The Problems of Patterns

People want order very, very quickly, order in the economy, order in systems, order in whatever--order in the government.  And so, the only way to [make people comfortable with] emergence is to have everyone agree that we don't know what we're doing, because if we knew what we were doing, we wouldn't be in the place that we are.  And so, somehow, that enables people to go with the flow.  And they don't need an answer, don't need a system, don't need a pattern.  They can experiment, they can open up, they can be creative and...and I think that's being in the stream, it's part of it.  --Born, a social innovator, taken from the book Getting to Maybe by Westley, Zimmerman, and Patton.

After reading this book on social innovation and "getting to maybe" in regards to creating social change, I think Born's point is something we should all keep in mind.

We all want to hurry to a new kind of order.  We believe ourselves to be distressed by disorder, but what really seems to be happening is that we get distressed by novel forms of disorder.  Humans actually adapt quickly to new environments and new social systems.  The social system we have now is atrocious (perhaps better than some ancient societies), and it is rife with disorder, but we are used to it.  It's our "normal" so it's hard to get anyone to notice how aberrant it actually is.

The second, deeper point speaks to our psychological insecurity.  We need a pattern...what would we do without one?  Religious followers state that without religion humans would be immoral savages.  Upon some investigation, it's not too difficult to see all the problems with the current pattern or system or psychological habits, so we want to run quickly from that pattern to a different one that promises us greater security, comfort, and happiness.  However, what if the rigid adherence to a pattern is itself part of the problem?

The ZM is great at pointing out many of the current problems, and it offers a kind of new pattern, which right now is not very explicit and detailed.  I think this is a positive thing about the ZM.  A new pattern can only emerge if we give it room to emerge.  To forcefully impose another pattern will create new conflicts, new problems.

What will the resource-based economy look like? It's hard to say.  There are some general guidelines, of course, which are focused on human well-being and the planet's well being, but the exact means of working towards those goals can vary by location, by group needs, and by time.  The resource-based economy should also have a general guideline of being flexible, part of its "constitution" if you will.

In other words, guidelines should be understood as living rules.  They are not static, ideal for all time.  We need to be aware of this socially as well as psychologically, kind of like being aware of your stomach.  You cannot learn about hunger and the stomach and forget them.  It's a part of your life, every day.