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Do Strategies Count?

The human mind is designed to recognize patterns and sequences in time such that when we see the first part of a pattern developing, we will be able to predict the rest of the pattern and know what conditions will affect a favorable end condition. This pattern recognition is an inherent part of all problem solving by all living creatures. (Carter, 1999) We learn that if the hungry stomach is to be quieted, we must fill it. To fill it, we must acquire food, to acquire food, we must buy it or grow it and then prepare it properly. There is an infinite number of combinations of causes by which we choose to accomplish this simple and common goal of satisfying a basic need and we call this a strategy. We each use many strategies to accomplish the various goals we set for ourselves and our community. Perhaps the most important and earliest of all human strategies is the notion that treating other humans as you would like to be treated will cause the success of all who utilize this strategy. Every human culture in our short 60,000 year existence that violated this strategy ultimately failed and no longer exists. (Wells, 2002)

Our end goal is always survival and there are an infinite number of human strategies used to accomplish this goal. (Goleman, 1995) Since the dawn of man, we gathered in communities because we understood the value of working together to accomplish common goals. In each community, we assembled a set of strategies, which became the culture for that community.

By our very nature, humans have always experimented with things in our environment to better understand causal relationships and learn how we can control them to our advantage. Fire makes us warm and it can cook our food, and it fights off predators and it can melt rocks into metal that allow us to make tools, and it can help send us to the moon – and the learning goes on. There is no end in our quest for knowledge, but almost every culture in human history eventually became complacent, arrogant and righteous in their belief that they hold the key to human happiness. When the happiness did not come for everyone in the community, some people left these communities to form new ones with new strategies and thus new cultures. (Wells, 2002) With each new culture came conflict with the older cultures because the new strategies contradicted the elder’s truths. The struggle of cultures has never stopped and continues today as a natural part of the greater human culture. Whether new or old, every successful culture has some common strategies, while those that have failed or are currently failing are doing so because their strategies have failed.

Successful cultural strategies include:

• Treating others as you would like to be treated – respect.
• Dedication to learning – open to change.
• Everything is caused to happen – no mysteries only ignorance.
• Freedom from tyranny – personal freedom.

While we all hold different perspectives of the world the one thing that allows us to coexist with others is the respect for other’s beliefs. Anthropologists believe that this one strategy is perhaps the cause of what we know as the human species today. (Wells, 2002) Without this strategy, cooperation in controlling our environment is nearly impossible. Without the tinker, the tailor, and the candlestick maker or the carpenter, the farmer and the baker a viable existence is not possible in a harsh land.

If the culture does not include learning new things and holds strictly to the past, it is only a matter of time before it and the people who live within that culture disappear. You do not have to look far into human history to see this consequence – remember the Taliban. There is a clear correlation between older cultures, say in Africa or the Middle East and more modern ones, say North America or Europe. Where cultures are rigid and resistant to change, the living conditions are poor. What is most interesting is that the dogma of most poor cultures is not that they have failed to learn, but that they believe their conditions are as it is suppose to be – life is harsh, get use to it.

Since everything that happens is caused to happen, one of our most important strategies is understanding causal relationships. While our brains are very good at recognizing causal relationships, anything beyond about 7 causal connections becomes too complex for the mind to handle at one time, so we have learned to utilize various tools to help us understand complex things. While humans have created many tools, such as mathematics, language and the laws of the physical sciences, we have historically struggled with understanding complex causal relationships. By understanding the cause and effect principle and the Apollo Root Cause Analysis methodology it is now possible to overcome one of our greatest barriers to understanding complex causal relationships. (Gano, 2003)

Freedom from tyranny is a basic human need and mankind has been fighting against it since our beginning. It is only in recent history that a few cultures have been able to overcome the tyrants and many more are following because the survival of the species is at stake and we know it. There is a clear causal connection between freedom and world peace. Freedom from tyranny means the individual has the freedom to seek their own version of happiness without the dogma of others. And, so long as this path to happiness does not infringe on other’s rights to the same thing and respect is maintained, prosperity always follows. With prosperity comes more freedom and happiness and we are less likely to engage in cultural conflicts (wars). As you look around the world and identify those pockets of freedom, you observe prosperity and the resultant peace. When you observe those places of tyranny and dedication to the past, you see rampant poverty, turmoil, and strife. This is not because of chance, but because the cultures are fundamentally decadent.

Effective human strategies are as much responsible for individual successes as they are for the culture we live in. Understanding these strategies and their interaction is vital to our survival and our success. By understanding the complex causal relationships that strategies are, sharing them with others for a common reality should be one of our most important strategies of all. Use RealityCharting, a computer software application, to help you define and communicate your understanding of human events.

References
Carter, Rita, 1999, Mapping The Mind, University of California Press, Los Angeles, London
Gano, Dean, 2003 Apollo Root Cause Analysis - A New Way Of Thinking, Apollonian Publications, Yakima, WA. Distributed by Atlas Books, Ohio.
Goleman, Daniel, 1995, Emotional Intelligence, Bantam Books, New York, NY
Wells, Spencer, 2002, The Journey of Man, Princeton University Press, Princeton & Oxford