Learn about the Three "C"s
All cellular creatures survive in one of two ways.
Competition. This is the default mechanism for survival . One must eat to live. Competition and time combine to create diversity, innovation and efficiency.
Collaboration. Because competition is difficult and stressful, cells began to collaborate as an alternate strategy. When cells collaborate, they share the job of survival. This leads to specialization, mutual interdependence and complexity.
Coordination. Coordination is a special form of collaboration. It is required when cells collaborate. The brain and neural systems of plants and animals coordinate how all the cells work together so the cells and the body can survive.
Humans use these same mechanisms, but because we can think and create ideas, we use them very differently.
See the Patterns in Nature
Believe it or not, life is really just an excellent information processor.
DNA is at the core of life. DNA molecules linked together in long strings are the coded instructions that enable life to occur. DNA is housed in a cell, which is a unit that holds all the parts that allow a cell to 'live.' The cells parts allow the cell to consume resources, turn them into body parts they need, and create a new generation of cells. So, even if a cell dies, the DNA will be carried on in a new generation. With time, cells joined together to form complex plants and animals. Groupings of cells into tissues and organs enable cells to work far more efficiently than they could as single cells. The synergy and complexity that result from these patterns have created a plethora of unique beings, one of which is humans.
Humans are also excellent information processors. Of course, their cells do all the information processing of DNA like every other creature, but humans have added a whole new level to living. When humans think, they create an idea. An idea is not a physical thing, but when a human turns an idea into a product like a wheel or a hut or a piece of clothing, they convert that idea into a thing that did not exist before. They processed their idea into something useful, the very definition of information processing.
This ability to think up ideas and choose which ideas to act on has created a new ecosystem based on ideas. I call it the ideasphere. In the ideasphere, humans take on the same role as cells in the natural world. They use their body parts to put ideas into action just as cells use their cell parts to put DNA instructions into action. . Everything that we see around us that humans have made, comes from human ideas. When humans join together to make products or services to provide to others, we call these groupings institutions. Institutions are equivalent to tissues and organs in a body. Institutions are very good at efficiently making products, just as tissues and organs are very efficient at performing life functions. When humans join together to determine how to live together, they create governments. Government acts as the coordinating unit of a society, just like the brain and neural system act as the coordinating system of the body.
The information processing capability of humans and non-humans are parallel; but the big difference is that they start with a different unit of information. This makes all the difference. And this is why humans are both amazing... and dangerous.
Here are the similarities in graphic form:
What does this mean for humans?
Non-humans collaborate using one very simple rule: the cells are not allowed to harm other cells or the body in which they live.
The rule is simple but the mechanisms are amazingly intricate.
Humans can learn these mechanisms and adjust them so they work with the superpower of choice. If we did this, our coordinating systems would look very different.
Right off the bat, we need to alter the basic rule to fit humans:
Humans can make any choices they want as long as they do not harm each other and their environment.
Here are some ways we can change the world using this basic rule:
Government: Whenever an action can harm people, it must be regulated. When an action does not harm anyone, it should be allowed. A citizen cannot be allowed to legally harm a fellow citizen.
Elections: As choice is the human superpower and elections are how we choose our coordinators, the right to vote should be maximized. And private money should be strictly limited so that contributions to an election are approximately equal to the equivalent impact of a vote.
Taxation: A small revenue tax should be implemented for all individuals and companies. A large income tax should be implemented for very wealthy individuals and very highly profitable companies.
Homelessness: No cell in a body is homeless. Our coordinators should implement policies that enable housing for all along with the training and services that can help people to transition to the level of independence they can manage.
Police violence: In a healthy society, no one has the right to harm others. This includes law enforcement personnel. Police should be held accountable for injuries they cause in the line of duty. They would have the same right of a fair trial as every other citizen.
These are just a few ideas to get you thinking. Based on your background and experience, you can come up with many more. Please do! And then work to make them a reality. If you would like, contact me and share your ideas!