The event was based on the realization for a increasing need for the development of seminars and training workshops that seek to integrate the interdisciplinary aspects of sustainable design, into a cohesive integrated plan for the development of alternative economic systems that more appropriately and authentically deliver human needs in the modern world.

The focus of the Paradox III Conference

• Creating a balance between virtuality, and real life, with discussions on how to create small, human scale alternatives to the prevailing social system. The concept of these alternative developments--intentional communities and ecovillages seems to be evolving towards an Integrationalist approach, one that seeks to find balance in life by more thoughtfully designing human systems with the human in mind.
• Part of a growing view for the need for a revolutionary mid course correction in not only the design and building process, but the entire mindset of humanity. It was expressing a need for convergence, a coming together of people who have an extended awareness of how we as humans are modifying and extracting resources from the environment beyond any measure of sustainability.

Paolo Soleri (the founder of Arcosanti) defines himself through his criticisms of modern excesses such as sprawl and consumerism and yet The Paradox Project and companion conferences were themselves paradoxical because, they were founded on concepts that attract young people who function well in cyberspace and are moderately successful, but is based on the teachings and philosophies of Paolo Soleri who is 84 years old but who has never used a computer before. Therefore, it was of little surprise that some intergenerational sparks flew. Wired magazine did a series of reports on the first two paradoxes.

The theme of paradox III presenters was that of the partnership group. The dominator Verses Partnership concept is one talked about by Riane Eisler, in the book titled The Chalice and the Blade. Also Ralph Abraham a mathematician also talks about a divergence between two competing cultural values in Chaos, Gaia, Eros. Elicia David's web page talks about the two value systems, and outlines the different attributes of each culture.
The need for Authenticity

The need for authenticity arises from the fact that modern methods of determining progress make us into consumable automatons. Francis Fukayama speaks of the quality of an experience. That is the experience must yield qualitative and not only quantitative returns. The measurement of these returns is difficult to quantify because each individual has their own relative sense of happiness and well being. Therefore the shifting role of government should be to ensure that a diversity of choices exist for the many different interpretations that emerge, particularly those that focus on the development of human consciousness and move us closer to environmental sustainability and social justice.

One thing I found interesting about the conference is that people even in the counterculture want to believe in something, and that sometimes this need to embrace something authentic causes us to shy away from looking at things from a critical and totally realistic perspective. On one of the Panels Nan Ellin spoke of the need for authenticity in our lives. Critical thinking people are seeking authentic spaces from which to live their lives in.

Alternatives to sprawl and over-consumption must allow and encourage us to express our visions and develop our creativity:

1. Create environments and systems that encourage us to express our feelings more honestly.
2. Learn to embrace constructive criticism.

The key realization though is that if we do not facilitate a process of radical honesty and also a participatory environment within the organizations that we are a part of, we will end up doing little more than mimicking the dysfunctional patterns of existing systems.
Life: Nasty, Brutish and Short?

Thomas Hobbes sums the modernist view of life up well: "life is nasty, brutish and short." It is no wonder we recede into compulsive modes of selfishness and greed as we are bombarded with messages that humanity is inherently estranged from itself and its world. If there is no deeper reason for being here, then why should we think of something besides consuming and accumulating power?

Orthodox Modernism is no longer functioning effectively and we are starting to see the cracks in the modern facade of progress. As we are rendered into commodities of the marketplace, we lose our sense of identity, for we begin to visualize ourselves as an incomprehensibly small part of the mass society that is to be maximally digested by the marketplace.

Getting Back to the Root

As modern people we have lost our sense of place, our rootedness to our world, on the local level. This is particularly evident in America as powerful corporate systems have been so successful in remaking the built environment into an aesthetic that is designed to encourage consumption, materialism and separation that we have become the envy of the world. What is not so obvious is that the remaking of America into a wealth creation machine may have negative long-term consequences that override the short-term benefits that make American the envy of the world. We face a world that is rapidly growing in complexity and so many feel overwhelmed and quite confused by modern life. It seems that many social, environmental and economic trends are on the verge of careening out of control, for we feel alienated from that aspect of life, which centers on this vague concept of sacredness. What is life about, and what is most important in life?

