From: jimruttshow8596
Philosopher Forest Landry discusses his concept of non-relativistic Ethics as a framework for understanding choices and values, particularly in the context of civilization design [01:09:00].
Defining Ethics and Values
Landry posits that the study of ethics is fundamentally the study of how to make good choices [02:11:09]. He distinguishes his approach from traditional philosophical schools of ethics like deontological (rule-based) and utilitarian (outcome-based) ethics [01:18:01]. While those approaches tend to reduce ethics to either a logic system or an optimization based on metrics, Landry argues that both ultimately reduce to a form of value ethics [01:18:22].
Landry’s concept focuses on “value ethics” rather than “virtue ethics,” emphasizing the nature of the relationship between value, meaning, and purpose [01:57:00]. This perspective expands beyond monetary value to include embodied notions of value such as health, well-being, ecological thriving, family thriving, and community thriving [01:19:17].
Grounding Goodness
The concept of “goodness” is grounded in the relationship between the subjective and the objective [02:48:45]. Landry asserts that goodness is connected to value, which is grounded in meaningfulness, and ultimately, meaningfulness is grounded in life itself and the “betweenness” of relationships [02:40:47].
Good choices are those that increase the integrity of the relationship between the subjective and the objective [02:51:13]. This means making choices that not only produce good immediate outcomes but also enable positive potentialities for future choices, avoiding situations that lead to “worse and worse compromises” [02:29:06].
Application in Civilization Design
For civilization design, this ethical framework informs how communities live together and communicate [02:40:02]. It requires developing new tools to address emerging problems like global warming, pollution, and global inequality, which current methodologies struggle with [06:16:04].
Three Balances for a Sustainable City
For a city or civilization to achieve sustainability and evolve, three conditions are necessary and sufficient [02:59:22]:
- Social Balance [02:59:57]: How social processes are managed, including communication and conflict resolution [02:47:00].
- Energy Balance [03:05:00]: Ensuring sustainable energy input to maintain the city’s functions [03:07:00].
- Ecological Balance [03:04:00]: Maintaining the sustainability of surrounding environments that provide resources [03:26:00].
These balances are crucial for the long-term endurance and resilience of civilization over hundreds to thousands of years [03:06:00].
Cultural Dynamics and the Role of Care
The values of a culture are transmitted to future generations, influencing their capacity for resilience [04:55:00]. A key challenge is the erosion of in-person relationships due to technology, leading to decreased social interaction among younger generations [04:50:00].
Landry highlights three dimensions of human relationships:
- Transactional Dimension [05:17:00]
- Power Dimension [05:17:00]
- Care Dimension [05:17:00]
Modern tools and institutions often prioritize power and transactional dynamics, neglecting the “care dimension,” which is essential for true community and social equality [05:21:00]. Integrating care means grounding choices in what is loved and cared about [05:22:00].
Wisdom, Attunement, and Discernment
Increasing collective wisdom is critical for navigating complex choices [01:10:00]. This involves developing cultural practices of attunement (understanding others’ needs) and discernment (skillful choice-making) [04:15:00].
Current societal issues like low “congruence” (the gap between desired life and actual life) are exacerbated by the disconnect between the virtual world (e.g., social media presentations) and the embodied world (real-life experiences) [01:19:00]. Re-establishing congruence requires a “re-humanization” where the virtual aligns with the embodied, moving beyond what “looks good” or “feels good” to what “actually is good” [01:20:00].
Addressing Fundamental Human Drives
While human nature includes drives like mimetic status signaling and sexual competition [03:52:00], which can lead to unsustainable “arms races,” these forces must be understood and accounted for [04:24:00].
Instead of trying to change human nature, the focus should be on developing new behaviors and capacities [03:29:00]. Landry identifies three fundamental instincts:
- Survival [05:24:00]
- Sexuality [05:24:00]
- Sociality [05:24:00]
The crucial metric for civilization is the balance between competition and cooperation [01:00:46]. If competition outweighs cooperation, social processes break down [01:00:52]. Understanding these underlying drivers allows for more mindful choices, ensuring that the necessary cooperation thrives alongside competition [01:04:00].
Practical Steps Forward
To move towards better civilization design, Landry suggests focusing on:
- Good Communication Practices: Implementing the right to speak, be understood, and know one has been understood [01:26:08].
- Ephemeral Group Process: A technique for collective inquiry that leads to collective values discovery and visioning, avoiding corruption and inequality dynamics [01:26:50].
- Transcendental Design: Communities can design their future, strategizing actions that uphold their collective vision and values, ensuring health and thriving for the land and people [01:28:22].
This approach requires a culture that is conscious of these principles and can translate them into practices through distributed choice-making and embodied collective intelligence [01:28:54].