8
OF HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS
SUMMARY
Achievement of the Aim of the Society requires cooperation between, and a
consensus of, the whole of humanity over a considerable period of time.
However, the Society accepts that its own founding ideas, set out in the
Treatise of Knowledge and elsewhere, lead to the conclusions that human
knowledge is uncertain; that we cannot predict our own development either as
individuals or as a species, and that our future abilities, skills and
knowledge cannot be foreseen. Under those conditions this Treatise shows
how the Society can nevertheless create and maintain the long-term and
effective relationships required for the achievement of its Aim. In so
doing the Treatise also sets out the Society's general rules for all types
and levels of human relationships.
Acceptance of the Axioms and choice of the Dogma gives rise to the Third
Principle which identifies our willingness to combine and co-operate with each
other as our only hope for the achievement of the Objective of the Dogma and
the Aim of the Society of HumanKind. The general conclusion drawn from the
Third Principle by the Society is that humanity is a communal species whose
prospects for the achievement of any long term purpose ultimately rest on the
ability of the individuals involved to maintain stable, co-operative
relationships with one another. That must apply with special force to any
attempt by adherents of the Society of HumanKind to realise its Aim.
All the aspirations of the Society of HumanKind depend on the establishment and
maintenance of stable and mutually supportive relationships between individuals
and groups. Successful relationships are indispensable to the effort of the
Society to maximise the skills, capacities and qualities of every individual,
and apply their energies and abilities to the solution of the ever-present and
infinitely changeable problems of the survival and progress of the human
species. The problem for the Society is that other implications of the Axioms
point to an inherent tension between the conditions that make any human
relationship viable and useful, and the observable qualities and abilities of
our species.
Joint actions by groups of individuals can, of course, be organised on the
basis of leadership and/or duress. However that approach to its communal
activities is not available to the Society of HumanKind in view of the
uncertainty of all human knowledge arising from the Axioms described in the
Treatise of Knowledge. In the light of the conclusion of that Treatise, and
by its Principles, the Society will require that every participant in any joint
activity should be equally valued, and equally permitted to influence any
decision-making process. It is possible that leaders, directing organisers or
the like may arise in specific co-operative actions taken by the Society, but
only because there has been a general agreement among all those involved that
this is the best way forward in the enterprise in hand, and that some form of
leadership is necessary in the specific circumstances.
In applying its principles to co-operative activity between individuals
undertaken in pursuit of its Aim therefore, the Society will begin with, and
rest upon, the development of a consensus between the participants about the
form, nature and purpose of the joint venture, rather than any other approach.
The practical benefits of that approach by the Society are two-fold. First,
it allows the whole range of the available individual qualities,
characteristics and abilities to be applied to the search for the best way
forward. Second, it enables every participant to estimate and anticipate,
with at least some degree of confidence, how others involved are likely to
react to problems, changes and developments as the joint activity progresses.
Indeed, many would regard the creation and maintenance of such a consensus
about the future of an activity as indispensable to success in any co-operative
venture.
Yet two other implications of the Axioms and Dogma of the Society stand in the
way of that search for consensus. In the Treatise of Knowledge it is
concluded that the First Axiom implies absolute uncertainty in all our
knowledge, while the Second and Third Axioms identify a fundamental
characteristic of our species as being a lack of any attribute enabling us to
foresee our future with any accuracy. Taken together these implications of
the Axioms show that neither the Society nor its adherents can ever assume or
believe that humanity, or any individual member of it, is able to predict or
control with any confidence, either the future consequences of their own social
behaviour, or the manner in which human social life will progress and develop.
This is a condition of the human species set out in the Principle 1.2.
How then, are members of the Society to come to any common agreement about
what each individual should do in order to achieve any common purpose,
particularly where any such objective is to be shared by large numbers of
individuals over a long period of time?. The Aim of the Society of HumanKind
is, without question, just such a large scale co-operative venture by humanity.
It would seem the Axioms suggest that the Aim of the Society may not be
attainable, since they question whether the necessary degree of long-term human
co-operation can either be achieved or maintained.
The difficulty for the Society in this respect can be precisely stated. The
Society needs to establish and maintain long term co-operative arrangements if
it is to carry forward the search for a means to extend life beyond death.
Unfortunately, its own founding ideas and principles lead to the conclusion
that humanity has neither the necessary attributes nor the potential to sustain them.
The question to be addressed in this Treatise then is, given that conclusion,
is it possible for adherents of the Society of HumanKind to foster, encourage
and establish those stable and useful co-operative relations with others which
are an essential prerequisite for the maintenance of the Conditions of the
Dogma, and hence the pursuit of their Aim. Or must they resign themselves to
rely solely on their faith and devotion to the Society to bring about their
liberation from the oblivion of death?
The Society and its adherents must never abandon their faith in the Dogma, nor
their hope for the future of our species. And despite the difficulties
already described in this Treatise there are positive actions adherents can
take to foster good and productive social relationships in pursuit of their
Aim. It has already been concluded that the Society cannot solve the problem
it has with co-operation between individuals by using any form of coercion to
achieve its Aim. But the Society can begin to find a solution to its problem
by recalling the implication of the Axioms taken as a whole; that we are alone
in our universe. That proposition removes the possibility of there being any
external all-pervading power or authority to restrain or direct human behaviour.
