reciprocal altruism as a holarchy of love
2004-08-12 @ 11:22:00 addendum: further discussion of cooperative communities on 08/12/04
Ultimately, the economy of reciprocal altruism has been proven effective in theory -- whether demonstrated in an abstract sense through the prisoner's dilemma, or in the applied methodology of Bucky Fuller's Critical Path -- communities can be structured cooperatively so that people's motivations for self-preservation and personal profit are mutually beneficial to each other.
So, where is the evidence of the implementation of this kind of strategy in actual human society?
Perhaps I might point to the productivity in the Israeli Kibbutz, or through anarcho-syndicalism/collectivist-anarchism in Spain during the civil war 1936-39, or even in Norway after 1994 (social individualist anarchism, the third alternative and social form)...
And recently, I have been greatly inspired by the structure of hunter-gatherer cultures in Peninsular Malaysia, referred to as the Orang Asli, who may have the longest track record of success of any culture on the planet:
Probably the single most important value unifying the variety of aboriginal cultures in this region, is that of complete devotion to their community, as shown in their communal property distribution system. Since everything is shared in a kinship band, there is no real personal property; and whenever someone acquires food, any surplus beyond what is needed to feed one’s family is shared with the community. Not to do so would be ‘punan,’ or taboo. According to Robert Knox Dentan, ‘punan’ can be explained through this set of rules:
` ` One should not calculate the amount of a gift. “In this context saying thank you is very rude, for it suggests, first that one has calculated the amount of a gift and, second, that one did not expect the donor to be so generous. In fact, saying thank you is punan” (“The Semai: a Nonviolent People of Malaysia” 49). It also prohibits the direct exchange of goods.
One should share whatever one can afford. “Not to share is punan” (ibid 49).
One should not ask for more than a person can afford.
“The final rule is that it is punan to refuse a request” (ibid 49). ' '
This sort of taboo system is quite common in reciprocally-oriented cultural systems, where people do not work purely for personal profit, but for the love and survival of the community as a whole.
--
from the wisdom of an urbanized agrarian culture:
The Parable of the Growing Seed; Mark, IV: 26-29
4:26 He also said, "The kingdom of God is like someone who spreads seed on the ground. 4:27 He goes to sleep and gets up, night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. 4:28 By itself the soil produces a crop, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. 4:29 And when the grain is ripe, he sends in the sickle because the harvest has come."
the moral is simple: "Work, and heed not the event."
this sort of ethic is essential to a society based on reciprocal altruism.
--
or, from a New Aeon perspective:
AL I,44: "For pure will, unassuaged of purpose, delivered from the lust of result, is every way perfect."
The Old Comment
Recommends "non-attachment." Students will understand how in meditation the mind which attaches itself to hope of success is just as bound as if it were to attach itself to some base material idea. It is a bond and the aim is freedom. I recommend serious study of the word unassuaged which appears not very intelligible.
The New Comment
This verse is best interpreted by defining 'pure will' as the true _expression of the Nature, the proper or inherent motion of the matter, concerned. It is unnatural to aim at any goal. The student is referred to "Liber LXV", Cap. II, v. 24 ("And I laid my head against the Head of the Swan, and laughed, saying: Is there not joy ineffable in this aimless winging? Is there not weariness and impatience for who would attain to some goal?"), and to the "Tao Teh King". This becomes particularly important in high grades. One is not to do Yoga, etc., in order to get Samadhi, like a schoolboy or a shopkeeper; but for its own sake, like an artist. "Unassuaged" means "its edge taken off by" or "dulled by". The pure student does not think of the result of the examination.
--
and finally, from the timeless mystical classic:
Tao Teh King(crowley translation): 37
THE RIGHT USE OF GOVERNMENT:
The Tao proceedeth by its own nature, doing nothing; therefore there is no doing which it comprehendeth not.
If kings and princes were to govern in this manner, all things would operate aright by their own motion.
If this transmutation were my object, I should call it Simplicity.
Simplicity hath no name nor purpose; silently and at ease all things go well.
--
To paraphrase some of Ken Wilber's methodology from, "An Integral Theory of Consciousness," ... To comprehend and validate this paradigm (or any other) requires further injunction, an apprehension, and confirmation from multiple perspectives.
As usual, this is a work in progress, and these are my current notes...
