01061 Observations Regarding Invisible Structures
How can a society that exists on instant mashed potatoes, packaged cake mixes, frozen dinners, and instant cameras teach patience to its young? — Paul Sweeney
Individual and collective human action is the foundation of all invisible structures.
Everything in an invisible structure originates in a concrete action of a human being. The invisible structure of the “United States of America” has no existence apart from the people who think of themselves as “The Americans.” If a great catastrophe happened and all “The Americans” died, there would not be some metaphysical entity left over, as a ghostly echo, endlessly moaning, “I am the American nation.” If all the Americans die, the American nation dies.
Invisible structures do not magically spring into being. They come about as the result of deliberate human design and action, or by spontaneous order, or by some combination thereof.
Invisible structures have consequences.
You can’t do just one thing. Everything will ripple effect everything else. It therefore is always necessary to beware of unintended consequences.
Consider the meme — the earth is flat. Most people would say that it is good that the scientific truth that the “earth is round” replaced the previous flat earth thinking. Alas, one of the consequences of the demise of the “earth is flat” meme was the conquest and subjugation of the indigenous populations of the western hemisphere. In other words, for a certain period of time, the “earth is flat” meme kept Europeans bottled up on their end of the Eurasian land mass. Once the "earth is flat" meme was out of the way, well, look what happened.
So we have to embrace a certain humility when we undertake change work regarding invisible structures and have a care for the future by considering the law of unintended consequences. Just when we think we have things all figured out, Murphy comes knocking at the door.
Initiate change work at the lowest level where you can do what needs to be done.
The larger the system, the more resilient it is in the face of challenge and the more inertia it has available to resist to any proposal for change.
Thus, it is almost always easier to start something new than to change something that already exists. There are exceptions. For example, if an existing credit union can be influenced to do sustainable loan work, that is great. If this doesn't happen, start your own credit union.
In any design for change, use long and thoughtful observation to determine the lowest possible level where the change can be affected in a way that actually produces something positive.
Systems and structures will always have defense mechanisms against change. And they can be quite ferocious in their defense of the status quo. The bigger the system, the more powerful the defense. The smaller the system or structure, the more manageable their defense will be.
Accumulate small changes to impact larger structures and systems. Always be on the lookout for the big score.
We start small or we don’t start at all.
Think of this as the persistent effect of rain on a granite boulder. Eventually, the rain erodes the granite boulder to a pile of sand. In the event of a “big score” — the granite boulder could be pummeled to pieces quickly by an even larger granite boulder, an earthquake, a meteor strike, or the use of dynamite.
Note the great violence implied in these sudden transitions. The granite boulder, as a granite boulder, has a tremendous amount of inertia to just stay the way that it is. The rain finesses that by picking away at it, tiny bits at a time, over long periods of time. If we brought enough energy to bear on the subject, we get the job done much quicker.
In social terms, we refer to a period of rapid fundamental change as punctuated equilibrium (a term borrowed from biology). It is a time of often chaotic development in invisible structures. Sometimes we call these events revolutions. If they are unsuccessful, we know them as rebellions or uprisings.
Invisible structures are like icebergs. You only see 1/7th of what happens. So always be wary of your first impressions. Long and thoughtful observation is essential to all of permaculture design.
Memes that relate to reasons and beliefs are often much more resilient than memes that relate to actions and behaviors.
It is easier to convince a climate skeptic to build a compost pile than it is to convince a climate skeptic that global climate change is a reality. One way to approach social change via permaculture design is to decide which behaviors we want to encourage and then work on encouraging those behaviors, leaving the “theology” (so to speak) aside. A compost pile mitigates climate instability, even if built by a climate skeptic, as do organic gardening, insulation, and public transit.
The edge effect is real. Use it!
Edge and transition areas are known to be extra productive. We ignore this to our communal peril. Geographies where different kinds of structures, systems, and communities meet and interact become particularly generative of new invisible structures and systems. To get things done, design to bring people with diverse ideas, backgrounds, beliefs, and customs together.
Work with patterns.
Look for patterns in invisible structures and work with them to achieve your goals. Look for the trees and other structures within the forest and how they interact with their surroundings to create the forest.
- Everything connects to everything else.
- Many elements support every function.
- Every element serves many functions.
- Maximize beneficial connections in invisible structures.
How could this work?
A family of four could have one person who works in a coop that provides goods or services to the local community.
The household participates in a recycling program. It buys from small business and other coops in the neighborhood. It connects to an extended family by bonds of trust and mutual aid.
It connects to the larger village system by a variety of structures. Its extended family connects with other extended families in the village.
The worker coop buys from others in the village.
Everybody banks at a village owned credit union, which loans money for village enterprises and capital purchases.
What else?
What are your observations of invisible structures? How do things look from your angle of observation?