would be alone and vulnerable. And of course, human predators working as a
pack, a social group, certainly exist and are the most powerful threat of all. While
fantasies are common about individuals and couples escaping social groups, the
reality is different. Groups of people have made the rules for individuals for a
long time.

“It is interesting to note that walking on two legs has not been all that uncommon
in the history of life, but I can think of no other species that has attempted
pregnancy on two legs. Two legged creatures have always been egg layers, or
marsupials, have never attempted the balancing act of a pregnancy on two legs. I
think it is only possible within a social group.

“Further problems are having very little backup for minor sprains or illness.
Loneliness can be a big problem, even for couples, as most of us eventually crave
other people in our lives.

“The genetic and archaeological evidence indicates that we split off from
chimpanzees, which are social creatures, and that we stayed social.”14

This may come as a surprise to most readers, but humans are not and cannot be
independent. We are an interdependent species. We rely on each other for nearly all our
wants and needs. Independence from other is not available to the richest man with the
most affluent life style. He is as dependent on the staff of servants who wait on him as they
are dependent on him for their livelihoods. Only the poorest of hermits with a quality of
life poorer than a cave man can achieve true independence from others. True
independence from other humans, requires that he must grow and cook all his own
vegetables. He must hunt, kill, skin, dress, and cook all his own meat. He must build his
own home using only the materials he can gather and prepare by himself aided only by
tools that he made for himself.

We humans are not an independent life form. Despite the common desire of most of us to
be independent, human independence is not possible in any scientific sense. Our bodies
do not contain chlorophyl and we cannot get our energy directly from the Sun. Other
plants and animals serve as our source of energy. We are as dependent on others for our
survival as are the animals are for theirs. We can ignore this fact of science by calling the
otherplants and animals — food and cooking in ways so we are not reminded of the

IMAGE Gift_Tensegrity02.jpg

14Arthur Noll, Harmony, The Time-binding Trust, 2001 — Internet:
http://www.synearth.net/harmony.html

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source of our food, but we are still not independent. When we further examine our
relationships with other humans, we discover that even here we are not independent. In
summary then, we can say that in the lives of plants — the independent class of life, other
plays no role . In the lives of animals — the dependentclass of life, otherserves primarily
as a source of food. And finally in the lives of humans, the interdependent class of life,
otheris very important. Our bodies are as dependent on others for food as the animals,
but socially, psychologically and economically, we depend on othersand others depend
on us
. We humans areinterdependent.

INTERdependence means that we are dependent on the actions of others to meet our
needs. And, others are dependent on our actions to meet their needs.

Once, we accept the reality of our human INTERdependence, then we can get on with
winning. The secret of winning then is to get others to help us. Let us examine these
options through the lens of synergic science.15
Appendixpage 78

Receivers-Givers — partners in survival
The human condition of INTERdependence means all humans need help. This is important
enough that it can not be said too often. All humans need
helpunless they wish to live at
the level of animal subsistence. INTERdependence means sometimes I depend on others
and sometimes others depend on me.

Sometimes self is a giver of help. Sometimes self is a receiver of help. Sometimes other is a
giver of help. Sometimes other is a receiver of help.

Sometimes my actions help others meet their needs. Sometimes other’s actions help me
meet my needs.

Needs are continuously pulling on me take action to meet them. But I only occasionally act
to meet my needs. Remember, I need a constant level of oxygen dissolved in my blood,
but I only take a breath fourteen to sixteen a minute. I need a continuous supply of water
within by cellar environment, but I only drink water a few times a day. And, while my
brain requires a constant level of dissolved glucose to feed it blood sugar, but I only eat
two or three times a day. 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.

IMAGE Gift_Tensegrity02.jpg

15Read moreon INTERdependencein theAppendix.

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Life can be described then as the process of continuous needsbeing met by
discontinuous actions.

Now individual humans as INTERdependent life forms are not able to meet all their needs
with only their own action. They need the occasional actions of others to meet their
continuous needs. Stated explicitly: Within the relationship between selfand other, the
receiverhascontinuous needs, but the giveronly occasionally actsto help the receiver.

Remember, a system of continuous pull balanced againstdiscontinuous pushis called a
tension integrityortensegrityin synergic science. In an INTERdependent life form the
receivers of help are continuously needing help while the givers of help are only
occasionally giving it. Life and living then is all about thecontinuing pullof our needs
and the discontinuous pushof the actionstaken to meet those needs. Some of the actions
are our own, but most of the actions are the giftsof others.

Getting help
INTERdependence is the human condition. Once we acknowledge our INTERdependence
and accept our dependence on others, then there are only three ways that we can get the
help we need to meet our needs.

1) We canforceothers to giveus help — This is adversary help.

2) We canpayothers to giveus help —This is neutral help.

3) Or, we cantrustothers to giveus help — This is synergic help.

We will now examine each of these three waysin detail.

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Adversary help

This is help obtained with coercion— force or fraud. The givers of help are losing. When
youforceothers to give you help you, they do the least they possibly can. Because the
helper is hurt, adversary help is always of a low quality.

Adversary relationships are hurting and negative experiences. The giver of help
experiences a loss. He is less after helping you than before. When you force others to help
you, it natural that they do the least they possibly can and stop helping the moment they
don’t feel afraid.

Adversary INTERdependence — Conflict
Sometimes I forceothers to giveme help me, and sometimes others forceme to givethem
help.

Slavery, indentured service, tenant farming, and child labor are examples of adversary
help. The criminal makes you help him, when he steals your property. The government
makes you help it, when it forces you to pay taxes. You are being forced to help others
anytime you are given an ultimatum.

