Nature's Universal Code; Applying Syntropic Principles to Regenerate Our Future

Christine McDougall has contributed a chapter to the book Exponential Organizations in Action: Community-Curated Case Studies Transforming An Abundant Future. Michael Friebe PhD also contributed to this interview for the chapter. We are all also members of Syntropic Blue Community of Practice.

In this bold and eye-opening chapter, Christine lays out a jarring indictment of our current economic operating system. She argues that the capitalist model of endless growth, exploitation, and profit-at-all-costs is fundamentally disconnected from the natural laws and principles that allow life to flourish sustainably on this planet. 

Rather than technical jargon, Christine grounds her critique in plain language and distressing real-world consequences that average readers can relate to: rising inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, displacement of vulnerable populations, and the unchecked spread of racism, fascism, and oligarchy. This system is quite literally anti-life, she asserts.

But this isn't just another anti-capitalist polemic - Christine provides a thoughtful alternative framework called "syntropic principles" derived from the harmonic patterns and synergistic relationships found in nature. Concepts like unity, integrity, stewardship, and holistic "all-in" accounting are introduced as building blocks for enterprises more resonant with ecological reality. I admit that I am fascinated by the possibilities!

[excerpt from Syntropic Principles chapter...]

What are Syntropic Principles?

All Syntropic Principles are found in Nature’s law and coordinate system. They are true in all cases on planet Earth and, as such, should be found in both Indigenous and wisdom traditions. 

Humanity has deemed it acceptable to design enterprises, institutions, education, monetary, financial, banking, housing, energy, legal and accounting systems that do not use the codes and laws of Nature. As such, they keep human life and human systems separate from Nature. Given humans are Nature, we have constructed systems that have us separate from ourselves, each other and the things that matter most. 

Nature’s coordinate system is intimately relational. The quality and integrity of the relational field enables flourishing. When our relational field is unhealthy, including our relationship with self and Earth and her creatures, ill health becomes systemic. 

Some other principles include. (There are many)

1. Precession - to any body in motion there is an effect, at 90 degrees to the body in motion. 
2. Unity is plural at minimum two. Existence requires polarity.
3. Integrity = to hold its shape. Oneness.

In addition to the application of Syntropic Principles, the Pattern Integrity of the Source Idea of Syntropic World includes holding the sacredness of all life as the central organising principle of all actions, Synergistic Accounting = all-in-accounting, zero exploitation, extraction to extinction and imperialism, the leader as steward, natural rather than dominator hierarchies, and profit as a precessional effect.

References:
R.Buckminster Fuller, Critical Path
Amy Edmondson, Fuller Explanation

Why syntropy is needed now!

Our world operating system is designed to do exactly what it is doing. 

1. Increasing the divide between those with wealth and power and those without.

2. Amplification of climate change

3. Increased commodification of all things.

4. Endless need for growth to keep the system alive

5. An amplification of fear, division, racism, and caste systems in every shape and form, including intellectual and economic.

6. A continued expression of domination, patriarchy, superiority, and imperialism,  winner takes all.

7. The decimation of species, including species of people. 

8. The rise of the extreme right, fascism and oligarchy.

We need a new operating system. One that places the sacredness of life as central to all actions and incentives. 

We can no longer seek to change the existing operating system and expect a different result. The attempt to change the existing system fails every time.

Syntropy is the new operating system designed in partnership with Nature. 

References:
Jason Hickel, Less is More - How Degrowth Will Save the World
Cory Doctorow, Pluralistic.
Rachel Donald Substack, Planet Critical
Brett Scott, CloudMoney - Cash, Cards and Crypto and the War for our Wallets.

“Indigenous wisdom from cultures that survived and thrived for 40,000 or more years has something of huge significance to offer those of us who have deemed ourselves superior and, in our superiority, have applied systems and structures that are entropic and anti-nature.” - C.M.

