Social Engineering by Means of a "Regulation Matrix", an Adjunct to the Lower-Right Integral Quadrant

   Below is an excerpt from the book The Marketing of Virtue (still in progress). Since the book is mostly about developing spiritually-principled communities that could be put on the global market, the question of social/cultural engineering seemed an inevitable part of the fictional account of a community, "Allsberg", as it is in the process of being formed.  The excerpt shows an interesting new integral-inspired adjunct to social engineering/directing/regulating from the vantage point of the the lower-right integral quadrant.

   It is my hope that I faithfully represented Ken Wilber's concepts, both prior to and during my description of the proposed social engineering strategy called the "Regulation Matrix". Please let me know if I missed the mark anywhere (or, heaven forbid, everywhere!), or pass this paper along to others who would likely be adept at critiquing its "fit" with the integral approach. Even though the book is fiction, I want the conceptual aspects of it to be accurate, and for the book to steer the reader toward truth (and "meaningfulness").                        

                                                                 "Integrally" yours,   Darrell

 

The Science of Social Engineering 

   

   Sylvia convened the philosophers for an important meeting. She wanted to be sure that she was on the same page with them, and visa versa.  Jim Rafier had sent her a concept paper by means of an email attachment. Jim was active in the Integral Life organization, started by author/philosopher Ken Wilber. 

   Jim got to thinking about one of sections of the overall integral map that Wilber and his adherents used in order to help the world see how a wide range of different human perspectives might be included into one picture of an overall (and evolving) human consciousness. Wilber noticed that all human information and thought seemed to fall into one of four quadrants of a simple matrix. The matrix consists of: interior-individual in the upper left quadrant, interior-collective in the lower left quadrant, exterior- individual in the upper right quadrant, and exterior-collective in the bottom right quadrant. Each of the quadrants had different content and different language. See figure 3 (next page) for a visual representation of Ken Wilber's 4-part matrix. 

    The upper left quadrant looks at inner, subjective, individual experiences as the content it is concern with (for all intents and purposes, its "reality"). It speaks language of "I". Wilber associated this domain/qadrant with the ancient Greek concept of "the beautiful". The arts grow out of this human domain or interest area. Existential philosophies and spiritual philosophies (those not dependent on organized religion) are also representatives of this quadrant, or perspective.  

   The lower left quadrant looks at inner, subjective, collective experiences as its content or "reality", and it speaks the language of "We".  Wilber associated this domain/quadrant with the ancient Greek concept of "the good". The knowledge realms and disciplines of morality and ethics grow out of this domain/quadrant. Organized religion is a major representative of this quadrant, or perspective. Organized religion tends to put pressure, however gentle, upon its followers to be moral, rather than allowing morality to develop as it happens to occur (or if it happens to occur) during a person's spiritual growth journey. Some of the contemplative branches of organized religion may represent the upper left quadrant, but most of religion is devoted to "the good".      

    The upper right quadrant looks at outer, objective, individual realities as its content/"reality". It speaks the language of "It". Science seeks to find what the ancient Greeks called "the true", at least in the sense of discovering consistently replicate-able knowledge about things. 

 

  

figure 3:

 

 

 

 

                                                           Integral Quadrants

    

 

 

 

 

                                          Interior                                        Exterior

 

 

                              interior view of the individual         exterior view of individual things/beings

Individual                            “I”                                                “it”

                                    ("the Beautiful")                          ("the True")

 

 

                   

 

                           

                               interior view of the collective          exterior view of collective things/beings 

Collective                            “We”                                              “its”

                                       ("the Good")                              ("the True")

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    Ken Wilber saw the lower right quadrant as concerning itself mainly with objective (using "it"-thought, and "it"-language) collective realities such as the social/political sciences. Wilber offers a sub-caption of "social" for this quadrant/perspective, but this quadrant also includes sciences about systems such as ecological science or  the science of planetary systems and the physical universe. 

