GVCS Intro

When tasked with creating a global village to reinvent the world, we need some tools. Naturally these tools must include building, manufacturing, agriculture, and other productivity. But how do we come up with such a list - as the number of choices is so large? Which exactly are the most critical technologies that combine to a modern standard of living, attained in balance with the laws of nature and in harmony with natural life support systems?

Part of the difficulty of answering that question is that human knowledge has become so disciplinary and narrow, that a typical individual cannot take a holistic, systems thinking approach. A wide range of Knowledge beyond the gras of any single individual is required for that task. Plus, the myriad choices leave us paralyzed to act unless we distill a core set of values and principles that guide our choices for selecting known needs into a much smaller set of technologies to provide those needs. Narrowing the selection process down to one based on specific values and principles is a way to come up with a manageable set. And even though we may have these choices clearly lined up - we won't know if they really work. This is because we cannot claim to have provided the ultimate Civilization Starter Kit - until we build and test it in its entirety - with real people producing a thriving lifestyle. Further, innovation will occur with time, and the specific choice of tools may change in its details.

Lest we become paralyzed with the number of choices, we must simply take an informed guess and dive in - making the road by walking. Yet we must also design the global village economy in such a way that it can be bootstrapped. This is because we are looking for world transformation - and the revolution an not b bought. The scale of the enterprise is too large.

What do we mean by the 'most effective way?'