Vision statement. 2021.
I dream of a world that finds flexible and adaptive coexistence - no, interaction, almost like a jugalbandi - between the natural world and the human civilisation. I dream of a human civilisation that discovers the secrets of the sciences not to assert dominion over nature, but to enhance the capacity of what nature can offer humans and our fellow beings on the planet. I dream of a human civilisation that distributes the fruits of its calibre that allows each individual to have the flexibility to achieve the full potential of what they can be. I dream of a civilisation that offers the aspirations of every person equal dignity and empowers them to seek learning for their own passions. A civilisation where institutions and individuals play the role of enhancing the resilience of the systems they are designed or meant for, instead of enhancing their own.
This lofty vision may seem esoteric, and it is so for a reason. A vision for the future needs to be driven by paradigms that can outlast many generations, as any vision that will last a single lifetime may not be ambitious enough. This envisioned compatibility of the human civilisation and the natural systems needs experiments, empowerment of those who understand system interactions against those who seek to exploit their dissonance, commitment of resources and a vast modification in our language of complexity - similar to how our mechanistic approaches find evangelism with the language of mathematics. This provides some clarity as to the direction of how the vision outlined above can at least be imagined to materialise.
With a vision and direction in place, the question of me as a person driven by this vision finds its rightful place. Who are you in this story? How do you contribute to this vision, which is not yours, but must be shared by many, and any efforts to claim it as a private vision will make it harder for it to see the day of light.
So, we are back to - who are you in this story?
I know what I bring to this conversation - I’m transdisciplinary, a thinker-doer who is ambitious and driven towards this vision. The way that I see this dream coming to life is by bringing together those many people across the world who are working to make this world a little better than they found it.
As a systems proponent, it would be foolish of me to not recognise the networked power of the system that can emerge from connecting these people to work on their larger and smaller goals, and integrate their efforts to unleash something beyond what they can achieve individually. If systems can make “Ek aur ek gyarah” (a saying 1+1=11), we may not be equipped to imagine what it would make of thousands of us spread globally, when we come together. I’ll borrow Chôra Foundation’s formulation of the layering approach to explain my intent. Instead of shortlisting or funnelling efforts, this vision needs a convenor that can orchestrate the symphony as systems leaders come together.
I see myself as a Systems Scientist, a la Edison, setting up a Menlo Park (lab) for visionary experiments and adaptive diffusion of the right ideas, products and innovations that are designed for a truly complex, systems world.
What this lab and objective will entail is content for another day.
Aakriti Gupta
تعليقات