Mutual Responsibility

John Dupré, Professor of Philosophy of Science and Director, at the ESRC Center for Genomics in Society, University of Exeter writes the following in Project Syndicate:

…The creationists are right about one thing: contrary to the impression given by much popular writing on the subject, the theory of evolution is in crisis. But this is a positive development, because it reflects the non-linear progress of scientific knowledge, characterized by what Thomas Kuhn described in his influential book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions as ‘paradigm shifts.’…”

…Beyond undermining the gene-centered theories of evolution that have dominated public consciousness for several decades, these developments call for new philosophical frameworks. Traditional reductionist views of science, with their focus on “bottom-up” mechanisms, do not suffice in the quest to understand top-down and circular causality and a world of nested processes…”

…Evolutionary theory’s current contretemps – and our inability to predict where the field will be in 50 years – are a cause for celebration…”

Crisis = Turning Point, Point Of Decision, Rebirth

Indeed the word “crisis” in its original meaning describes a “turning point”, “point of decision”, or even “rebirth,” thus it does not necessarily mean a negative event as the word is mostly used nowadays.

As the above mentioned article suggests, a crisis opens up new possibilities, clears previous dogmas and prepares paradigm shifts.

Today, humanity is in a global crisis. It is not only evolutionary theory that has reached a turning point, but basically all of the human institutions that looked well grounded, even 10 years ago, are facing crisis situations.

Moreover the developments in quantum physics started challenging even the perception of reality humanity was used to for several thousands of years.

The common feature of all these crisis points and scenarios is that from a previously flat, linear, polarized paradigm, the whole human experience shifts to a round, totally intermingled, matrix-like, integral experience.

What Does It Mean To Live In A Global, Interconnected & Integral World?

Although the expressions “global” and “interconnected” became much more popularized in the media and in scientific and even political publications, the full meaning of these terms is still only superficially grasped by most people.

In an integral system the importance and potential of the individual or even small or larger group of individuals is lost, since an integral system means total interconnections, where each element influences every other element.

From this viewpoint we can examine how those methods and tools that seemed to work in human society and institutions up to this point, developing humanity for centuries through its progress, suddenly turned useless and harmful.

The methods and tools did not change, but the system they are used in and should operate on has changed from linear/angular, fragmented and polarized to spherical/round and interconnected.

Thus, as the above article also suggests, humanity stands not only ahead of new evolutionary theories, but in front of a new stage of evolution due to the changing system and surrounding conditions.

In order to understand life in a global, integral and interdependent reality, humanity itself has to become global and integral and use its interdependence in a positive reinforcing way, balancing out negative traits and tendencies and amplifying the positives.

The developmental tendency in evolution is the birth of more and more complex structures, lifeforms in order to more efficiently cope with environmental influence and increase the chances of survival. Humanity is standing in front of this option now to use the already existing global interconnections and become a mutually cooperating, planning and acting “super-organism,” suitable to build a sustainable future.

Dealing With The Global Conditions: Combining Individual Experiences Into A Single Picture

By combining the individual perception, experience of all human beings into a single picture, puzzle can humanity put together the “true reality” and finally step out of the uncertainty, this “Russian roulette” that has been played for thousands of years.

The original quoted article states: “In fact, disagreement – and the deeper insights that result from it – enables new approaches to scientific understanding. For science, unlike for dogmatic belief systems, disagreement is to be encouraged…” Indeed the individual opinion, unique viewpoint is not lost in the new human system but it is combined into a multi colored mosaic, where if applied to a common goal, common point of agreement, it can give the right, true solution for any problem. It is like a round table discussion in between very different people with opposing opinions, but if they find a common point in between them “in the center” through a skillful moderator, through that common point they can channel their individual opinions contributing to a much more intensive and proper solution.

The advantage and superiority of humans above other lifeforms is the capability to make this evolutionary jump in a conscious, freely chosen and executed manner, and not by the negative pressure and subsequent suffering from the surrounding natural environment demanding this change based on unbreakable natural laws.

It is not yet a lost decade but it will surely take at least a decade from the beginning of the crisis for the world economy to get back to decent shape.”

 – Olivier Blanchard, chief economist at the International Monetary Fund

The Daily Mail reports:

… with the eurozone crisis threatening to spiral out of control, the US approaching a debt storm, and the global economy slowing from China to Brazil, the outlook remains bleak.”

The Problem With Isolated Analysis

The unfortunate dilemma continually facing the global economy is a lack of unified integral analysis. For instance, the U.S. looks at the Eurozone and seeks to prepare itself for the worst, although not-much-thinking of providing aid. The Eurozone looks to the U.S.’s approaching fiscal cliff and thinks likewise—neither has proposed the need for mutual aid.

In an interconnected world, perhaps most represented in economic relationships, where markets are tied together, and therefore rise and fall in conjunction with one another; the idea of mutual responsibility is so fundamental that it is almost mind boggling that it has yet to be realistically proposed.

If markets remain connected, as they are now, and nations do not think of each other as parts of one global system, which is now in a growing crisis predicted to worsen, then how can it possibly be tackled by independent parties working towards different goals in an integral network?