   It is the regular "social" science aspect of the lower right quadrant that Jeffery was coming from when he had an insight about a sub-matrix devoted to engineering, and effectively operating,  Allsberg as a social system. Think of it this way: If Ken Wilber's quadrants were displayed on a computer screen, simply click onto the lower right quadrant. What Jeffery saw was another 4-section matrix which opened up onto the screen. It is this "window" that he wanted to share with fellow planners and orchestrators of Allsberg.  

    In comes Sylvia, and the email attachment she received from Jim. She studied Jim's "Regulation Matrix". In the top right quadrant of this matrix is "Automatic Internal Regulation" (or AIR). In the lower left quadrant is "Automatic Regulation Externally" (ARE). In the upper right quadrant is "Controlled Internal Regulation" (CIR). In the lower right quadrant is "Externally Controlled Regulation" (ECR). Each of these quadrants offers a way to regulate a system. See figure 4 (next page) for a visual representation of the Regulation Matrix. 

   AIR regulates the system by somehow inspiring its individual members to (borrowing a phrase and title from movie-maker Spike Lee) "do the right thing".  Of course Allsberg's version of "right" does not mean merely the consented-upon, proper, way. By "right", we mean the optimal - most sustainably effective - way.  Although it is as difficult to achieve as a star athlete's ability to play "unconsciously" in a big game, this is the most effective means of running Allsberg. 

   The long term investments in achieving a high level of this type of regulation would be well worth the effort and costs. Each citizen would, in effect be "governed" by the theological principle put forth by Thomas Aquinas: "Love the Lord God with all your heart, and then do whatever you want." If each citizen were to more-or-less constantly sense the wholeness, or "God", of the collective body via a process of love, then he/she will naturally - "automatically" - choose to "do the right thing". 

    It's not hard to see why this is a desired goal of regulation. It is the ideal form of "government".  Once achieved, it is difficult to inhibit pro-social cooperation. Folks would be doing random acts of kindness and help all over the kingdom! Whether you call this form of regulation "morale", "buy-in", "commitment", "loyalty", or "pro-active participation", it is the stuff that wise leaders throughout the ages have tapped into as they sought to regulate (for good or for bad) the human system in their charge. 

     But AIR is the highest stage of regulation, perhaps transcending the standard meaning of "regulation" altogether. To delude ourselves into thinking we have mastered Automatic Individual Regulation, when, in fact, we have not, is a dangerous error which allows all sorts of manipulative types to contaminate the welfare of the collective. A safer and healthier approach is to patiently invest in AIR, and to plan to move toward it as the main form of governing, but to use properly-wieghted mixtures of the other regulation quadrants along this path to perfection. 

   

 

 figure 4:

 

 

 

 

 

                                                           Regulation Matrix

    

 

 

 

 

                                          Automatic                                     Controlled

 

 

                                  automatic internal regulation             controlled internal regulation

Internal                                 AIR                                                CIR

                           (inside-out harmonic alignment)            (self-directed motoric alignment)

 

 

                   

 

                           

                                automatic regulation externally           externally controlled regulation 

Collective                               ARE                                               ECR

                           (other-directed harmonic alignment)        (outside-in motoric alignment)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    The next most effective means of regulating human behavior seems to be successful manipulation of the culture. The fact that the modern international politics has discovered the power of perception (by means of international media, carefully orchestrated foreign affairs carried out for the sake of posturing, etc.) as nations compete for their slices of the world pie, attests to the fact that cultural interventions are sometimes mightier than military actions, and that the production of such perceptions may have a lot to do with economic success. Calm the world stock markets with the appearances of a good economic plan, or the appearances of economic strength, and investors will invest in your stocks. 

   Although there are limits to the "fake it till you make it" formula for success, there is some truth to that concept. The art of creating a favorable "brand" is important, whether you are a business hocking your wares on the world market, an individual trying to gain influence at your workplace, or a nation looking for diplomatic leverage. 

