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 %ESSENTIAL RULES REGULATIONS PREDICT FUTURE THEORY+950910
%REFLEXIVE OBJECTIVE COMPLEX COMMUNITY ASPECTS LOVE+950910
 %LAW LEGAL CHAOS ALIENATE IGNORANCE COLLUSION EVIL 950910

Some objective processes are simple enough that with
accurate information about initial conditions of a  system
of objects---it is possible to predict far into the future
how the system of objects will behave;  e.g.,  the planets
in  the  solar  system for a few million  years  into  the
future.   But even the solar system is so complicated that
it  is  impossible  to predict its  behavior  one  hundred
million  years  into the future---because we  cannot  have
accurate information about initial conditions to make such
long-range predictions possible.

     Reflexive processes among even small groups of people
are so complicated that it is not possible to predict with
any  degree  of reliability how the members of  the  group
will  interact even for a few weeks,   much less for  many
years.

     In the instance of people interacting with each other
there are many aspects of the people which cannot be known
at  all---even though they may play a significant role  in
the  outcome  of the interactions among  them.    Any  one
aspect is unlikely to be determinative.  Because there are
so  many aspects per person which may be  influential  and
because   group  dynamics  cannot  be  replicated  it   is
impossible  to develop and confirm a comprehensive  theory
of group dynamics.   Only the broadest generalizations are
possible, and they tend to be inaccurate and unreliable in
many instances.   Thus the generation of rigid rules about
how  people  should  behave  in  particular  circumstances
cannot be based upon any  reliable general theory of group
dynamics,  for no general theory of group dynamics can  be
proven to be reliable.   Setting up some particular theory
of  group dynamics and/or a set of rigid rules  about  how
people  should  behave---and  viewing it as the  focus  of
ultimate concern and worship---is thus idolatrous.

     The outcome of personal interactions among members of
any  group  of people depends upon all  of  the  following
factors in varying degrees---depending upon the particular
people  and  the particular circumstances.   Each  of  the
following  may  pertain  to  individuals;  or  to  various
groupings of individuals considered as communal organisms:

     1.  Genetics, habits, histories and traditions.
     2.  Attitudes, faiths, fears, hopes and aspirations.
     3.  Beliefs, convictions and expectations.
     4.  Assumptions about possibilities/impossibilities.
     5.  Perceptions which depend upon the above aspects.
     6.  Blockages due to combinations of the above.
     7.  Facilitations due to combinations of the above.
     8.  Levels of honesty, intimacy and openness.
     9.  Levels of dishonesty, alienation and secrecy.
    10.  Formal and informal communal structures.

     In  the  light  of the possible complexities  in  the
above combinations of circumstances, it is only people who
are engaged  in collusive games of mutual  self  deception
who  agree  with each other that they  can  prescribe  how
people  should  behave  in terms of a  set  of  rigid  and
comprehensive rules and regulations.

     We  cannot function as communities in the absence  of
all rules and regulations.  We need therefore to learn how
to  distinguish between essential rules  and  regulations,
and  other  rules  and  regulations which go beyond  those
which  are  essential  and  which tend to  undermine  both
personal and communal  integrity---rather  than to promote
and support personal and communal integrity.

                                                                                                                               
                         (c) 2005 by Paul A. Smith in      
                    (On Being Yourself, Whole and Healthy)  
                                                                                                                               
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