Integritus Prime

In two previous posts, I discussed content from Daniel Quinn’s book, My Ishmael, highlighting his excellent analysis of how human civilization got into the current mess we’re in. Climate change, famine, pollution, wars, the pandemic, and many more ills continue to plague us, and we seem to be taking the rest of the planet’s species with us on a collision course with extinction.

Quinn, in a third book called The Story of B, takes a slightly (but not very) different track to explain again how human civilization has lost its way. In this post, I want to share my takeaways from this incredibly powerful book. In particular, I’ll share the laws and limits Quinn discusses, which reminded me of my ecology class in college, and Donella Meadows’ book Limits to Growth. They are powerful reminders that humans must fit within biological limits – we cannot expect to violate them and thrive on this Earth. This post discusses the first three steps, and Part II will conclude with the remaining three steps to summarize this book.

1. Law of Life: According to Quinn, the Law of Life isn’t what governs life, it’s what fosters life. Anything that fosters life belongs to this law. This concept really struck me, because it reeks of biomimicry: the golden rule for regenerative cultures is that life creates conditions conducive to life. Remarkably similar, or the same. This law and principle are basically saying that what works in Nature is whatever fosters or nurtures life. The goal of life is to sustain life – not destroy it. Those who follow these principles tend to be better represented in the gene pool, hence the Law of Life is characterized by genetic abundance, which, as we saw in previous posts, leads to resilience. While it is common to believe that man was made to rule the planet, the Law of Life is more about a set of evolutionarily stable strategies. It is a fact that biological limits make no exception for humans. Religion, however, teaches that God makes exceptions for humans, and this leads to evolutionarily unstable behaviors.
2. Agri(Cultural) Diversity: In nature, monocultures are vulnerable to pests and diseases. To ensure a resilient crop, we must plant a variety, so that even if one type of crop is wiped out by pests or diseases or disasters, we have other options. The same, Quinn posits, is true of culture. Ten thousand cultures living in different ways creates more resilience to adversity – if one or two collapse, it’s not a catastrophe for humanity. A single culture (way of living) is much more vulnerable to collapse, especially if that culture is violating biological limits. Currently, Quinn states, the destructive and gluttonous American culture is influencing and encroaching on other cultures, putting humanity on a catastrophic path to vulnerability and self-destruction.
3. Law of Limited Competition: Quinn states that this law is followed by tribes without fail. It is: “You may compete to the full extent of your capabilities, but you may not hunt down your competitors or destroy their food or deny them access to food.” Clearly, the way conflict happens (against humans and animals) shows mass violation of this law. We have deprived many human cultures of their land and ability to produce food, while also destroying habitat and food sources for many other species through our capitalistic economic machinery.

Essentially, we must create conditions that foster life, ensure lots of diversity, and compete in ways that do not destroy food supplies of our competitors, or the competitors themselves. What are the other principles that point us toward evolutionary stability? Find out in Part II.