   Throughout history, wise leaders have learned to use culture in a social utilitarian manner, such as the decision to combine pagan and Christian cultural traditions and icons in our Christmas celebration. Lords and/or kings have introduced sports to redirect the attention and to vent the passions of the discontented masses, and have successfully pacified them. 

   Modern consumerism may have the same effect, if not the same purpose. As long as relative "have-nots" are chasing the american dream by buying, say, a big screen TV (always upgrading to "flat screen", onto "high definition", and so on and so forth), then they will be less focussed on political irregularities or social injustices. They are "consumer-fied" voters. 

    Of course, these are more negative, antisocial, Macheavelian, forms of effective regulation by the Automatic Regulation Externally (ARE) quadrant. The Accronym works fairly well. The cultural participants have the perception that things are such and such a way, whether it is an idealistic "way things are", or a pessimistic ("You best get in your place, and not rock the boat.") sort of the "way things are". 

    The trick is to get folks to think the shape of the world really is, and must be, a certain way. This is nearly always delusional, because we can make the world in any number of "shapes", according to our principle 2 (co-creating, challenge-meeting) capacities. Jim recalled what David Bohm said about systems of thought (such as a culture's perception of the way things "are") in a book called Thought as a System. First of all, Bohm made an important distinction between thinking and thought. A thought is the leftover content of thinking, often long after real (open) thinking has ceased. The fact that we tend to confuse thought (which is largely habitual, rather than open to the way things really are) with thinking causes us to do a lot of irrational, maladaptive things. 

   But while this confusing of thought with thinking is a problem as regards optimal living, it is an excellent opportunity for someone to manipulate others via cultural transmissions of "thought".  By successfully shaping the culture's ideologies, the consummate manipulator can regulate a "world" of human behavior. 

    In his paper to Sylvia, Jim included the following excerpt from Thought as a System: 

              "So we have this system of thought. Now, I say that this system has a fault in it - a systemic fault. It's not a fault here, there or there, but it is a fault that is all throughout the system. Can you picture that? It's everywhere and nowhere. You may say 'I see a problem here, so I will bring my thought to bear on this problem'. But 'my' thought is part of the system. It has the same fault as the fault I'm trying to look at, or a similar fault." 

    To Jim, Bohm's ideas suggested the great regulatory capacity of an "engineered", or "shaped", culture. The regulation could either be to instill healthier thoughts (thoughts that are more supportive of adaptive "thinking") or to regulate people to automatically/habitually have thoughts which serve a purpose other than sustainable well-being - thoughts such as "I/we need to buy a lot of stuff to be happy, even if it puts me/us deep in debt". 

    If, on the other hand, a leader, and/or the collective as a whole, chooses to shape the world in a spiritual way that is more sustainable, harmonious, peaceful, and more diffusive of good, then we must use the spiritual principle of "responsible creating". Contrast responsible creating to the irresponsible creations that occur from simply manipulating others for manipulation's sake (for the sake of merely gaining extrinsic forms of power) or from allowing ourselves to be manipulated by others. Transparency in government is just one tool of many which can counteract the irresponsible creating of a culture or society that "uses us up", rather than lifts us up. 

    The final two quadrants of Jim's Regulation Matrix use what Jim called the principle of "motoric alignment". By motoric, he meant something like, "Get your butt over here, in line with the rules or standards - or else." The Controlled Internal Regulation (CIR), in the upper right quadrant, uses moral conditioning to get the individual to internally control himself or herself - "or else"... "you won't be loved" ... "you'll go to hell"... "you'll be a loser" ... etc.   

    CIR tends toward fear motivation, rather than love motivation, but it is not necessarily the result of intimidation. Sometimes it is the good old version of personal discipline, in which you nudge, or push, yourself to do the right thing, when understanding or inspiration alone is not strong enough to get you to do it automatically.