The absence of any external restraint on human behaviour gained by an
acceptance of the Axioms significantly affects the nature and structure of all
human relationships. In the uncertain world of the Axioms every individual is
autonomous, with unfettered power to choose whether or not to enter into any
relationship and how they should behave within it. That degree of freedom
must include the contribution each individual chooses to make to co-operation
with others. The advent of the Society may change much in lives of its
adherents but it leaves them fully in control of their own behaviour. It
follows that in the era of the Society free co-operation between individuals
begins with everyone involved recognising that the only part of the
relationship over which they can properly exercise any degree of effective
control is the contribution they make to it. With that perspective the
pursuit of stable and productive human relationships in a Society in which
nothing is certain resolves itself into the problem of how each individual in
those relationships should best shape and mould his or her own behaviour toward
others.
The First Axiom puts an absolute restriction on the certainty of human
knowledge. It does not however, as the Second Axiom indicates, dismiss the
possibility that we can, by practice and study, improve both the scope and
quantity of our information about ourselves and our universe, and our skills in
dealing with each other and our environment. We can therefore hope that, with
experience and practice, we can all develop an ability to understand, within a
reasonable degree of accuracy, how other members of our species feel about, and
are therefore likely to react to, events and incidents in our mutual social
life. That proposition is sufficient for this purpose even if that ability is
a wholly learned rather than in any sense an acquired or inherited
characteristic. Given only that proposition and the earlier discussion, it is
possible to develop a guide for adherents of the Society of HumanKind on how
they can best maintain the relationships necessary to the pursuit of its Aim.
The rule that emerges is that adherents of the Society can foster and support
effective and productive relationships by cultivating their ability to make
their intentions and behaviour predictable to others.
A simple example of the type of rule of individual behaviour being described is
a maxim of ancient lineage, drawn from a now almost forgotten era, but which
has served humankind admirably as a buttress and reinforcement of our
communities in the past. It is the honourable tradition that a man's word
should be his bond. That if he says he will do something, then that is a
sufficient and complete guarantee of its actual performance whatever the cost
or circumstances. Great societies and incredible human achievements have been
built around that seemingly slender framework. Predictability of intent and
performance is of the greatest value to others in the conduct of our social
life, and, through the medium of the Society of HumanKind, it can become of
inestimable value to the hopes of all humanity.
In all our social and political relationships in the era of the Society of
HumanKind, our Duty and our interests are both best served by our making every
effort to make our behaviour predictable to others. We should ensure that all
those who may be affected by our actions and decisions are able to anticipate
what we mean to do or say, and we must faithfully meet the expectations we have
created.
Those necessary preconditions for success in the development and maintenance of
individual co-operative relationships are not confined to individual
co-operation. They hold equally true for all aspects of human communal life.
The conclusions that have been drawn in this Treatise about the structure,
nature, and skills required for the maintenance of successful individual
relations, and their importance to our efforts to determine our fate, apply in
equal or perhaps greater force to those between communities and among the
groups within them.
If the Objective of the Dogma is to be achieved and the Aim of the Society
realised we must not neglect the development and application of the skills
involved in the maintenance of inter-group relationships. Group and other
kinds of division are deeply rooted in the social life of our species. Our
history records the existence and persistence of groups and aggregates of
individuals as a universal feature, especially those based on divisions between
the different varieties of humanity. Weight is added to the argument that
such divisions are the usual or normal condition of our species by the
observation that this is also a common feature of the social organisation of
most of the other life forms that share our planet.
In any event, our tendency toward social, political, national, racial and other
groupings cannot be ignored or denied. Indeed, as the Principle of Peace
indicates, the variety of our species is one of its greatest strengths, giving
range and depth to the skills, abilities and qualities that are available to
meet the constant challenge presented to us by our hostile environment. The
ingenuity of humanity should be applied to the development of competence in
managing and maintaining co-operation and communality between human groups,
rather than to any attempt to eliminate the differences between them. In the
light of the Axioms and the earlier discussions of this Treatise, all that work
must have as its base predictability of individual and group behaviour, and
confidence that every promise and commitment, whether by an individual, or the
group or community of which he is a member, will be faithfully discharged in
full.
Those who may object that these conclusions are ambiguous and give no guidance
to the resolution of future disputes and differences of opinion in human
relationships have failed to understand the argument of this Treatise, or to
appreciate the consequences of an acceptance of the Second Axiom. In the age
of the Axioms, as was anticipated earlier, no prescription or universal
description of human relationship can be given. Nothing can usefully be
specified beyond the attitudes and approach that all parties to any human
relationship should adopt and maintain.
A social life based on the Axioms and Principles cannot be prescribed in
advance, nor can it be specified for all time. In the pursuit of its Aim the
Society of HumanKind will accept that any human relationship, whether it be
between individuals or groups, and whether it takes the form of a fleeting
contact; a life long partnership, or a co-operative effort to liberate
ourselves from the oblivion of death, must be based on the principles of
openness and flexibility. Its form must allow for a continuous process
of change and adaptation in the light of the development of new skills
and knowledge, and changed circumstances. Almost paradoxically acceptance of
the Axioms and choice of the Dogma leads to the conclusion that, in the field
of human relationships, stability and utility can only be safely sought in
flux; order and security in apparent anarchy; and the best prospect of
permanence in a constant willingness to change. Only the roots of mutual
confidence and trust based on predictability of commitment and performance must
be planted deep and remain undisturbed.
Of all the activities in which humanity must engage, co-operation with others
is the one most clearly subject to the Second and Third Axioms. Which, taken
together, tell us that in our relations with others we can neither foresee all
our future problems, nor the solutions we will find to them.
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