Often-shortsighted architectural, cultural and social aspects of modern life are creating problems for people that have sustained the rapid growth of vast industries.

• Health care in the 60s was only 4 percent of GDP it is now 17 percent, as people have been pressured to conform the contradictions of our society, and the health care profession itself has focused increasingly on drugs and treatment and less on preventative measures.
• People are encouraged to overeat through commercials and then fad diet again with commercials. People increasingly live their lives through commercial messages and corporate, commercially driven culture.
• Prevailing development patterns are also destructive because they not only do they degrade the aesthetic, and the environment, but they also affect human health physiologically and psychologically. Nearly every aspect of modern life is geared to weaken the individual to make them more subject to manipulation, by highly sophisticated modern systems. Development patterns are increasingly complementary with the commercially driven messages and trends of the mainstream society.

The need for a Mid-Course Correction

Humans need to feel like they are being affirmed as human beings in order to function properly. While we are very adaptable, we may not function properly or optimally in environments that are alienating. In addition the long term implications of many contemporary trends may in fact, be very destructive to humanity, but since most of these changes are very gradual and subtle, they are ignored, by a face paced, highly competitive commercially driven society. A "Mid-course Correction" (this is also the name of a book by Ray Anderson who is CEO of Interface Carpet a leading sustainability pioneer) is similar to what Paradox III speaker and Planetwork founder Jim Fournier terms the Point of Inflexion. Such a dramatic change in the course of human civilization is so vital for the continued viability and possibly the survival of the human species.

Part of this mid-course correction involves encouraging the development of living and working spaces that are human scale. Human Scale is a vague term, but I think that in developing human settlements we need to think about not only limits to growth, but also limits to density. What is problematic with many of Soleri's designs and concepts is that he blindly assumes that greater complexity and density are always better. While Soleri is eager to criticize the bigger and more is always better mantra that dominates the modern age, he overlooks the possibility that similar arguments could be made in terms of too much density and complexity.


Changing the Story

Marylyn Ferguson (she wrote The Aquarian Conspiracy) spoke at Paradox of creating a new story, a new mythos for human civilization. This is also what Daniel Quinn was trying to do when he wrote Ishmael. The "uncivilized" and "primitive" state of indigenous societies has been and still is often used as an excuse to subjugate primitive people and take their lands. Ironically civilizations as they reach their "peak" end up encouraging their people to behave in ways that are more brutal and savage than the simple societies that are labeled primitive and barbaric by the civilized people.

• Many have grown up challenging the prevailing assumptions of reality that arise from a social system built on immediate gratification and greed, they now seek to create a new value system to better explain life and also sustain human civilization. The creation of a new mythos is really what many intend as they communicate these concepts and understandings to humanity.
• Mythology and the Human Condition are tied closely together. Mythology tells us much about the human condition. The ancient Gods once played an important part in the lives of our ancestors. Modern day psychology suggests that the powers and activities of these Gods are simply the inner powers of the individual, disowned and projected into their outer environment. With the growth of Identity Consciousness (IC), there perhaps comes a realization of this situation and a reclaiming of these powers.
• Whether or not this is the case, mythical symbols can be extremely valuable in identifying and giving color to the various attributes of the human being discussed and described by our model. Attributes which we will now expand upon.

Maybe a major role of the counterculture is to not only create an alternate view of history, one that goes beyond the simplistic and stereotypical definitions of civilized and primitive, but to develop a new mythos that is more appreciative of the human experience and all the people involved in making that experience what it is. That is we must replace the mythos of the dominator mindset with that of partnership one. And this is a primary precondition for any bona-fide progressive aspiration towards a socially just and ecologically and socially sustainable society. We must strive to put the notion of civilized back into our working understanding of civilization. This is the most challenging task that lies ahead in our future.