Replying to LO24022 --
AM DeLange wrote
>Humane conduct is something which can only emerge from within a human. It
>can be codified so that others can recognise it. But it can never be
>transfered. Codifying humane conduct so as to transfer it is a foolish
>practice which dehumanise people. Hence the worst bluff is to use a code
>of conduct to signal one's own humane conduct. The authenticiy of humane
>conduct is in its doing and not its codifying.
Humans appear to be hard-wired for some nasty traits, territoriality and
allegiance to small groups (families, tribes) being among them. These
traits enable small group survival but hinder large group prosperity. It
takes scant minutes for people to realize that the level of distrust
between territories, families, tribes can never be overcome by goodwill
alone. This leads to the externalization of trust, which is known as
"law." Think about test ban treaties.... the keys are always inspection
and verification because trust is, and will be, largely absent.
I watch law being invented every time I use "Win All You Can" (a variant
of the Prisoner's Dilemma) in a teambuilding course. Inevitably, an
enforcement mechanism (law) is invented to make the idealistic solution
work when it NEVER works just on its own.
I suspect AM DeLange may be confusing values and conduct. You can codify
conduct; codifying values takes longer and is much harder. Seems to me
that LO is about codifying a certain set of values, values reflected in
the excerpt above. Reality is, our hardwiring (whether cultural or
genetic) is not going to change without a whole lot of help from every
direction.... including behavioral codes.
Eric Hatch, President
Hatch Organizational Consulting, Inc.
"Enabling Positive Change"
You can call us at 1 800 586 1487 or 513 683 2265
You can write us at
HOC
6812 Stagge Rd
Loveland, OH 45140
Or you're welcome to visit our website at
http://www.hocinc.com
--ekh <hocinc@earthlink.net>
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