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8-14
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shelter— a safe place and time for the process of life itself — to breathe, eat
and drink, to eliminate bodily wastes, to rest, and restore the body's energy from the
stresses of living, and to procreate if the species is to continue. The biosphere therefore
must provide air, water, food, and shelter or neither animal nor human will survive.
one species of organism well, but not another.
to meet those needs.
Let us now examine actionmore carefully. Science2001reveals that "what is most basic is
not material particles but activity. The older concept of a universe made up of physical
particles interacting according to fixed laws is no longer tenable. It is implicit in present
findings that actionrather than matter is basic."11
has discovered actionto be fundamental in non-living universe— light,
particles,atoms, and simple moleculesas well as within living universe — life itself —
the living molecules, the plants, the animals, and we humans.
•Actions require energy to occur. No energy — no action.
•Actions have location in space. Actions always begin somewhere and end
somewhere else. No location,no space — no action.
•Actions have duration. Actions always have a beginning and an ending. While
some actions may occur in a very short time, they all require some time. There are
no instantaneous actions in universe. No time — no action.
uses the term energy eventto describe what we commonly call action. R. Buckminster
Fullerexplains:
When one energy event is passing through a given point and another impinges
upon it, there is an interference.
Arthur Young, The Foundations of Science: The Missing Parameter, Robert Briggs Associates, San
Francisco, 1984
same time. One can cross over or be superimposed upon another. Both Euclidian
and non-Euclidian geometries misassume that a plurality of lines can go through
the same point at the same time. But we find experimentally that two or more
lines cannot physically go through the same point at the same time.
he gets an interference. When the neutron runs into a nuclear component: (1) it
separates the latter into smaller components; (2) they bounce acutely apart
(reflection); (3) they bounce obliquely (refraction); (4) they combine, mass
attractively. The unique angles in which they separate or bounce off identify both
known or unknown atomic-nucleus components."12
and do not occur in isolation. If they impinge on the
environment or on others, they will effect or impact on the environment — they will effect
or impact on others.
and harmful
way. It can effect or impact on environment and/or on others in a neutralor negligible
way. Or it can effect or impact environment and/or on others in a positiveand beneficial
way. Therefore actions that effect or impact on others can produce the following results,
using the language of games:
by the action. They are lessafter the action than
before.
••Other can draw. They are ignoredby the action. They will be the sameafter the
action as before.
•••Other can win. They are helpedby the action. They are moreafter the action
than before.
be ignored, or I can be helpedby the action.
are adversary.
••Actions that ignoreare neutral.
•••Actions that helpare synergic.
R. Buckminster Fuller, SYNERGETICS—Explorations in the Geometry of Thinking, Volumes I & II,
Macmillan Publishing Co, New York, 1975-1979
is always accompanied by two other phenomena — the
reaction, and the resultant. The environment or other reacts at the beginning of the action.
And the effect or impact on the environment or other at the end of the action produces a
resultant.
Appendix — page 91
The main task of all living organisms is survival.Needsare continuously pullingon all
living organisms to be met. To meet its needs, the living system must take action. Fourteen
to Sixteen times a minute, I take a breath. Many times a day, I drink water. And two or
three times a day, I eat food. My actions are discontinuous. Discontinuous means I have
some control over whenI act to meet my needs. I can eat now or a few hours from now.
Survival for life forms can be described then as the process of continuous needs being met
by discontinuous actions.
push of the actions we take to meet those needs. Remember, a system of continuous pull
balanced againstdiscontinuous pushis called a tension integrityortensegrityin
synergic science.
physiological needs of the animal. But what differentiates human from animal is our more
powerful brain and mind. This dramatic difference in intelligence is reflected in our
human needs.
To survive for 24 hours, scientists have determined that the average human adult requires
1.84 pounds of oxygen, 1.36 pounds of food solids, and 6.86 pounds of water. For the
majority of humans these basic needs seem pretty easily met. But few humans are satisfied
with the basic needs as one very wise man once said, "Man does not live by bread alone."
