How we might reach a better world? The story of Emergence.

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Across the whole of nature, including human society, we see amazing creativity and cooperation at moments when there are significant changes in some parts of the environment. These environmental changes may have been dramatic such as after an earthquake, or a longer term trend such as sea level rise, or collisions between these types.

At times like this we see new forms of cooperation between the different actors, and even new forms of life, creating a new pattern of existence in this new space. And what appears could not have come about with the efforts of just one species or group. This is known as emergence.

We can see instances of emergence across different disciplines eg Ecology (the ecosystem of the pampas, the social organisation of ants and termites), Cognition (the growth of language), Economics & Society (the rise of the internet). These instances appear over vastly different timescales and physical extent.

Might we be seeing the beginnings of the emergence of a new kind of society? If we look carefully?

We can learn a lot from the story of emergence of the Great Barrier Reef.

The Great Barrier Reef

A good example of emergence is the wide variety of life forms that appeared once the corals in the Great Barrier Reef had started to form. The main environmental change was a relatively sudden rise in the sea level which, along Australia’s eastern coastline, created a shallow underwater shelf where sunlight could penetrate. Incoming ocean currents brought life and nutrients and dissolved calcium.

One animal species – the Coral Polyps – arrived on these currents and found an ideal situation for growth because the shallow water meant that plenty of energy from the sun could reach the sea floor to which it attached itself. These polyps joined in a mutually beneficial relationship with several different microscopic plants to convert sunlight into food & energy. And the energy allowed the corals to extract calcium from the water to build their limestone structures. And each different species of Coral Polyps created its own distinctively shaped structure. And so we see an emergence of these new and wonderful creations – so very different from the plants and animals that cooperated to build them. 

And that wasn’t the end of it. Many other plants, animals and fish found the coral structures ideal sites to grow, and to feed and mate. Water born plants such as anemones and sponges found many ideal sites to grow, receiving the sun’s energy through the shallow water. Many different kinds of creatures including molluscs, jellyfish and fishes arrived to grow and mate and feed on other creatures and plants. And so we see many exchanges of energy and matter.

By chance also, the nearby mangrove swamps along the shoreline, also recently arrived as the result of sea-level change. With their network of underwater roots, they became a wonderful playground for young fish spawned on the coral reefs, where they could grow without being eaten by larger predators, who couldn’t swim between the roots.

So, we can see that a single change – the rise of the sea level – enabled something new and unexpected to come into existence: the corals. And then this new limestone infrastructure created the environment for an energetic explosion of many new forms of life, where many species could exchange matter, energy and DNA with each other to form a wonderful new ecosystem.

And the key takeaway is that nobody designed it, no-one planned it, there was nobody in charge. It was spontaneous cooperation for mutual benefit between the different organisms.

Emergence of a better world?

Many commentators assert that we are in the middle of a 40, 50, maybe 100 year transition to a different kind of society. I particularly like this one: Journey to Earthland: The Great Transition to Planetary Civilization by Paul Raskin. Might we be witnessing a new emergence similar to that of the Great Barrier Reef? 

We might compare the changes that have brought us the internet (a socio-technical trend), along with our growing despair about the functioning of democracy (a socio-cognitive trend); with the long term trend of sea level rise that created a new environment for the coral reef to grow. The internet became this new space for innovation allowing wide and diverse collaboration between people around the world,

And now, analogous to the many cooperating life forms on the reef, we see tools for sharing ideas, for funding them, for putting them into practice, and for sharing what they’ve learned. Small groups of people mix and match all these ideas – of both what to do, and how to do it – in a way they believe will work in their particular setting. And they tell their stories of what worked and what didn’t in their various networks. And so we see this massive explosion of many groups around the world using new kinds of decision making, and working on growing food more sustainably, on cycle delivery, on food kitchens, community workshops, cinemas, local currencies, care networks, restorative justice, community schools and much more.

None of which would have grown as fast or as widely without the internet. And a huge proportion of people in the world has access to these tools and ideas (estimates of global access to a mobile phone vary between 67% and 78%).

John Thackara, in his inspiring book How to Thrive in the Next Economy, tells of this social movement, much of which is below the radar of the mainstream media. There are millions of active groups all around the world, growing a replacement economy. He catalogues inspiring stories of innovations in design and ways of working from around the world according to their activity. There are chapters on Dwelling and Feeding, Moving and Caring. 

Perhaps an innovation comparable to the role of the mangrove roots, will protect some of these small yet vibrant entities from their larger predators, and allow them to grow?

So when and where, we might wonder, will collections of these innovations join up together to form the substance and governance of new kinds of sustainable and caring societies? And when will the successful ones be adapted and reused elsewhere?

Perhaps they are just about to emerge? Or perhaps another long term trend will enable such emergences? We just don’t know.

How might you help to join your group with one from a different movement – so that the two groups cooperate – and grow as a result?

My current focus is to join the community workshop movement with food growers – so that useful tools and growing aids can be made in the workshops – perhaps from renewable materials and waste.

“In order to change an existing paradigm you do not struggle to try and change the problematic model. You create a new model and make the old one obsolete.”

Buckminster Fuller – architect, systems theorist, author, designer, and inventor

“Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.”

Arundhati Roy

Further Reading