--
` ` The important point here is to find something you love to do, and then do it just for the sake of doing it. This is finding intrinsic motivation for activity. If you do something because you enjoy doing it, you’re more likely to keep doing it. ' -- from Exercise, the Double-Edged Sword, by Diana Karol Nagy
Ultimately, the economy of reciprocal altruism has been proven effective in theory -- whether demonstrated in an abstract sense through the prisoner's dilemma, or in the applied methodology of Bucky Fuller's Critical Path -- communities can be structured cooperatively so that people's motivations for self-preservation and personal profit are mutually beneficial to each other.
So, where is the evidence of the implementation of this kind of strategy in actual human society?
Perhaps I might point to the productivity in the Israeli Kibbutz, or through anarcho-syndicalism/collectivist-anarchism in Spain during the civil war 1936-39, or even in Norway after 1994 (social individualist anarchism, the third alternative and social form)...
And recently, I have been greatly inspired by the structure of hunter-gatherer cultures in Peninsular Malaysia, referred to as the Orang Asli, who may have the longest track record of success of any culture on the planet:
Probably the single most important value unifying the variety of aboriginal cultures in this region, is that of complete devotion to their community, as shown in their communal property distribution system. Since everything is shared in a kinship band, there is no real personal property; and whenever someone acquires food, any surplus beyond what is needed to feed one’s family is shared with the community. Not to do so would be ‘punan,’ or taboo. According to Robert Knox Dentan, ‘punan’ can be explained through this set of rules:
` ` One should not calculate the amount of a gift. “In this context saying thank you is very rude, for it suggests, first that one has calculated the amount of a gift and, second, that one did not expect the donor to be so generous. In fact, saying thank you is punan” (“The Semai: a Nonviolent People of Malaysia” 49). It also prohibits the direct exchange of goods.
One should share whatever one can afford. “Not to share is punan” (ibid 49).
One should not ask for more than a person can afford.
“The final rule is that it is punan to refuse a request” (ibid 49). ' '
This sort of taboo system is quite common in reciprocally-oriented cultural systems, where people do not work purely for personal profit, but for the love and survival of the community as a whole.
--
from the wisdom of an urbanized agrarian culture:
The Parable of the Growing Seed; Mark, IV: 26-29
4:26 He also said, "The kingdom of God is like someone who spreads seed on the ground. 4:27 He goes to sleep and gets up, night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. 4:28 By itself the soil produces a crop, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. 4:29 And when the grain is ripe, he sends in the sickle because the harvest has come."
the moral is simple: "Work, and heed not the event."
this sort of ethic is essential to a society based on reciprocal altruism.
--
or, from a New Aeon perspective:
AL I,44: "For pure will, unassuaged of purpose, delivered from the lust of result, is every way perfect."
The Old Comment
Recommends "non-attachment." Students will understand how in meditation the mind which attaches itself to hope of success is just as bound as if it were to attach itself to some base material idea. It is a bond and the aim is freedom. I recommend serious study of the word unassuaged which appears not very intelligible.
The New Comment
This verse is best interpreted by defining 'pure will' as the true _expression of the Nature, the proper or inherent motion of the matter, concerned. It is unnatural to aim at any goal. The student is referred to "Liber LXV", Cap. II, v. 24 ("And I laid my head against the Head of the Swan, and laughed, saying: Is there not joy ineffable in this aimless winging? Is there not weariness and impatience for who would attain to some goal?"), and to the "Tao Teh King". This becomes particularly important in high grades. One is not to do Yoga, etc., in order to get Samadhi, like a schoolboy or a shopkeeper; but for its own sake, like an artist. "Unassuaged" means "its edge taken off by" or "dulled by". The pure student does not think of the result of the examination.
--
and finally, from the timeless mystical classic:
Tao Teh King(crowley translation): 37
THE RIGHT USE OF GOVERNMENT:
The Tao proceedeth by its own nature, doing nothing; therefore there is no doing which it comprehendeth not.
If kings and princes were to govern in this manner, all things would operate aright by their own motion.
If this transmutation were my object, I should call it Simplicity.
Simplicity hath no name nor purpose; silently and at ease all things go well.
--
To paraphrase some of Ken Wilber's methodology from, "An Integral Theory of Consciousness," ... To comprehend and validate this paradigm (or any other) requires further injunction, an apprehension, and confirmation from multiple perspectives.
As usual, this is a work in progress, and these are my current notes...
--
` ` The important point here is to find something you love to do, and then do it just for the sake of doing it. This is finding intrinsic motivation for activity. If you do something because you enjoy doing it, you’re more likely to keep doing it. ' -- from Exercise, the Double-Edged Sword, by Diana Karol Nagy