   Jim, like Todd, was a distance runner. Sometimes he ached to get out there and run. On those days, he could use AIR (Automatic Internal Regulation). But some days he had to drag his body out there. Once he got going, it generally was not bad at all. Sometimes he would break through the ice of his own mental or physical resistance and end up having a very rewarding, even enjoyable, run. 

   Other times, he had to use the principle of motoric alignment the whole way through the run. On those days, he not only had to get his butt out there and run, he had to keep his butt moving along. Even so, after the run was over, he almost always felt good that he had accomplished the run. When his "or else" was "...or else you'll begin to lose your fitness and health benefits of running", then the resistance did not accumulate near as much as it would if, say, a drill sergeant was making him run, "...or else you'll be thrown in the brig".  

   External Controlled Regulation (ECR) is when the drill sergeants in life are there to motivate you to "get your butt over there", in line with a rule or standard. The motoric alignment has an external locus of control. A form of ECR is judicially-enforced laws. You break the laws, and you'll be (eventually) restrained and confined.  Not even that much personal discipline in ECR. More of a fear-avoidance sort of thing. 

  But, for whatever reason, social systems seem to require some version of ECR to successfully govern/regulate its members. The problem is when ECR is given higher priority than the other quadrants. The result is an eventual loss of "morale". Even CIR, can cause a loss of morale over time. A person who is pushing herself or himself will eventually burn out or give into impulses to break free of the control. 

  Learning to reward yourself can not only help sustain the self-regulation of CIR , but it can, over time, begin to transform it into either ARE  or AIR. If CIR turns into ARE, you more-or-less automatically do it (running, moral behavior, etc) in order to fit into a cherished subculture, or as part of a group identity. You might socially reward yourself by telling yourself " I'm a runner, in a brotherhood of runners".  Or in the case of nationalistic/patriotic behaviors, you may say to yourself  "I'm proud to be an American".  After awhile you may not even need to make any effort whatsoever to reward yourself with self-talk or by any other discernible means. The discipline becomes your way of "belonging", automatically regulating the running or the patriotic behaviors, or the moral behaviors which please society. 

   CIR turns into AIR when the generalized anticipation of reward is so thoroughly associated with the behavior that the behavior itself feels inherently rewarding. You simply feel a sense of purpose or deep self-satisfaction. In the case of running, naturally-released endorphins may be subconsciously anticipated prior to each run; making you want to run, instead of having to run. The positive anticipation can even become too strong of an automatic habit. You might develop an addiction (a "process addiction") for running. 

   Jim's paper conceptualized the automatic forms of regulation (the left side of the 4-quadrant matrix) as being ruled by a principle called "harmonic alignment". The person, or groups of people, align with a standard or rule, as though matching a pleasant tone. A tuning fork will vibrate when you play its note. A highly effective leader learns to play the right notes which vibrate - resonate with - his "tuning fork" constituents. He is like the Pied Piper. He understands morale, and knows how to "play" the music of advanced regulation. 

    These concepts are the gist of Jim's paper. Sylvia, had Jim describe his concepts to the group. The group agreed with the basic idea, that "If we don't engineer our culture and society, then who, or what, will?"  This notion had long been advanced in earlier concept papers shared among members of the philosophers (and often shared with other members Allsberg Incorporated members as well). This proactive idea had already been assimilated into the Allsbergian "Thought as a System" (David Bohm), and/or into their "Meaningful Myth" (Joseph Campbell). 

   Sylvia found this simple idea to be the "note" she wanted to ring out to the little group of thinkers. She could see the sparkles in their eyes after discussing Jim's variation on the theme. She opted to close out the meeting on that "note", and challenged the think tank members to read and analyze the paper. When they would re-convene in  one week from today, they would be fully prepared to deliberate the concepts in depth. Then they could begin to map out specific ways to successfully "regulate" this particular social system called "Allsberg". As the meeting ended, Sylvia thought to herself (and, yes, it came to her automatically),  "I'm proud to be an Allsbergian."