I have been pondering the question of what makes an individual, family, society, or a nation’s progress and grow. Is the factor the same scaling up as we move from the individual up to nations?
If it is one factor, what is it?
Is it the same factor that makes some nations very advanced and others way behind?
My inspiration to answer these questions emerged while taking a shower. I use a solar water heater. It was a very sunny day. The water was extremely hot for bathing. I had to adjust the shower by moving its handle toward the cold side. I kept adjusting until the water was fine for bathing.
I did the same the next day because I have no control over sunshine and the efficiency of the solar heater might change as well. I experienced that equilibrium is dynamic and there is a need for continuous adjustment.
Nations that tend to go to extremes are like solar water heaters. Keeping the handle towards the extreme hot or the extreme cold is harmful.
Examples include extremely religious nations and nations that are more liberal.
- Countries that allow extreme freedom for women versus countries that deny women their basic rights.
- Nations that opened the door for immigration and nations that kept the handle to the extreme opposite end by strictly denying entry for immigrants and even for visitors.
- Nations that have very extremely rich people while the majority of people hardly can afford to eat.
These nations reminded me of our tendency to go the extremes. When energy prices shot up in the seventies energy conservation efforts gained momentum. So as not to all cold air from infiltrating very tight windows became available. The efforts reduced the fuel bill by more than 40%.
This extreme produced its opposite extreme by allowing molds to grow indoors with all their health risks. The extreme endeavor to reduce energy bills led to a new problem. What happened next? People received instructions to ventilate by opening their windows.
It is the same with closed minds. They grow molds inside and need to open to ventilate by allowing different ideas to flow.
The same story of the solar water heater repeats.
Compare the countries that opened their windows for people to migrate creativity output with nations that did not. The differences are striking.
On an individual level, people who tend to be excessively controlling pay the bill of losing control. They are bathing in extremely hot or chilling water.
It is the same when the individual raises a family, when they join work or participate in social activities.
What applies on an individual level extends to the family level and then to the nation’s level.
Countries that know how to balance their hot and cold thinking are leading the world.
What do you think?
Excellent food for thought
My thought is that equilibrium is a property of the physical world and obeys its rules. To realize itself, it needs to find a compromise between two opposing elements until they are balanced.
But our most intimate inner reality, even if it manifests itself on the physical plane, has completely different rules according to which even opposites can coexist at different levels.
I believe that true stability is found in being open to flexibility: being open to everything without prejudice, keeping one’s key objectives and oneself looking at things with infinitely different points of view!
I believe these principles could be cultivated by nations for a better world.