VIABILITY, THE NEW ESSENCE OF NATURE

 

William L. Livingston, IV, author of THE NEW PLAGUE

© May 3, 2014.

REFERENCE:

This is written by a friend, an author of several books and scores of patents, a person who has engineered nuclear power facilities as far away as South Korea.  It is written by a person who has paid attention, literally as well as figuratively, reducing the lessons of life to their simplest modalities.  Occam's razor comes to mind when you think of content in the context of its viable essence.  My respect for him is fundamental because he has paid his dues with rigorous study, unending patience, using the quality of his mind to probe the mysteries of nature to unearth her viability.  I share this with readers across the globe as an introduction to him with this synopsis.

James R. Fisher, Jr., Ph.D.    

 Overview and Synopsis

This journal is about viability – the essence of life, of existence, of being. It is a study of viability’s material fundamentals, not of its poetry. It measures our competency to endure as an independent creature in the world as it is.

Nature took some two billion years to create and nurture viability here on earth and two billion years more of evolution to produce species Homo sapiens. It might seem strange that Mother Nature, after going to all that time and trouble to initialize viability, is also the instrument of its extinction. We wonder aloud at Nature’s scheme of “dust-to-dust.” Why does she bother? Aren’t we just a skit in her “Interstellar Follies?”

Since Nature relentlessly eats away at our viability margin, self evident, viability will not stay put by itself. Everyone “ages.”  Nothing material in the universe escapes its appointment with extinction. Nothing.

Neglecting to maintain your vigor and verve is a choice to let them decay, self-evident. If your viability margin is not being elevated against the forces of rot, down it goes. In the end, understanding the zest of life as Nature would have it is no more complicated than that.

The quest described in this journal seeks to learn the limits of building up viability margin to the level which Nature will allow. Sustaining viability margin is in everybody’s interest and it is only sustained by increasing it.

While Nature will never go for perpetual viability, we seek to discover just how far she will tolerate our shenanigans to reach toward eternity before taking vengeance. This tightrope act makes it a dangerous pursuit, for sure.

The reason for measuring her tolerance is that a practical method for increasing viability margin exists. It works through increasing productivity so that there are always extra resources available to replenish what the processes of existence consume.

The approach that works for productivity improvement is incontrovertible and well proven in application. Accordingly, it can be demonstrated quickly in whole or in part, anywhere. When the method is put in service, benefits begin to flow immediately. Nature is like that.

So, isn’t this matchup of need-to-fix a nobrainer? What’s the fuss about? Why does anyone need a trip report?

Yes, it is self-evident truth that viability margin is of paramount importance to the survival of our species. Yes, it is demonstrably true that a practical method exists which will increase productivity – the currency by which viability’s pantry is kept stocked.

The marriage is happy. It is the ideal situation of challenge met by response, of need by remedy. Why know anything else? 

Well, when you go to apply the “fix,” incontrovertible, to the need, self-evident, surprise‼ You are bushwhacked. You collide head on with what we characterize as the Dark Barrier and stopped dead in your tracks.  

This “wall” you hit in ambush has the same properties as the dark matter and the dark energy of astrophysics. The Dark Barrier to increasing productivity is everywhere, invisible, material and measurable. Like gravity, there’s nothing you can do about it. The Dark Barrier? It consists of a dense, teaming network of lies.

All the stuff in the journal is tied to the laws of Nature. The fundamental need for sustaining viability margin is tied to the laws of thermodynamics. The basic process by which that need is fulfilled is tied to natural law, from whence it inherits Nature’s incontrovertibility.

Because the Dark Barrier sits directly between our viability problem and its solution, it must be addressed before the work of increasing productivity can begin. Interestingly, the Dark Barrier issue is handled by the same technological platform used to advance productivity. It is derived and explained in the journal.

The core matter at stake is truth. The need for viability margin is a truth beyond dispute. The need for truth to increase productivity is also beyond debate. The Dark Barrier effectively prevents the truth of the “fix” from reaching the truth of the need. The fiction that does come through is useless in building productivity. For real problems, fiction does not work.

 

While the composition of the Dark Barrier is certain, determining its origin and span of influence is a work in process. Since it’s ubiquitous, anyone can detect and measure the Dark Barrier in action. Everyone collides with the Dark Barrier several times a day at the same time everyone is an accomplice to its maintenance.

You must prepare yourself to look behind the great blind spot that conceals the Dark Barrier from your awareness. Implanted by genetic inheritance and social conditioning, the blind spot for deception is notoriously difficult to lift. Once you do, nothing will look the same. Think Toto pulling the curtain hiding the arm-waving wizard of Oz. Oh my!

There are about fifty different words associated with the various forms that lying can take. For the sake of keeping things simple, we lump the bill of particulars into the word fiction - defined as a confection of the imagination purported to represent reality. Think The Matrix.

The fiction composing the Dark Barrier is a product of willing collaboration. Lying is habitual across every level of society and in every transaction between levels. Once a lie is sent into the communications network, like gossip, it goes viral and irreversible. The barrier of lies prevents the truth of the fix from reaching the truth of the need.

Why do we sabotage our own viability upkeep? Why do we unleash a cavalcade of constraints, obstacles and barricades to our own best interests – by choice?

There is a credible theory why we punch these holes in our own boats. Deception was standard humanoid practice before the dugout canoe was invented. Since Nature can’t lie to us, other factors masquerading as truth are deceiving us. It is self-deception on the pay-as-you-go plan.

The biology premise authored and documented by Trivers (The Folly of Fools) reasons from the fact that civilization has evolved in recent centuries very much faster than natural selection evolves genes. The genetic instructions Nature provided to our hunter-gatherer ancestors have been provided intact to us. Far exceeding their sell-by date, we are saddled with these genes that encourage us to make viability choices inappropriate to 21^st century reality.

Unlike any other species caught in the same bind, we have an option.  We can use our intelligence to trump the inappropriate instincts of our biology. Or not.

You can recognize the significant, free-choice forks-in-the-road where truth and fiction part company. At those forks, you know that if intelligence loses out to biology, the cause is lost. From there, you can forecast trajectories of consequences with total confidence.

Assimilating the knowledge in this journal, knowing the mechanisms of action driving your experience, is personally beneficial in several ways. You can recognize and avoid situations that reduce your viability margin. You can add to your viability cushion in a straight-forward manner.

When you engineer a choice for truth, you can get to work raising productivity in ambush-free conditions. The three domains of viability – need, remedy and Dark-Barrier management – comprise the scope of the journal.