Ideas
John Kiehl

The enviro-socio-economic system really behaves like a complex living organism

Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

So, let’s compare the imperfect world of human society with a more perfect world — say, for example the world that is the human body. The human body has no component that acts like APPLE Computer. For example, let’s compare the design/manufacture/distribution of an iPad with the design / manufacture / distribution of insulin by the pancreas (typically in response to elevated sugar levels in the blood stream, which could metaphorically be a society that had elevated levels of computer based communications in need of an insulin injection of iPads ;) The Insulin Cycle never behaves like APPLE computer. It never exploits one component for the benefit of another component or even itself. APPLE’s choice could be either (1) pay the FOXCONN employee the same wage as an American would demand — and thereby contribute to the blossoming of China as a modern nation, or (2) continue to exploit the Chinese worker but pass the savings onto the consumer, thereby enriching the American economy by infusing their great products in even greater numbers into the American lifestyle. It seems to me the Insulin Cycle (and the entire human body) chooses one of these two alternatives every chance it gets. My reading of the insulin entry in WIKIPEDIA reminds me of another important difference. The emergence of insulin in the evolution of life is one of life’s earliest chemical foundations. It’s emergence is over 1 BILLION years ago. Over those 1 billion years, it became involved with many, many other process. This broadening of its “purpose” will never happen to APPLE computer. APPLE computer will never (genuinely) be involved with, say, education, gender equality, dissemination of “truth”, mastery of the arts. More typically APPLE will do what they most recently have done with a piece of software called TEST FLIGHT, which is used by software developers like me to distribute our software to beta testers. TEST FLIGHT has been used by both iPhone and Android developers, but APPLE recently purchased the company (because TEST FLIGHT did the job better than APPLE was doing it) but then immediately, and cavalierly, announced that TEST FLIGHT would no longer support Android. My thoughts now turn to the famous Milgram Experiment, which was a study in obedience to authority. APPLE Computer (and corporate America in general) is telling us that it’s OK to exploit these lesser cultures. And we buy into it — because as the Milgram Experiment has pointed out — it’s in our nature to be obedient to authority. How different is the NFL? It’s OK, apparently, to raise young men who will bring the physicality and violence of their sport home to the bedroom. Just watch how easily America obeys the NFL’s authority. For god’s sake, even the women — the victims — will obey. Within the NFL itself, who were the players who obeyed their bosses that offered them “bounties” to injure opponent players? NOW, my thoughts turn to the most obvious mystery in the Universe that is never talked about: Why do we exist in 3 dimensions? I think the number 3 is magical. All it takes for APPLE, or the NFL, or Milgram to succeed is to create a third layer between what should be 2 entities. No (sane) father would take his son to watch a game where one player purposely injures another if it were not for the branding layer that exists between the game and the father / son. No (sane) American would buy a product directly from a slave owner if he/she watched the slave harvest the product — if it were not for the layer of branding in between. We live in 3 dimensions, because that’s the minimal number of dimensions that it takes for “interesting” things to happen. The dimensions are lovely, dark and deep. And I’ve got miles to go before I sleep. Miles to go before I sleep.