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Knol

across its full geographic dispersal required the full capabilities of language; that’s a step that we will discuss later, together with the flourishing of the common attributes of modern man.

Congregations

From an extension perspective, the clan is probably the largest human grouping mechanism that derives primarily from the human family grouping facilities. That is, most of the group-reinforced mechanisms of the clan find their beginnings in the primitive activities that the family brings to the preferential behaviors of the species. It would seem that to achieve beneficial grouping at a larger scale than the clan requires a synthesis of many individual characteristics, giving rise to the concepts and mechanisms that we recognize as religion.

The emergence of religion as the dominant grouping mechanism likely evolved as an exploitation of the more profound developments of the human mind, specifically the experience of ecstasy that transcends the basic consciousness. When coupled with rituals as a means of coordinating activities and information among diverse populations, the ability of religion to bring concerted action to bear on the issue of group survival and predominance began to be truly realized. While the tribe is the first form of congregation enabled by religion, higher-order groups can use the same mechanism of congregation to form in ever increasing size. In parallel with the more advanced group coordination and control that has been brought by religion, humans could use many of the same mechanisms to effect control over the physical ecosystems in which they exist. That is, through the development of trade and commerce, mankind has insulated itself from many of the direct manifestations of the physical ecosystem. Trade and commerce allow a more efficient exploitation of natural resources and provide for greater protection against relatively unusual excursions of the natural environment that might normally tax people in spite of the greater protections offered by their grouping mechanisms.

A common theme that runs through all of these grouping mechanisms is the propensity of the group to establish the rules of interaction among members of the group and, in some cases, between members of different groups. Family units within a clan were likely subject to the same social mores; separate villages within a tribe likely evoked similar customs of behavior. We suggest the characterization of this arbitrarily defined environment of rules and the interactions that follow as a policy infrastructure.

Elements of a Policy Infrastructure

For the moment, drawing from standard dictionary definitions of the word, we define the concept of policy as a definite course or method of action selected from among alternatives and in light of given conditions to guide and determine present and future decisions; a plan of action adopted by an individual or social group. To fully consider the manner in which social ecosystems address policy, we must consider the full infrastructure through which policy is effected. The environment within which interactions occur is essentially the boundary of the policy infrastructure. Note that we do not characterize the policy infrastructure as being equivalent to a social ecosystem. There’s a characteristic that the application of policy requires, the characteristic of trust that we will describe in much more detail starting in Chapter 5 when we delve deeper into social ecosystems. For the moment, let’s concentrate on the various aspects of policy.

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