Oooo...this is cool. Chris' musings on a vaccine as "a big dose of not what ails us but what might ail us in the future" says "strategic plan" to me. One of the reasons I say this is that vaccines load up the immune system to fight diseases if they come along. You're ready if you happen to be exposed to mumps for example.
One problem with vaccines though is that they hedge bets a little, so that parts of the immune system are permanently devoted to attacking one kind of illness. When the body's immune system is created, it generally is ready for anything. "Teaching it" to attack mumps means that parts of the system are therefore specialized and can only fight mumps. This leaves less than 100% of the system exhibiting the flexibility to fight anything else that comes along. The problem then is that the immune system suffers from a diminished capacity to self-organize, because there are many more prior connections than there would be otherwise. Kauffman tells us that "sparse prior connections" enable systems to self-organize because they can evolve according to the opportunities presented by the rich nutrient environment and so on. Forgive me if my science is a little rusty, but I think that's basically the way it works I have felt for a long time that strategic planning, especially the "Vision, Mission, Goals" type of planning inhibits organizations in exactly the same way. That is, the plan becomes the thing that the organization structures itself around rather than a changing environment. Fluidity is lost to rigidity and the organization prepares for a future which may or may not come to pass. It seems to me that a greater way to be prepared for the future is to nurture an organization where everyone is attuned to the changing environment and is able to organize themselves to meet threats and opportunities. I love the way the University of Kentucky Center for Rural Health does this for example: "There are only five constraints on this model of personal empowerment: 1. When a problem or opportunity is to be discussed, there must be wide notification of the meeting time and place so that anyone who is interested can attend. 2. Proposed solutions/ideas must be broadcast widely so that they can be acknowledged as Center policies, programs or procedures, or, if they are contradictory to University of Kentucky rules, another solution can be sought. 3. Proposed solutions cannot be hurtful to anyone else. 4. Proposed solutions should channel our limited resources so that they have maximum impact on achieving our goal. 5. Accomplishing the work for which we were hired takes precedence over our group work. However, if the right people (those who really care) are involved in any topic, they will find a way to make sure their work is completed and the work of the group is brought to a successful conclusion. There are no constraints on the following: 1.Who can call a meeting. 2.The type of problem or opportunity that is being addressed. 3.The availability of time to have a meeting. 4.Who may attend a meeting. 5.The availability of information necessary for a group to work." Fitting that it should come from a places interested in health. That's from Tales From Open Space (http://www.mindspring.com/~owenhh/Tales.htm) by the way. Homeopathy does not treat "what might be." It treats "what is now" and that's what I love about it. Vaccinations and strategic planning are all about what COULD happen, which takes the attention away from what is NOW. And now is what is. And it's really all that is. Isn't it? Chris --- CHRIS CORRIGAN Bowen Island, BC, Canada http://www.chriscorrigan.com [email protected] (604) 947-9236 -----Original Message----- From: OSLIST [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of chris weaver Sent: Saturday, May 31, 2003 5:51 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: the OST-Healing Metaphor... two more thoughts along these lines: the language of a homeopathic intervention, or a "dose" of what ails us, is problematic. it seems that the system reveals what ails it from within - it is in no way an outside intervention - and calibrates the internal dose with great care (as the person hesitates to give language to the dead moose and then finally does, digging deeper than ever to find words that are both honest and responsible...) and...what is a vaccine? a big dose of not what ails us but what might ail us in the future? a very tricky undertaking, seems to me... just meandering... chris * * ========================================================== [email protected] ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of [email protected], Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html * * ========================================================== [email protected] ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of [email protected], Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
