Collective Self Interest
Part of the difference between decentralization and citadelization lies in the layering of collective self-interest. To be completely self-sufficient is nearly impossible and an unwise use of time and resources when compared with the camaraderie and security of gathering into a small tribe. The Phalanx of ancient warfare was so successful because of its network effect of group attack and defensive shielding. There is an ideal size for any organization based upon its purpose and it is only rarely a solo operation.
What is the ideal size? Maybe the better question is “What is the ideal shape?” A soap bubble is more concerned with its shape, balancing internal and external pressures. When in perfect shape it can continue to assimilate each new molecule to add volume to its container. The way our natural world is designed is like a soap bubble of collective affinity shaped by external pressure. So what is the ideal size and shape of the citadel?
The author Malcolm Gladwell described a maximum limit of a tribe to be 150 people who could effectively know and belong to a group. Any bigger and the instinct to group into smaller subgroups will weaken the whole. I personally believe this to be a smaller number. I was recently at a friend’s wedding of about 150 people and I had a close affinity for maybe thirty to fifty of the attendees even though we all had a close connection to the same bride and groom.
The point of this discussion is to explore the balance point between the force of decentralization driven by self-interest and the resiliency of citadelization also driven by the maximization of self-interest. Balancing two opposing forces becomes a synergy when the apparent contradiction resolves into a higher truth. In this case, it is the personal zero point.
We each have a center of gravity given weight of force by our soul’s calling and our initiating wounds that is our connection to our whole, integrated Self and to Eternity. We call this our personal zero point, our connection to home base outside of time. Where I had an affinity with the entire 150 people at the wedding, my soul and my zero point were enhanced by limiting my intimate connection to thirty or so other souls. As the party progressed, and by the strength of my own zero point, I had significant interactions with people I had just met.
My soap bubble knew exactly how and where to incorporate more input without popping because of the strength of my own zero point and also the guest list was already curated and directed towards harmony. A wedding is an example of collective self-interest structuring the vortex that gathers and ultimately forms the zero point as the union’s doorway to Eternity. Being in a state of knowing thyself automatically organizes the outer world into the swirling vortex of greater and greater levels of collective self-interest leading to our personal zero point. A wedding ceremony follows the same principle to harmonize two souls.
The tornado and the hurricane are both examples of zero points our Earth uses in ways that are for another discussion. But as points of lawful force, these are excellent examples of the organizing principle of collective self-interest. An element of force as represented by air molecules excited by sunlight begin moving and bouncing off of other molecules until such time as a number of molecules find a point of collective self-interest. A zero point arises and turns the previous chaotic colliding into a spinning dance of co-empowerment. And as new excited molecules are formed chaotically, they submit to the greater harmony of the tornado and the hurricane.
Maybe someday we will invent a harmony and a zero-point reader. Like a Geiger counter measuring radioactivity, this piece of test equipment will help measure collective self-interest and the power of our vortex. It will also test any molecules approaching our zero point. Until then, we must depend upon our own heart and our own ego as the shaper and the gatekeeper of our soul’s zero point.
My last post on citadelization described how our ego and our personality serve the heart in funneling and shaping our vortex and our zero point. The Earth’s magnetic field and biosphere are its ego and personality. The solar and cosmic rays constantly bombarding Earth are organized into a dance of relative harmony or chaos depending on we humans’ ability to organize and assimilate cosmic forces into the Earth’s zero point.
It is these greater cosmic forces raining confusion upon Earth that force humanity into soap bubbles of perfectly shaped collective self-interest. For humanity to stand up to living on the surface of our planet subject to these cosmic tornadoes and hurricanes is no small task. We not only thrive in states of harmony, we depend upon our instinct to organize into a layered defense of collective self-interest to even survive.
When our mind and our government attempt to rationalize, categorize and organize humanity we recognize the opportunity and the danger of mass action. Their perfect counterbalance is the citadelization of collective self-interest.
The mind must be open to the cosmos while the heart and body must hold the layers of collective self-interest around the zero point.