The other day I listened to a podcast and it clarified something for me, so I am sharing my understand of it. It is oversimplified, but nonetheless useful.
Are Sociopaths/psychopaths winning on the planet?
Or: What we can and need to do to make the whole sustainable?
Okay, that is not the whole story, because the more correct would be: sociopaths are winning in the short term to get for themselves what they want, and are destroying the world as we know in the long term.
The situation is that humans with their tool making ability have changed the natural laws of evolution and are now capable to extinct themselves and everyone else with them. Tools break the symmetry of power in natural evolution. So what do we do?
In order for the whole (body-mind, humanity, ecosystems, earth), to be thriving and healthy, there needs to be a balance between will, mind and heart in the humans. I will explain what happens when one of the 3 pillars is missing. But first: will, mind, heart
Will here is energy and action, ability to DO something, in alignment with your values.
Will can be developed if it is currently underpowered. Will can be trained so you may have more actual choice over your actions, rather than going into a default mode, acting out of habit.
Mind here is knowledge/science, understanding of how things work, strategies, experience, insights and learning.
This too can be developed if underpowered.
Heart here is caring for the whole, feeling ever more deeply for ever wider circles of beings, becoming more and more inclusive in your caring.
Deepening in caring can be developed.
Now let us look at what is happening when even one part is not developed or not coupled with the 2 others, in other words, if there is an imbalance.
Strong in Will and Mind leads to selfish doing for what is best in the short term for one’s self, without much regard or caring for anyone or anything else, present or future. It will get things done to further one’s own economic goals (win in the short term), ultimately leading to the destruction of everything. (remember, the tools for total destruction are available.). People are mostly seen as a means to further one’s goal.
Strong in Mind and Heart, but no Will, is a soft-hearted , conscientious, caring, but ineffective scientist, unable to take action.
Strong in Heart and Will is the activist, however, without knowledge, without a good strategy, they will be ineffective and the military industrial complex and the corporations will win every time.
This is trying to put in words my take-away understanding of some of what I heard during a podcast with Arjuna Ardagh and Daniel Schmachtenberger.
The reason I love it was that all I ever was able to articulate was: the democrats need to grow some balls. As you can probably intuit, the entire system is more complex, but I still thought it clarifying to think about it in those three pillars.
It is time to consciously create and take responsibility for the health of the whole. For that all three of those pillars need to be developed and coupled, in each of us individually and in humanity as a whole.
Practical take away: this balance is equally necessary for the health, effectiveness and evolution of our personal bodymindspirt.
In the end, it has to be a win/win …any system where there is a win/loose, we are not gonna solve our situation.
I will end this with a quote by Daniel Schmachtenberger which he made during the podcast in relation to learning deeper caring, suggests visiting a factory farm, after seeing how animals live on factory farms
“…fuck, is there a model of my life that feels like a success to me as long as these animals are in this condition….?”
You can find out more about Daniel Schmachtenberger here: https://civilizationemerging.com/about/