An internet search for "human needs" results in lots of returns.
only physical in nature ... but also psychological, such as dignityand self-esteem, love
and social connectedness, self-realizationandcontrol over one's life".
power, expression, acceptance, communion, andexchange. These are not needs of the
human body, but of the human mind.
are related to otheror toself.
and
selfis enormously important for humans.
Appendix —page 77
utilize sunlight directly to synthesize organic tissue frees them from the need for others.
This fact makes plants theindependentclass of life — independent of other.
to eat. The herbivores depend on
finding plants to eat. The carnivores depend on finding other animals to eat. The animals
inability to utilize sunlight to synthesize organic tissue means they must eat. Animals
survive by eating either plants or animals. Animals are completely dependent onother
for survival. This fact makes animals the dependentclass of life — dependent on other.
meet our basic needs and survive by eating both plants and animals. Physiologically, we
humans are also a dependentclass of life. But humans need more than basic needs.
Sometimeswe need other and sometimesother needs us. Some scientists have used the
Read moreon Human Needsin theAppendix.
it is these social-psychological needs that makes humans morethan dependent upon each
other. This means sometimes I depend on other and sometimes other depends on me. This
fact makes us humans theinterdependent class of life — interdependent on eachother.
Take a few moment to examine the contents of your pockets or purse ......
around you. What do you see? Did you make the clothes you wear? Did you grow the
food you eat or the tools you use. Look around your home or workplace. Can you find
anything that you made. Do you know the names of those who did make all these things?
Do you ever know upon whom you depend. Can you findanything in your environment
that was obtainedwithoutthehelp of someone else?
would you have them if they had not been for sale. I would argue that nearly everything
modern humans possess was obtained with the help of others.
on others to to grow and produce my
food. I depend on others to design and build my home. I dependon others to generate my
electricity. I depend on others to supply my water. I dependon others to deliver my mail.
I dependon others to educate my children. I dependon others to entertain my family. I
dependon others to manufacture my automobile. I dependon others to refine the
gasoline for my car. I dependon others to care for my family when we are sick. I depend
on others to protect us from crime and war. I depend on others to.......... I depend on
others, I depend.
is made less visible by our present economic exchange system.
I go to work and help my employer. He depends on me. At the end of the month he pays
me for my help. I depend on him. I can then take some of the money from my paycheck to
pay my house rent. While I depend on my landlord for the roof over my head, he depends
on me to pay the rent promptly. Sometimes I depend on others and sometimes others
depend on me. When we buy and sell in the economic marketplace we are really
exchanging help. When I help others they owe me. When others help me I owe them.
Money is just the present accounting mechanism we use to settle up.
explains:
independent tiger, or orangutan, coming together only to mate briefly, all child
care and education provided by the mother.
an important principle to base further observations on, and logically it is often
ignored in the present scheme of things, so I think we should look at the reasons.
Lets start with your naked body. Can you manage to clothe and feed and shelter
this body, with no hands touching any article except your own hands? If you can
make your own tools and live independently for just a few weeks or months, this
is interesting, but of course real independence would be a lifetime of this, a
reproducing lifetime, so it does fall considerably short of the mark. Additionally,
it is an interesting thing that we are communicating, I have written and you are
reading this paper. Independent organisms don’t behave like this, if you were
independent, your only concern for me should be to tell me to get out of your
way, or that you want to mate, and you need no language beyond what the tigers
and orangutans use for this. I have heard people say, that they could live
independently if they chose. To those few who feel that way, well, you haven’t
chosen that path if you are reading this, so if you want to choose it now, then I
think you ought to take off your society made things and go. We will send a
biologist to study how you live - if you live.
quite important to the issue of reproduction.
together, a man and woman with the proper education might make primitive
tools and cover some basic needs, if resources are abundant. But wherever
resources are abundant, you are going to find competition. Predators can be a
serious problem with just primitive weapons, and just two people, one of which
might be pregnant or holding an infant. It is true that most large predators are
afraid of human beings at the present time, but animals of all kinds eventually test
the limits. Domestic animals can be very sensitive about electric fences, for
example. You can turn off the fence for weeks, after they learn about wires giving
shocks. But they eventually test and learn, and are out. You would not likely find
it workable to stay together all the time, either, and the one carrying the child