-media and business in order to change the system of the world. Oops. We have become exactly the kind of system we are trying to replace!
In a game Phase Five designed based on emergence, one of the participants got an idea of a plan to maximize the value and assets of the entire group. He thought perhaps that instead of having competing individuals and groups struggle over resources and value, a win-win full-group solution could be achieved. He tried to sell his idea which would require everyone to follow his plan. In the frenzy of the transactions happening everywhere, he did not succeed in gaining any agreements and actually secured a very poor value even for himself. In order for him to have had more success he would need, we thought, a microphone and/or a whip. The result would have been an order of high value. However, it would not allow maximum individual participation. It would not use all the available responsiveness but just that of a few players. This would endanger its survival because of lack of ownership, belonging, limited perspective, mono-culture and many other failings. This underlines the danger of ruling by microphone or whip even for benevolent reasons. If there is order that is not emergent one might expect to find such tools as a microphone or whip not far away.
The violence in one-size-fits-all ideas of religion, economics, culture and morality grab our attention daily. Some political outfit decides norms of behaviour and appoints itself the guardian of culture. They are not guardians but guards. Guardians look after people. Guards control.
Others of us are trying to change the world. It is exactly in the nature of this attempt that one of the chief features of the failure of modern society is preserved: the need to control. I don't know exactly what the answers are so I have called this piece “glimmerings of emergence”.
Can We Do Anything?
Where established systems of control govern us we may need to promote systems that are more responsive and less controlling. Perhaps we shouldn't be trying too hard to reform the system but to generate new fields for emergent alternatives in our own spheres of living socially and economically. Where we do control others we can learn how to relinquish that control. Just as a body protected by antibiotics cannot be expected to have a healthy auto-immune system in place we would need to find our own way back step by step to not-controlling in a wholesome way. It would be self-contradictory to impose this in any way.
So, am I saying that diffused order is good and central order is bad and never exists in nature? No. I believe that both forms of order exist and have their consequences and appropriate domain and scale of operations. In modern society these forms of order have become disproportionate and lead to results we do not want. Since we do seem to want something else it makes sense to reexamine the fears that have led us to such a vast concentration of control.
The History of Control Mentality
Why most of the planet's humans today constitute those who follow this particular equation of control is a story of utmost importance. From fear and the need to control in a few small societies came the culture and preference for settled-farming, surplus generation and storage. This brought the first possibility of living beyond the annual bio-resource limits of a region through exploiting other regions and bio-capital such as fossil resources of fertility, bio-mass, energy and water. Societies which followed this technology could flout the natural laws regulating growth to multiply and easily annihilate, incorporate and dominate societies that didn't subscribe. To resist such huge societies, small societies had to either join the “game” or die. So whether they lived or died their lifestyle ended anyway. Only those societies who were able to live in environments which were not coveted for agriculture retained their lifestyle. Today even these environments are coveted by the mainstream for their natural resources or as dumping grounds for toxic waste!
The Intelligence of Emergence
Natural selection of emergent orders has created and tuned an amazingly detailed system “brain” which is not in the individuals or even in the sum of their attributes but mysteriously operates when they are brought together. Miraculously, this emergent “intelligence” shows signs of global awareness not available to the individual. If I were religious, it would be tempting to say that emergence is “God”! But for this “God” to work and even exist, every individual is required to be true to their own nature to the maximum. If they were following any order imposed by an authority it would not be emergent.
Individuality – Community and Emergence
Unlike western culture, Indian culture is supposed to be strongly based on family values. It would seem to suggest that an Indian cares very deeply about the extended family and society. What we do find is that Indians are strongly governed by public opinion - what people will say. However, there is no indication that we care any more for our society than westerners who are the champions of individualism. If anything we seem to have less civic concern. We confuse being governed by society with caring for it. A patriarchal society can injure initiative and individual identity while seeming to promote noble values of service. A natural community consists of individuals not robots. Robots cannot “care” – they follow a program. A collection of robots is an army not a community. To the East we must say: Serving society is not possible by subjugating the self. To the West: Serving oneself is not possible by subjugating a community.
- Leslie Nazareth