The unstoppable force meets the immovable object...

... and destroys it in an explosion of reality.  Like many cliches, the root question is both deeper and more simple than it appears.   And like most cliches, the deeper question has already been answered.   There is no immovable object.   There is status quo.  There are things that are "solid".  There are things which are gigantic, enormous, etc.  But everything moves.

Anything that is truly static does not exist in our universe or at least not in a form we could recognize.  Matter can not defy the forces that act upon it.  The towers of the ancients are old and crumbled.  The great families have been born and died.  Greece fell.  Rome fell.  The great empires of Europe rose and fell.  Our own empire will one day fall.  Safety is an illusion.  Permanence is an illusion.  Anything that stops moving, dies.

Now as for the unstoppable force, show me one that can be stopped.  Degraded perhaps.  Deflected perhaps.  But the light that was present at the dawn of the universe is still going out.  The first mover, whatever it be, set off a chain reaction that has never stopped.  Passion, drive, love, these things go on.   They may lessen, but they are not stopped.  Their original source may be destroyed but their force is still felt.

So, simply look around the world.  You are an unstoppable force.  People have told you that there are immovable objects out there.   They have misled you.  All obstacles can be surmounted.  All that is static is destined for destruction.  As I have said many times... all things change.

Group dynamics

I have let my mind wander a bit of late.  Synchronicity often seems to punctuate ideas.  And so, 6 days before the start of a another festival in the Nevada desert, I am contacted by an organization dedicated to clean water.  The day before I was reminded of the simple joy of dealing with competence.  These events usher in the end of summer in the United States.  Although the sun will face the northern hemisphere for another month, the start of the school year effectively ends it for a large section of the population.

All of these thoughts congealed this morning.  I have often spoke of the power of individuals.  However, humans are social creatures and their potential is not lessened by the presence of their fellows.  I have often found myself in the presence of a group that negatively effects its members.  Metaphors involving sheep often come to mind.  Labor unions, focus groups, and Congress often cater to the "lowest common denominator".  As these groups become large, their expressed opinions can cause us to think poorly of their members.  Group members can become so concerned with agreement or "unity" that they lose focus.  A critical part of group dynamics is exclusion.  "Splinter groups" need to be exactly that.  They need to be separated out from the other members.  They can then be considered allied groups. but this separation allows for actual unity or purpose.

In addition, a group needs a goal.  Forming groups simply to form groups or to reach agreement is a pointless activity.  I will not get into a discussion regarding the psychology of groups, "group think", or "brainstorming".   Individuals can ask others for ideas and have done so for millenia.  This process has not been improved upon by having less organized meetings.

Working smaller groups are well known to many.  Organized sports would not exist without them.  A "herd" of baseball players would be useless.  There is no omnipresent coach.  A quarterback may call a play but all planning ends when the ball is snapped.   Yes, I just used a football metaphor.

Although I personally believe all groups benefit from a leader, all an effective group needs is someone to point in a direction.  Every year thousands of individuals gather in festivals throughout the country successfully and do amazing things.  Groups reroute rivers for irrigation.  Groups raise walls.  Groups build roads.  All of these things happened countless times without definitive leadership.  Families may adopt leadership structures but many work effectively without one.

In truth, a successful group is easy to create.  I have done it many times.  I ask others for aid with a task.  They either agree or refuse.  If they agree, we are a group.   If that task is living together, that group is referred to as a community and the task is ongoing.  People leave the group or join.  If the task is completed (whether successful or not), the group dissolves.

And so, although I believe humans are amazing creatures individually, we are also amazing in groups.  I would not live apart from my fellow humans.  I do not need to control them to interact with them.  I am a member of several communities.  I have watched dozens of groups perform what the individuals involved could not.

The next time you help someone move you have already solved dozens of problems that plague large corporations.  You have already proven that we can live together and work together.  You have proven that there is hope for us; that we can band together and make things better.  Congratulations!

A light switch away...

I have often thought to myself that all of this is much more fragile than people realize.  Humans like to assume that things will not change.  Considering what we are and how we got here, that supposition is silly at best.

We are change.  We are a monumental force that struck this planet.  Merely a few hundred thousand years ago, a biped was able to control fire.  Since then we have changed the entire landscape.  Our caves becoming more elaborate.  The fire burning different fuels.

I am the child of an age of abstraction.  My income generated by pressing buttons.  The buttons sending inputs that are translated dozens of times into a visual representation.  That visual representation again interpreted and leading to more button pressing.  I send portions of my income to others that then push more buttons telling valves and switches to open or close.  Eventually through all the layers of abstraction, I gain heat and light.

But, there are layers of abstraction, and those layers are susceptible to the variance of the physical world.  A storm knocks over a tree... A tree falls on a power line... The power line breaks or disconnects... Suddenly, everything changes.  The buttons are no longer connected.  The fuel no longer reaches my fire.  My cave is no longer a haven.

Now, the layers of abstraction are not truly gone.  There are methods for reconnecting layers.  Fire is still my birthright.  I can still will it into existence.  However, the ability to control it effectively has been lost.  I can use another fuel to either power the control mechanisms or provide another source of heat and light.  I can find other caves.  Caves where the fire is still well controlled.  All of the layers of abstraction are still in place, I am simply disconnected from them.

The truth becomes clear quickly.  If we take away the grid, my place in the world must change dramatically.  We would return to open hearths and candlelight.  We would return to telling stories by the fire.  We would return to schedules based around the sun.  It is a world I have visited countless times, but it is not a world I can live in.  It is not a world where I can provide food for myself and those I care for.  It is a world where I have few skills of worth.

I would adapt.  After all, I am human.  I would begin reconnecting the layers.  I would strive to bring us back... perhaps with some changes, but still to a world where I can press buttons.  Where those buttons create signals and those signals can travel anywhere.  I can live as my ancestors did.  However, the truth is I won't.