Future Cultural DNA
Author: Jock Gill
Clearly all cultures have what might be called their DNA. This cultural DNA appears to determine the nature of a culture and the boundaries within which it can “thrive”. Given that cultures, like organisms, live in an ever changing “context”, it is no surprise that the DNA of a culture is under constant pressure to change in response to changes in its context. The challenge for a culture is to continually evolve its DNA to best match the shifting conditions of its context. The price of failure is extinction.
The question now, given global climate change and peak oil, is what will we chose, to fight to maintain our old DNA or will we chose to modify the DNA that shapes our culture? Can we, in fact and in time, alter our cultural DNA so that it leads to a society that seeks both the most efficient and minimalist ways to utilize resources like energy, bandwidth, water, and so forth? What would a politics or market of efficient and minimalist utilization look like?
Clearly the external fitness landscape our society must exist in is changing. This change will either force a change in our cultural DNA or our culture will no longer be “competent”. Incompetent adaptations die off. So the question now is this: Will we wait for an unknown forced change in our cultural DNA, or will we be smart enough to initiate changes in anticipation of the demands of the new fitness landscape? Can we rapidly adopt strategies that maximize the efficiency with which we utilize our resources while minimizing their use? If we fail, what is the price we will pay?
If we wish to succeed in the new landscape marked by new limits and consequences, whose emergence we are already beginning to feel, it will require a significant modification to our present cultural DNA. Will these modification be done to us or will we rise to the challenge of pro-active participation in change?
permalink | Jock Gill | Climate Change, Culture, Energy, Politics
Please read Al Gore’s December 10th speech for an example of the leadership that is possible.
http://blog.algore.com/2007/12/nobel_prize_acceptance_speech.html
Now if only the active candidates could step up to this level of leadership. Their unwillingness to do so far is not to their greater credit. It strikes me that unless they are willing to do so, they risk being relegated to the 2nd or 3rd string teams. Can we afford to elect a president who is not clearly a leader from the first string?
I am cross posting this from Dewayne Hendrick’s list. Is this an example of how the media acts as a guardian of the current cultural DNA?
[Note: This item comes from reader Robert Berger. DLH]
From: “Robert J. Berger”
Date: December 10, 2007 11:08:03 AM PST
To: Dewayne Hendricks , David Farber
Subject: The Genius of the “Structural Constraint”
Another way of saying Code / Technical Infrastructure is “Law” [DNA - JPG]
Some Concise Chomsky on how the structure of media reinforces the dominant views and blocks innovative or unconvential views.
I think this is the fundamental reason why entities that control the “pipes” can not be allowed to control the content.