Acting individually on behalf of the whole

The behavior of North Korea brings in focus one of the most serious issues humans face today. We need to find a way to bring the species to the point where at the same time that we are acting in the best interests of our groups, regardless of how large they are, we are also acting in the best interests of the entire species. In addressing this issue we will need to discuss more fully several issues that were raised in our last blog; issues like global DNA, species as organism, natural systems vs. synthetic systems, and organism vs. organization.

Organization is the most powerful human invention and it is based on what we learned from studying the systems around us. Systems Knowledge has given birth to both Systems Theory and Organizational Theory. The organizations humans have developed are synthetic systems because they are based on what we have learned from the natural systems we encounter in nature. Both natural and synthetic systems are composed of multiple parts that work interactively and they both exist to achieve a particular purpose, but there are essential differences between the two. Because organizations are synthetic systems developed by humans the continued existence of these synthetic systems depends on human maintenance.
Natural systems can also be called organisms because they function as organisms. A natural system is not an organization because humans play no part in their development. Even though it appears that the human species is the largest grouping of humans it is actually a single organism.
We are all familiar with Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). This nucleic acid contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms and some viruses. DNA is often compared to a set of blueprints or a recipe, or a code, since it contains the instructions needed to construct other components of cells, such as proteins and RNA molecules. DNA determines how an individual member of a species will develop from infancy through to adulthood. In animals and other nonhuman species the appropriate response to external stimuli is coded into the species DNA. The DNA that guides the development of the individual organism is a copy of the DNA that determines the characteristics of the species. The importance of species DNA has been overlooked because nonhuman species are guided by instinct.

Humans are different. When humans arrived on this planet they demonstrated that DNA directs two aspects of an organism's nature: physiological and cultural. The physiological nature of all species is genetically predetermined. Humans are different from nonhuman species in the way they respond to external stimuli: their cultural nature. Unlike other species humans did not arrive on this planet knowing how they should respond to external stimuli. That difference demonstrates the organic nature of a species. Even though nonhuman DNA is static at both levels each infant has to develop into an adult. Because human DNA is dynamic at the cultural level the human species has also been subject to development, the goal being to get to the same level of homeostasis observed in nonhuman species.

Our experience with North Korea is indicative of the fact that we have not developed as we should.