...And then you have a tail!

Using Evolution as a Model for Generating Societal Change

***TRIGGER WARNING*** This article contains a lot of hard truth about our society.

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super • sede [so͞opərˈsēd]

VERB

take the place of (a person or thing previously in authority or use); supplant:

"the older models have now been superseded"

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On a walk, a fuzzy picture became clear:

Our world is a mess.

You probably already experience this truth daily. Hourly. Perhaps momently.

However, I am an enthusiastic proponent of what I call: "Solution Frequency."

First, you identify the Problem. Solution Frequency does not = Toxic Positivity. This is not a head-in-the-sand mentality that 'deals with' Problems by pretending they don't exist. Nor is it a pie-in-the-sky, life-is-daisies, buttercups, and rainbows mentality.

Solution Frequency acknowledges the Problem, spends an appropriate amount of time understanding the Problem, its context, and its implications; then moves focus to the Solution.

In our physics-based universe, all thoughts already exist in the ether. When we 'have a thought', we are not 'having' anything. We are 'tuning in' to a thought that already exists.

Thoughts/Ideas exist. Period. Ideas ARE. They exist in the self-evident sense.

Our Human consciousness (the ghost), combined with our human biological organism (the machine), can operate as a sort of radio.

We can pick up on these self-evident, already-existing Thoughts and Ideas floating around the ether.

When you look at an aspect of life — say, a government organization — and see the Problem with that organization, you are tuning into a particular aspect of that organization.

This aspect is the frequency on which the Problem is broadcast. Aka: 'Problem Frequency.'

Solutions do not exist on this frequency. Because Solutions are qualitatively different from Problems by nature.

Solutions, in the context of this example, are our human term for: more-optimal-functioning, more effective aspects of that organization. These Solutions — these aspects — are all their own 'thing'. Therefore, they all exist on their own, separate, frequencies.

We first need to spend enough time on Problem Frequency to understand the issue. We also need to understand the context in which the issue lives. Finally, we need to understand some potential implications of what may happen if we change this issue.

Then, move on. Find a Solution Frequency.

Lately, I have spent a great deal of time — as I imagine you may have as well — in Problem Frequency.

Our world seems to be so impossibly FUBAR, it has sort of demanded that flavor of attention. Like walking outside at noon and determining that it is day, rather than night. It would take more energy to miss this inescapable fact than to acknowledge it.

That said, for the past several years, I have also devoted much of my brain power to tuning into Solutions.

The Good News: They're Out There! And there are many! To every conceivable issue - social, political, economic, agricultural, health-related, environmental... you name it. If a Problem exists, there are many viable Solutions for each one.

(Sidenote: Take a moment to acknowledge that the above paragraph is, truly, some very Good News.)

What's more, many people are already working on bringing these Solutions to life! Amazing!

So, why hasn't anything changed?

Tuning into Solution Frequency turns out to be just the first step.

We are then confronted with a meta-issue: The Problem of how to implement these Solutions.

Our world is run by Vogons. Bureaucratic slug people. This is not a judgement. This is a scientific observation based on decades of research.

Furthermore, there can be no arguing that our current bureaucratic systems are highly Vogonic in nature.

In other words: They are not designed to embrace change. They are designed to enforce the status quo.

Example: "Net-Zero Emissions Operations by 2050, including a 65% reduction by 2030" (https://www.sustainability.gov/federalsustainabilityplan/emissions.html)

This might have passed as acceptable just a few years ago, but recently we were blessed as a planetary nation with one glaring exception that proves the invalidity of the molasses-paced Vogonic way:

COVID.

Covid showed us that our entire planet can change IN ABOUT TWO WEEKS, when we work together. There are 8 billion of us, after all. (And Covid caught us off-guard to some extent.)

"By 2050"? Twenty-seven years from now!?

More like: "By 20:50." (8:50 PM today, for those who no hablas 24-hour time.)

(Sidenote: Take a moment to acknowledge the phenomenal cosmic power of 8 billion of us working together. Feel that, even just for a moment. When we, the people, work together, we can transform this planet almost overnight.)

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A note on Problem Frequency & Solution Frequency: Problems and Solutions are 'tethered' to one another. Like electrons orbiting a nucleus. If you find one, you can find the other, if you know how to look. (One methodology — 'springboarding', I call it — is outlined below.)

Like all Problems, Vogonity has provided a hint as to the location of the Solution, in the form of a 'springboard'.

Springboard: Use of contrast to decipher more clearly what one wants; use of the contrasting/negative experience of a Problem to locate the relief/positive experience of a Solution.

i.e. "In my old job, I had a micro-managing boss. I really did not like this. In my new job, I want to make sure I have more autonomy."

You learned to see that autonomy is valuable to you through experiencing the contrast of a micro-managing supervisor.

We do not have to fight against Vogonity. We just have to create a better system.

The Good News? The Vogon system is by-and-large broken, in its current state. Therefore, it should be manageable to use springboarding to create one or even several better methodologies of structuring societal life! Talk about bright side.

