4.2 Lesson-2: Understanding Levels of Paradigm as a System

Better is the enemy of best, according to Voltaire, who was referenced by Nobel Prize-winning economist Herbert Simon in The Sciences of the Artificial. Simon was emphasizing the risk associated with trying to effect systemic change through little adjustments. There is a constructed tendency to get content with and connected to the improvement every time anything is improved. In this approach, advancements turn into impediments to making dramatic, disruptive discoveries.

The similar risk exists with the Levels of Paradigm framework if it is mistakenly seen as a list of possibilities that can be used depending on the situation. The scope and comprehensiveness of one’s activities on the ground can significantly improve when one shifts their thinking, for instance, from the value return level to the arrest disorder level. The revolutionary change that happens from viewing the world via the regenerate life paradigm, however, is inaccessible if one stops there, content with the better outcomes their new thinking has generated.

By abandoning the terminology, approaches, and mindsets that splinter a living world, the regenerate life paradigm enables one to meet the intents that underpinned the prior paradigms in a coherent and comprehensive manner. For instance, the value return paradigm’s fundamental goal is to make it possible for everyone to make a contribution to society and then share fairly in the rewards that result from those contributions. But, the social structure needs to be set up in such a way for this objective to be accomplished. The system will eventually expire if it is built to allow value extraction and concentrate the benefits into the clutches of a select few.

It should feel as though one is entering a new planet when one shifts paradigms and substantially modifies their presumptions and methods of thinking. The previous frameworks for understanding reality are no longer valid in this new universe. It becomes feasible to settle disputes that were insurmountable and to see possibility that was before invisible.

Without sufficient awareness, it might be all too simple to revert to an outdated paradigm, such as when one pursues an arrest disorder technique instead of trying to regenerate something. Several of our peers, who really want to work on regenerating the economic and social systems in order to change how humans live Earth, frequently feel this, in our experience. They invariably try this work using paradigms that are insufficient for the task without more completely developing their mental capacities, unintentionally perpetuating the behaviors and mindsets that have brought us to the current state of crisis.

It is customary to replace the terminology and presumptions of a lower paradigm with those of a higher paradigm. Among the three lower paradigms is where a lot of the present research, speculation, and experimentation in the area of the future economy finds its origins. This drastically restricts the impact of efforts to balance human economic growth with the planetary evolution of life. The peer-to-peer, slow money, and cooperative movements, for instance, are essentially about involvement in and access to a value return economy. Doughnut economics is an excellent illustration of an arrest disorder strategy since it aims to establish the ideal balance between minimizing social injustice and minimizing environmental harm. By setting an example of a do good attitude, the well-being economies initiative aims to create a baseline for health and quite well that communities and countries may strive to meet.

Each of these initiatives is commendable and has significantly added to the rising understanding of the necessity of significant economic transformation. Without fully comprehending the underlying concepts that set regeneration apart, the majority of them have likewise adopted that terminology. We suggest that they could use regenerative methods if they strictly applied the seven initial principles to their work. When these ideas are put into practice, new levels of aspiration can be imagined and committed to. Language and methods can also be carefully examined and improved, and qualitative measurements can be created for the effects they have on the living world.

Due to its strong devotion to and comprehension of local settings, the localization revolution, as one example, has a lot of potential to impact human life. The transformational effect of these initiatives could be greatly increased by a change from a generic conviction in the significance of small-scale economies to an understanding and even veneration for the distinctive essence of particular locales. Locations provide as illustrations of the complete living entities that we described as being essential to the regenerate life paradigm. They all have unique roles that they could perform and are nested inside larger systems. When this is used as the basis for conceiving about economic development, localities put more effort into standing out from the competition than they do towards emulating one another’s best practices. The people, organizations, and institutions that make up communities also come to establish unique niches within their economic ecosystems. A shared community direction offers a clear framework for community members to identify and coordinate their own value-generating jobs and career pathways.

Another illustration would be the sophisticated and place-based methods and solutions embraced by the well-being economies movement. The first of these is essence-sourced potential, but it is lacking two other dimensions that are essential for progressing to the regeneration phase.

