Squiggles, Grids & Dimensional Ethics
This is part 7 in a series designed to give you, our clients and friends, a loftier and practical look at ethics. We hope to demonstrate why and how a deeper understanding of ethical concerns can be applied in your life – both personally and professionally.
“I’ve got to admit it’s getting better.
A little better all the time.
I have to admit it’s getting better.
It’s getting better, since you’ve been mine.
Getting so much better all the time.”
— The Beatles / Lennon-McCartney
“It’s Getting Better” – Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1967 – Parlophone, Capitol, EMI
Alan Watts, the “Great Explainer of Asia,” in a lecture on the differences in perspective between East and West, discussed how existence seems to go in all directions — to squiggle! All things happening at once, with different intentions going every which-way at the same time.
Asia seemed content to witness and not demand an explanation. The West on the other hand, wants to put existence into an “explanatory grid,” with all nodes being equidistant and equally important and all fitting into their neatly described compartments. Thus, from a western perspective, things should “naturally balance,” and more importantly, make sense! “Basho vs Luther.”
The first challenge is to force a living system into a gridded model. It doesn’t stay the same long enough to get the whole picture.
The second challenge is that Existence happens so fast and in such multi-layered complexity, that if we don’t break it down somehow, it’s just too complex to understand.
But what if we could, for arguments’ sake, suggest that existence breaks down into a variety of nested and intertwined playing fields? Different but related arenas? Sectors? Zones? Dimensions? Say, Eight of them.
Without invoking Rod Serling, what would they be? Here are our suggestions:
First, The Individual — the single unit of Life: The Self.
Then, The Family.
Next: The Group — the Community, the Town, the Company.
Then, The Super Group — Race, Political Parties, Nation States, Multi-National Corporations, Continental Interests.
Then, Living Things.
Next, The Physical Universe — The Elements, Natural Phenomena, Space.
Then, Spiritual Reality & Aesthetics.
Finally, The Infinite.
Eight Dimensions to Existence. “Connected, Related, Nested” within and around, even penetrating each other. But still, when looked at separately, understandable.
Each of us lives their own life, and approaches this complex set of relationships in their own way. Some people never consider the aesthetics of setting the dinner table or of engaging the life of the spirit. Some make a career of it. Some people spend their life at work — to the dismay (or joy) of their families. Some choose to devote themselves to the environment or to protecting other life forms. Some ponder the vagaries of family life, child rearing and its evolution in this century. Some float into Philosophy or Physics. Life can be lived as one chooses — in as many flavors of squiggle as there are imaginative ways to put it all together.
So what? Remember the concept of Exchange? Fair Exchange? Well here’s where the entire Ethics Series comes together.
Consider for a moment that our usual focus on what’s good for me, my family, and my group; while a great place to start, may not encompass the entire equation. Maybe “exchange” can be expanded…
What if the Ethics Question actually includes exchanges between and within all Dimensions? So, it may not be enough to work, look out for the kids and your job… There may be a City out there from which you are benefiting, that could use a little help in return. You may have something to contribute to animal welfare — volunteering at the pet shelter. Does the environment need a little clean-up in your area? Maybe you’ve been focusing on your career and family to the exclusion of the great questions: “Who am I?” “What is my special contribution?” And, “What if there’s a Great Infinite IS out there, I wonder if I can connect?”
So, as John Stuart Mill suggested, Ethics is a question of the greatest good, for the greatest number; but he was only talking about people… This perspective expands the scope of the question: Greatest Good from a Multi-Dimensional Perspective.
Of course, “Greatest Good is a Moving Target! And the “Squiggly” Nature of Existence sometimes makes it difficult to comprehend what’s going on around and within us. But if we pause and mentally “push the dimensions a little further apart,” we might be able to make better sense of each of them; and decide how to focus a little more on the fair exchanges within and between them — in short how to rationally consider “What’s the Greatest Good; for the Greatest Number of Dimensions?”
Existence is still squiggling and still resisting being reduced to a grid. But as we become more aware of the complexities, we get better at working out the exchanges between and within the dimensions that give our lives unique flavor and character. As we continually optimize the equation, things change and improve for all concerned.
It’s Getting better all the time.
Applications
1. Personal
Finding the best course requires an increasingly complex compass these days, but the old standard; What’s good for you, your family and your work, still holds. If you get a chance, and are curious, it might be worthwhile to extend your reach into other ethical dimensions — but go easy — you’re not a bad person. The opportunity to get even better is right around the corner: the city, the country, the beasts and flowers, the gyre, the Great Spirit, and the Tao will all be there when you get curious.
2. At Home
It’s so easy to be a self-absorbed child; and to develop into a narcissistic adult. That’s not evil, if less than interesting… But consider encouraging your family to expand their horizons beyond the immediate gratification of basic needs and optimize – by becoming the benefactors of some good work. A multi-dimensional family can enjoy a multitude of benefits.
3. At Work
We make a lot of garbage in offices, and mostly never give a thought to what happens to it. (An undiscovered Dimension?) We also create a lot of outcomes with our products, attitudes, work, and communication styles. Take a moment sometime this week and ask yourself, “What can I, What can we do to optimize and enlarge our Ethical Footprint?” Doesn’t have to be about charitable giving (that was never the message) but about touching a broader mix of dimensions in more positive ways.
Hey, you’ve got to admit, “It’s getting Better!”
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