If we look at Evolution, we see multiple instances of the following:

A tail-less species exists.

As the generations roll by, one day, an individual with a tail is born. It's a nubby little thing, but, sure enough, it's a tail. No one is sure how, nor sure why. A miracle!

Now, two versions of the same species exist: One with tail, one without tail.

Question: Does Evolution demand that those without tail now 'extinct themselves' so those with tail can take over?

No. Both can exist.

And then what happens?

Survival of the fittest. If the tail is useful, then the with-tail individuals will eventually take over the gene pool through Natural processes.

This ^ is the Solution for our meta-Problem:

Do not seek to overthrow the existing, broken systems. This is a waste of energy and resources. Additionally, it is a breeding ground for resistance from people who are less-broad-minded than you are.

There is no need to fight among one another or to 'fight the system'.

The meta-Solution (How to implement better Solutions in our society) is to follow the framework laid out to us by Evolution:

Build the Solutions alongside the existing Problems.

Supersede the existing Institutions.

Paste 'over' them. Make them irrelevant by blowing them out of the water with the overwhelming effectiveness of the new way.

Prove the concept, first. For example: As broken as the EPA is, it is better than no EPA-type organization at all. (This is not opinion or theory, history has proven this to be objective fact.)

Prove the concept, first. Prove it so mightily and so effectively that the old systems simply slip into irrelevance due to neglect and lack of use. In other words: Build a better EPA.

Would it be easier to 'rip it all down' and start from scratch?

Possibly. Certainly feels this way sometimes.

But, once we had ripped it all down, would we realistically be able to come together and agree on how to build it back up?

No. Not in our current stage of psycho-spiritual evolution as humans. The middle-of-the-pack is still far too narrow-minded and cannot take enough context into account to make well-rounded decisions. (See: A certain famous software developer thinking it's a good idea to make mosquitoes extinct. This is a catastrophically small-scope, narrow-vision decision. And this person is supposed to be 'one of our brightest.')

So, to any and all Anarchists reading this: You're on the right track... to an extent. Instead of dedicating so much of your energy toward taking down the current systems, I challenge us to do better than the current systems.

Take notes from the current systems. Observe that-which-is-actually-useful about them. Vogonic systems exist for a reason: We do need some processes in our world. People simply are not yet awake enough across-the-board to be able to self-govern. (This is where Socialism breaks down, btw. This is also where Democracy breaks down, btw.)

So, dear Anarchists, what if we take the best of the Vogons' systems and then build something better alongside it? What if we use our amazing energy to supersede with a powerful Solution, rather than focus so deeply on the Problem that it consumes and paralyzes us? (Paralysis is a Natural result of the vibratory nature of Problem vs. Solution, as mentioned earlier: different frequencies. The only 'Solution' we will ever find by harping on the Problem is to destroy the Problem. This is not a true Solution. This is practicing the vibratory frequency of the Problem, still. Physics declares that this will not fix the Problem.)

And, to any and all Vogonic Loyalists reading this: You're on the right track... to an extent. Instead of dedicating so much of our energy toward defending current systems, I challenge us to take an honest look at what could be better.

What if we look deeply at the systems and processes in place in our current office or job? What could be better? What processes appear to be more "processes for processes' sake", rather than a space where a system or process is genuinely both helpful and needed? What if we start there, with those systems and processes? The "low-hanging fruit" to use some nice, eye-rolly corporate jargon. (But in this case, accurate.)

To hearken back to the hypothetical Evolution example: When the new, with-tail version of the species first evolves, keep in mind that it is the same species as its without-tail companions. No major changes happened to its genetics, just one or two shifts in the code that led to: ...and now you have a tail!

We are all humans. Vogons and Anarchists alike. Rather than fighting amongst ourselves over who is completely right (or even who is more right), what if we took some time to learn from one another? Observe the positive aspects to the structure with which the Vogons provide us... while also embracing the truth that the Vogons have definitely "overdone it" with that particular spice, embracing that we have indeed crossed the point of diminishing returns. (Both can be true! We live in a Universe with an entire spectrum of gray.)

Then, what if we observe the positive aspects to the destruction the Anarchist mindset is suggesting? Do we really need *this much* Reality TV? Do we really need *this much* advertising and consumerism and same-day-delivery? We probably could do-away-with a great deal of things in our society — like a Societal Spring Cleaning — and we would not miss them beyond the first few weeks' adjustment period. (i.e. see again: Covid)

But then... let us also embrace the truth that the Anarchists' idea of "burn it all down" is really pretty short-sighted. Our society has a lot of great things to offer (The Internet via which you are reading this article — Anarchist or Vogon — being Exhibit A to this argument). There's no reason to tear it all down and send ourselves needlessly back to the 1800s.

The Key is: Solution Frequency.

Not toxic positivity. Not obsession with the Problem.

A calm, peacefully-confident awareness that The Way Forward is to do it better. Build better systems. Supersede the status quo.

Nature, in the form of all 8 billion of us, will decide which is worth keeping.