Humankind has an IOU: information and a debt to pay

The Bible says, "Love Thy neighbor as thyself," but does not say why. An old book I read decades ago has an Englishman explain that the answer lies in Hindu thought, which says, "Tat tvam asi," (Thou art that). Love thy neighbor because, i.e., you are that neighbor--i.e., in Latin id est, THAT IS.

I.E. I use these letters as an acronym for "Internal Efficiency" as opposed to "External Efficiency (EE)",

IE: INTERNAL efficiency
EE: EXTERNAL efficiency

Evolutionarily most large forms of Life Systems--and human Organizations crudely modeled on them--learn and develop several techniques that require them to manifest as externally efficient. They become efficient at gathering food from the external environment. They become adept at recognizing external friend and foe. And they develop good defense mechanisms to defend themselves against external systems.

However, few have been given the opportunity to thrive in an environment in which they can develop internal efficiencies--of the spirit and their metabolism. (Those that did were poor at defending themselves externally and were annihilated, parasiticed, colonized etc.) Fewer still, could create equilibrium of evolution for themselves in which their internal as well external-interfacing systems could be developed efficiently. The resource-productivity emphasizing "Next Industrial Revolution" is, essentially, for the global industrial metabolism to create internal efficiencies. To really commence these a triquilibrium needs to be aimed at. The English name chosen for this triquilibrium can be summarized in the acronym IOU. The letters stand for: INformation, OUTformation, USEformation.

IOU:
IN-formation
OUT-formation
USE-formation

Besides Inside-Outside-Unity, it is good that the letters IOU also remind and resonate within the minds of the native speakers in such a way that they feel a sense of indebtedness, as in

IOU: I OWE YOU

The Hindus discovered that the best time to enter relevant information into the mind was when you are young and the memory is sharp and behavior can be modified through practice. Therefore, in the traditional, oral ways of instruction, the Hindu teacher would spend less time explaining than in helping create useful group-songs containing relevant information which the children would memorize and never, ever, forget. The attitude was, "Let them carry it inside them. At the appropriate time, they will ruminate, digest, understand and act accordingly." The teaching method was not 3Rs but LRU: Listen, remember and understand.

The Hindu also raise their children so that they go through life feeling indebtedness--to be given the human form, to have been granted intelligence, to live upon the work of their elders such as gods, saints, and ancestors. Amongst the Rites of Passage--both for boys and girls--was the conferment of the sacred, three-stranded Thread of (this) Indebtedness, which was worn diagonally across the torso, from the right shoulder. This helped the Hindu acquire an attitude of reverence, humility and non-violence and to regard the planet earth as Mother. Devout Hindus still beg Mother Earth's forgiveness every morning before getting out of bed and stepping upon her. In the same way, the woodsman humbly prays and begs forgiveness before cutting the tree with his axe.

So this IOU triquilibrium thing keeps coming back to bug me: InformationOutformationUseformation. It's my way of saying what Bucky Fuller said, humankind knows so much, but does so little.


- adapted from an email to rmi.org, 18 July, 2000