The Family Analogy

The most simple interconnected group that exists is a family. In a family, we have a mother, father, possibly children, and extended family. The health of the family is predicated by the health of all of the units within it. If there is a baby in the family, it is given extra care. It isn’t asked a question like, “Why do you not go out and earn a living to support us?” It is naturally understood that a baby is a defenseless unit within the family, that it can not provide for itself, but being that it is part of the family, is provided for by the family.

The global economy is today like a dysfunctional family. Using the family baby analogy, we can perhaps look at Greece as a baby. Harsh austerity is imposed on it. Its public sector has been cut, those who have previously not paid taxes are now forced to do so. As a result, Greek depression and suicide have soared, poverty has risen, and the black-market economy has soared. The country is in no better shape now than previously, and the world sits and waits to see if worse conditions will present themselves.

But if the global economy were to act like a family, then it would look at Greece far differently. Obviously, it must grow up, to spend within its means, to not be a burden. But a baby is not asked to go and earn an income when it is unable to do so. The same analogy can be applied elsewhere as well, if it were allowed to, because the interconnection and interdependence of the global economy takes in many members who are strong, moderately strong, weak, and feeble.

In a family, all are equal.

The Need For Mutual Responsibility To Exit The Global Financial Crisis

Because the interconnection and interdependence of global markets does not subside, and because crisis between markets continues to escalate, the need for mutual responsibility presents itself.

When a family does not act for the mutual benefit of the family, all of its members suffer. If the baby in the family is not treated as a baby, but perhaps as the father of the family, then the baby suffers, and the rest of the family does also.

One key problem that exists within the global economy is that each is treated as if they must, “pull their own weight,” as if conditions are somehow equal existing within and between every nation. But they are not. As a result, the global economy continues to not act like a family due to its interconnection and the entire global economy suffers due to this continued calculation.

Mutual responsibility on the other hand, would necessitate each nation within the global economy to think of the needs of all the other members within the global economy. Greece then would not have to suffer such harsh and rapid austerity in order to bring it into line, but would be gently guided so as to not cause the incredible rise of depression and suicide which we see existing today. The U.S., likewise, would not be asked to face their upcoming fiscal cliff alone, and so on and so forth for each nation within the global economy.

But without mutual responsibility, the IMF’s prediction of perhaps a decade to recover from the global crisis is naïve at best. Global interconnection and interdependence is not ceasing, and mutual responsibility, sadly, is nowhere in sight on the current global landscape.

Image: ““I want all three of our hands together”” by emmiegrn on Flickr.

• The observation that recoveries following a financial crisis are different suggests that standard macroeconomic policies might not work as one would usually expect…
• On balance, it thus seems that this time – or, rather, this post-crisis environment – really is different, and that macroeconomic policies have done little to improve matters…”

— Daniel Gros, Director of Center for European Policy Studies, in the Project Syndicate article, “This Recovery Is Different.”

Today’s Crisis Renders Political Leaders & Financial Experts Helpless

Indeed political leaders, financial and economical experts seem desperately helpless in the face of the deepening crisis all over the world.

In Europe, for example, they switch from austerity to stimulus, and then back and forth. In the US, there is sharp debate about more market freedom or more State control, interest rates are lowered to even minus levels like in Denmark, but overall nothing seems to work.

All the debate and analysis is touching only the surface, the symptoms. It does not extend deeper trying to identify the core problem.

How Is It Possible That The Methods & Tools That Drove Progress Until Today Turn Out To Be Useless, Moreover Harmful?

Every day, the news increasingly exemplifies how the globally interconnected economy affects every country in the world, but when it comes to implementing solutions to global problems, no leaders or experts know how to do it.

A global, integral system means that all the elements are tightly intermingled with each other. When one part of the network moves, the whole network moves with it. All the elements are fully interdependent.

Today’s globally interdependent conditions are still being approached by methods and tools developed in the past, which  were built for a world unlike today’s. In the past, tight global interconnectedness was not taken into account, and thus fragmented, protectionist, self calculating and many times exploitative measures proved to be successful. However, as the world today heads into a new integral era, those same methods and tools have become cancer-like, running down the whole system and making success look like a bleak objective.

Global Scale Problems Require Global Scale Solutions

For a solution that works, people around the world will need to first understand how the protectionist and self calculating attitudes that have been at the core of modern upbringing and education, which seemed to offer success in the past, lead only to increasing problems.

Secondly,  people will need to learn about what living in today’s new globally interdependent conditions means for each and every person, and become motivated to rise above the previous thinking that considers only the success of individual people, organizations and nations, to a thinking that considers a truly global scale success.

With a full understanding about today’s globally interconnected conditions – how these conditions came about, what are today’s problems, what is their source, how should these conditions be optimally related to in order to reach globally interconnected solutions – it could become clear to each and every human being that the health, prosperity and future of every individual directly depends on the health, prosperity and future of the total, unified network.

Image: “humanity street – Voxefx” by Vox Efx.