Parliament in the Dark

I have been a fan of Peak Prosperity ever since Chris spoke at Parliament about the connection between the 3 E’s (Energy, Economy, Environment).   Members of Parliament seemed unable to act however. They did not have the tools to test the information they were given or even to ask good questions. The esteemed British journal of finance and economy, The Economist, an organization that thrives on gathering and printing important information, was also in denial – or in the dark.

Are the issues too complex? Are they mixed too closely with other, less important issues?   Maybe we are afraid of the crowd, or maybe we have a fear of being left out.   Even if the crowd seems to be going the wrong direction it is difficult to break away. This fear is subtle but powerful and it inhibits the asking of important questions.

What can we do when nobody listens? Follow the lead of children and play games.  The play of puppies and kittens is instinctual and has survival value, not only for themselves but for their group.  We humans can create games around almost any goal.  Why not a goal of finding, filtering, and moving useful information and ideas?  Communities that thrive will find ways to do this.

Much of nature is competition and we must learn how to use it constructively.  It can be a simple game like sandlot game of baseball with a combination of transparency plus the semi-privacy of team meetings.  A game is a temporary social structure for the achievement of some goal whether or not that goal is artificial, like putting a ball through a hoop, or a more concrete goal like finding which homes would benefit from better insulation.

Trying to change one’s own community can be frustrating and time consuming.  Making the next neighborhood (NH) as the target learner can be more productive.   A competitive game to find ideas for another community requires no salesmanship, no apologies.  Start with a Discussion Question (DQ), divide a dozen people from your own neighborhood into several teams with a few to act as judges.  They can play just for fun.  That means they can come from any part of the political spectrum.   Re-mix frequently to minimize bias.  Repeat to refine the question until there is some result that can be acted upon by people in the next NH.

NH1 can ask any Discussion Question (DQ) about the next neighborhood (NH2).   The DQ could be  “where is NH2 wasting energy?”   The bonus of the game can be useful information for people in NH2.  They do not have to accept results but are more likely to trust results if they can see the process – and it may save them money.  Players can come entirely from NH1 to start the process but then it can be a mix of players from NH1&2.   Since only about a dozen player-judges are required for one DQ, other people and other groups can address other Discussion Questions.

A community or NH of 10 breadwinners can also use tools of Information Gathering to support 2 of its members.  Those 2 can then work on any job they want.  This is real power and can change the job market for the better.  This type of organization may become more important as more jobs are lost to automation.  It requires social structure changes at the local level, not just government policy changes at the top.

Moving the process forward . . .

Information Games can even be extended to a third neighborhood (NH3) by NH1 crafting a Discussion Question for NH2 such as  “How would you get this process started in NH3?”   If NH1 (or sponsor) can provide enough prize incentive and ask the DQ, then NH2 can provide the players and judges.  The goal of the game is to provide information that might be useful for NH3 (4, 5, etc).  This is real power too.

We are all on a steep mountain and need to point out footholds and give feedback to other climbers. This is true no matter what our own situation might be.  We must engage others in the search and testing of new models that work.  Whoever puts up the prize money can ask the DQ (as usual), but judges should be chosen from the pool of participants.  To accelerate the method there can be many games, each with only a dozen people but focused on finding sustainable ideas for one NH.

Victor Frankl pointed out that finding meaning in life is an important key to survival.  We must search for meaning, not simply be nice people waiting for social justice.  Games and competition can add to the purpose we find each day. Athletes know this.

“Bringing out the pitchforks” may be a metaphor, but in reality all national governments have a monopoly on the use of coercive power (Max Weber).  National governments can use force, if needed, to keep the currency intact and counterfeiters at bay.  This also means the Fed will play with the economy simply because they can.

It’s not about the science anymore.  It’s about turning the social hierarchy to find pathways of sustainability.  If society is a biological model, then the Internet is the nervous system that already extends to most of the earth. The next step should be to look at the cellular level, the community level, and create communities that work.