As Amitav Ghosh writes in The Nutmeg’s Curse: Parables for a Planet in Crisis - the Western human desire to conquer lands, known as colonisation and imperialism, has literally terraformed the earth. And continues to do so.

The insatiable desire for domination over Earth, her creatures, and all life is relentless and unsustainable. 

Any code or operating system that perpetuates these functions must end and be replaced with functions to regenerate, synergise, humanise, connect, commune, love, respect, and revere. This is to be Syntropic.

[...end of chapter excerpt]

By rehumanizing business motivations around more than just profits and growth metrics, Christine aims to chart a course for economic activities that regenerate communities, ecosystems, and human well-being over time. It's a call to reintegrate our human constructs with the natural world we're inextricably part of. Her case study is compelling where the city, community and support networks converged to design a better city of the Gold Coast.

The case study “The Future of Life and Work on the Gold Coast” designed 3 moonshots:

1. Innovation, IT & Intelligence; Re-writing the Gold Coast Story. How do we position our City as a leading hub of Innovation, IT, and Intelligence in Australia? 
2. 100% Sustainable; 100% sustainable from a work and life perspective. Where housing is affordable, and the city is a net energy producer. How do we begin this journey?
3. Provisioning the Impossible; In an ‘entrepreneurial’ world with unequal distributions of wealth, how do we create real value and build new tools for finance, investment and, human engagement.

For anyone alarmed by the ever-rising social and environmental costs of industrialization, perpetual war, privatization of commons, and a system fixated on concentrating more wealth among fewer hands, this chapter provides a provocative jumping-off point. It obliges readers to rethink the very foundations of modern capitalism and envision a fundamentally different way of organizing human endeavors in cooperative harmony with the planet we all depend on.

Whether you find the ideas compelling or not, "Syntropic Enterprise Principles" challenges assumptions and reframes problems in an accessible way. It's a perspective that may be fundamental to solving our era's existential crises before it's too late.

See the complete chapter in:

Exponential Organizations in Action: Community-Curated Case Studies Transforming An Abundant Future

Birthed from the same decentralized community that catalyzed Exponential Organizations: Version 2.0 by Salim Ismail, Peter Diamandis, and Michael S. Malone, this audacious book charts an evolutionary path towards post-industrial abundance. It harmonizes exponential thinking with syntropic design principles and the collaborative ethos of web3, guided by the visionary ideas of our very own futurists.

Sign up for the pre-release of the Group Chapter Book built by the community for the community. While you wait for the publication launch you can review other chapter excerpts here.

About the Authors

Niki Faldemolaei Niki's portfolio includes transformative projects like Compliance Agility for SDG/ESG's, ExO Angels and the Extended Health Span Index, demonstrating her ability to reshape industries and drive impactful change.

Christine McDougall
Christine McDougall is an Australian entrepreneur, speaker, and writer who is best known for her work on Syntropic World. Syntropic World is an idea and a set of practices that aims to create regenerative systems and societies that are in harmony with nature. https://syntropic.world/christinemcdougall/

Michael Friebe PhD
Also contributed to this interview for the chapter. Michael is also a member of Syntropic Blue Community of Practice

Stewarded by ExO Angels 

ExO Angels have deep ties to solving for global challenges. In recent years, there has been an increased focus on decentralized forms of social organization. This shift is in part due to the growing body of evidence that decentralized systems are more effective at meeting the needs of their members. When power is decentralized, individuals are able to make decisions that are based on the needs of their community rather than the top 1%. This leads to more equitable and sustainable societies.

One of the most important benefits of decentralized systems is that they give the female archetype a greater role in decision-making. When women are given sovereignty over their own communities, they are more likely to focus on the needs of their residents. This, in turn, leads to more sustainable and equitable societies. Decentralization is a powerful tool for promoting social justice and creating more livable communities. The time is now to embody the divine balance of nature's law.

*Save the Date see cities taking SDG action at the Green Economy Conference (GEC4) November 2024 in Los Angeles.