The current urge to label, categorize, stereotyped, and commoditize is countered intellectually by essence. It is nearly impossible to overstate the degree to which modern cultural systems teach their adherents to categorize people, the world, and even one’s own experiences. For instance, one assumes that something significant has been mentioned about an acquaintance every time one categorizes their habits or fears with a common psychological diagnosis. Nevertheless, in the process, the basic lived experience of a single person has been lost.

When one views the cosmos from the perspective of essence, the unique and particular become the point of departure for one’s thoughts. Before even pondering the idea of applying generic laws to a living entity, one strives to comprehend and appreciate whatever makes it special. One can labor in ways that are in keeping with a place’s nature and character, for example, by establishing an anchor to the essence of that place. Also, it enables one to realize their own natural potential based on who they are rather than what they wish they were. When one is sensitive to the nature and possibilities of individuals, their environments, and the lifesheds in which they’re embedded, one’s relationship to the world transforms. One assumes a position of intense, spiritually based co-exploration of their possibilities rather than imposing one’s own will and notions about how to enhance them.

Learning to recognize a thing’s essence is not a simple task; it calls both discipline and a readiness to reflect. Because it is not a skill that is highly valued or understood in contemporary culture, most people are not taught how to execute it. But, the economic structures in place today have their roots in the industrial mindset that has put people in a dreadful state of war with nature for generations. It will be necessary to create new, more aesthetically pleasing systems from completely new ways of thinking, and we think the essence is the basis for these.

Regarding well-being economies, our argument is that people (individuals, communities, organizations, entire locations, and living systems) must be educated and given the tools necessary to actualize it. The collective’s task is to increase each member’s ability and capacity for participation in and contribution to the wellbeing and essence-sourced capacity of the total. They accomplish this by continually developing their own potential, which is derived from their essence.

This brings us to the second vitally important missing component—the developmental imperative—which, in our opinion, severely restricts the well-being movement’s ability to regenerate. It takes a lot of work to replace the inclination toward generalization with an approach that concentrates on the distinctive character of the particular phenomenon one is seeing, given how deeply ingrained it is in every area of contemporary culture. To overcome conditioning, one must learn how to effectively control their own emotions and mental patterns. According to our observations, such an attempt necessitates both a persistent will and a dedication to maintaining consciousness. Although there is little acknowledgement of this inner development’s significance in changing economic systems and almost no institutional framework to assist it, it is difficult and requires support.

Building the skills required for a regenerative economy cannot be accomplished through conventional educational programs. Instead of promoting self-reflective investigation of the structure and source of one’s own thinking, such programs place an emphasis on teaching knowledge. Because it is intended to do so, the emphasis on knowledge transmission strengthens already-existing cultural tendencies.

To introduce a novel, transforming pattern, one needs to create a completely new, progressive educational strategy, one that fosters the development of regenerative literacy in all social contexts. To be a powerful force for change, this developmental method must be widely adopted, appearing in everything from childcare to schools to jobs to political organizations. We call to it as a developmental necessity because of this. It is crucial to incorporate thinking and self-management growth into every step of the process for people whose work involves creating new economic systems and instruments.

This final idea reflects a fundamental principle of change: the best approach to affect change is not to promote ever-increasing action, but rather to develop the thinking skills necessary to make informed decisions regarding the best course of action. Without these tools, people automatically incorporate outdated assumptions into practically everything they do, drastically limiting what

This final idea reflects a fundamental principle of change: the best approach to affect change is not to promote ever-increasing action, but rather to develop the thinking skills necessary to make informed decisions regarding the best course of action. Without these tools, people automatically incorporate outdated assumptions into practically everything they do, drastically limiting what they perceive to be desirable and achievable. Interrupting this propensity to think in known and comfortable ways is the quickest way to bring significant change to our economies. People and organizations need to be called up to a regenerative way of looking at things repeatedly. They will start to change their thought processes and, eventually, the world they can envision, long for, and build through frequent interruption of their habits.