Our system nature

On her blog KM posted the following that fits in nicely with our ideas about system restoration.

Harmony comes from engaging a thing as it is, not as we'd prefer it to be. Once its nature is respected, whatever is in its potential will then have space to emerge. Nurture must be based on respect for nature. A gardener who imagines his peas are apples will be in for constant surprises and not all of them pleasing.

Beyond accepting the nature of our environment we need to accept the nature of our own nature. It is true that a wise gardener wil not imagine his peas to be apples. It is an even greater truth that a wise gardener will not approach the production of peas the same way he would approach the production of pea soup. Producing a crop of peas is different from producing a batch of pea soup.

Humans have tried to bring peace to humanity by bringing peace to human groups but this has consistently failed because, even though the human race appears to be the largest human group around it is a different type of group from the groups or organizations that humans have developed.

This takes us back to the distinction between organisms and organizations. Our organizations are based on what we have learned from organisms but we will only achieve temporary respite if we were to treat our organisms as if they were organizations.

If an organization is not functioning properly it can be restored by replacing or retraining malfunctioning components. This works in any organization and there is no maintenance needed if the replacement and retraining are properly done. The same cannot be done with an organism. Take the human body as an example. If the body is not functioning properly because one of the organs has malfunctioned one must either induce the body to heal that organ or replace it. But the body will not accept a new organ. In fact, every transplant patient knows that the body spends significant resources rejecting any new organ that has been inserted. This is because the state of medical research only allows us to treat the body as an organization when critical organs fail. The bottom line is that there is a cost attached to treating a malfunctioning organism as if it were an organization.

Our efforts at peace reflect that. Only among humans must peace be maintained at such a high cost. To achieve true harmony we must treat the human race as the organism it is rather than as an organization.