Adversary relationship originates on earth in the animal world. Earth supplies limited
space for the animals. Space is finite. Good space is even more finite. It is very limited.
There is only so much good water, so much good grazing land, so much good shelter, and
so much good potential food. There is not enough to go around. The space-binders must
compete for this limited amount of good space. They compete adversarily. They compete
by fighting and flighting. They compete by attacking and killing other space-binders.
They compete by devouring the energy-binders.

Animal survival depends entirely on finding others 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 organic
tissue. Animals survive by eating either plants or animals. Animals are completely
dependent on other for survival. This fact makes animals the dependent class of life —
dependent on other.

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Imagine a fox chasing a rabbit, if the fox is quick enough, it will win a meal, at the expense
of the rabbit who loses its life. On the other hand, if the rabbit is quicker, the fox loses a
meal, and the rabbit wins its life. The animals live in an adversary world of losers and
winners. This is a world of fighting and flighting — of pain and dying. To win in this
world someone must lose. Winning is always at the cost of another.All animals, from the
smallest insect to the largest whale are struggling to avoid losing — struggling to avoid
being hurt.

CONFLICT —def—> The struggle to avoid loss — the struggle to avoid being
hurt.

The animals must fight and flee to stay alive, and they do. Always ready at a moments
notice to go tooth and nail to avoid losing — to avoid death. Losers/winners is the
harshest of games. Winning is always at the cost of another's life.

The loser tends to resist with all of its might occasionally prevailing by killing or
wounding its attacker. So both parties can lose, turning the game — losers/winners into
losers/losers.

If we analyze adversary relationships, we discover that individuals are less after the
relationship. (1+1) < 2. In the animal world where the loser forfeits its life (1+1) = 1. Or in
the end game of losers/losers, both adversaries may die in battle, then (1+1) = 0.

Adversary relationships are hurtful. The parties in these relationships experience loss.
They struggle to avoid the loss — they conflict. In an adversary relationship, one
individual plus another individual are less after the relationship. In other words (1+1) < 2,
and often much less than two. Adversary relationships are marked by high conflict, low
effectiveness and poor productivity. Now lets examine how the natural life tensegrity of
Needs and Actions would operate in adversary INTERdependence.

Coercion Tensegrity — a prey-predator tensegrity
When we obtain help from others by force or coercion, we are entering into thePrey-
Predator Tensegrity
. Recall I discussed in an earlier passage. The prey is continuously
pulling
predators towards it. It must be continuously on alert ready to fight or flee. The
predator is only
discontinuously pushingtowards the prey in the hunt. So we see a
balancebetween the thecontinuously pullingprey and the discontinuously pushing
predator.

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Like all tensegrities, the larger it is the more stable it is. In nature, we find that the more
animals within a prey-predator group the more stable the population.

Recall the natural Needs-Action Tensegrity of Life. Needs are continuously pulling on me
take action to meet them.

Needs
Continuous-Pull
Passive



Actions
Discontinuous-Push
Active

Needs are passive. They are continuously needing to be met. But I only occasionally actto
meet my needs. Remember my needspullon me, I needa continuouslevel of oxygen
dissolved in my blood, but I only act discontinuouslypushingthe used air out of my
lungs and then taking a fresh breath fourteen to sixteen a minute.

In an INTERdependent form of life, individual organisms are not able to meet there needs
with out help from others. They need the occasional actionsof others to meet their
continuous needs. This leads to the emergence of receivers of helpwhich are
continuously needing help and givers of helpare only occasionally acting to give that
help.

For human beings, life and survival then is all about thecontinuing pullof our needsand
the discontinuous pushof the actionstaken to meet those needs. Some of the actions are
our own, but most of the actions are the giftsof others.

Needs
Continuous-Pull
Passive
Receivers of Help




Actions
Discontinuous-Push
Active
Givers of Help

Alternating Roles
Within the relationship between selfand other, the receiverhascontinuous needs, but the
giveronly occasionally actsto help the receiver. Sometimesself is a giver of help.
Sometimes
self is a receiver of help. Sometimes otheris a giver of help. Sometimes other
is a receiver of help. Sometimes my actions help others meet their needs. Sometimes
other’s actions help me meet my needs.

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Within the Coercion Tensegrity this means, sometimes I am the prey to stronger predators
who force me to give them help, and sometimes I am the predator forcing weaker others to
give me help.

Within the Coercion Tensegrity,the predators are the active members. The prey is
continuously vulnerable to attack by the predators. For an INTERdependent species like
humanity that means that the Receivers of help are the active members. The givers of help
are continuously vulnerable to discontinuous attacks by the receivers of help.

Now compared with thenatural pattern,

Needs
Continuous-Pull
Passive
Receivers of Help




Actions
Discontinuous-Push
Active
Givers of Help

We see that within the Coercion Tensegritythere is loss of the natural pattern. Actions and
Needshave switched places as have theGivers of Helpand Receivers of Help. ThePrey
is coercedto give helpin the form of theiractions to meet theneedsof the Predators. The
predators are in control.

Prey
*Actions
Continuous-Pull
Passive
*Givers of Help





Predator
*Needs
Discontinuous-Push
Active
*Receivers of Help

The prey are continuously at risk of predator attack that will coerce them to give help to
the predator.

Enemies-- the adversary relationship
As a victim in the Coercion Tensegrity, I am continuously attracting predators to take help
from me. As a predator in the Coercion Tensegrity, I am only occasionally forcing others
to give me help. Our relationship is as enemies. I hate and fear the predator who is stealing
my help. I will do the least I can for him. I will help him only as long as he makes me. I
cease helping him the moment I stop fearing him.

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