The Picture, Big or Small?

It is commonly known that one aspect of human trait is that we tend to either process information in the big picture approach or the detailed approach. A person who approaches things from the big picture tend to prefer to know the overall relationships before moving on into the detailed parts. A person who takes the detailed approach goes the other way, by looking into the detailed information before putting them up into a full picture.

Let's take a concrete example of this. Say, if we are to design a car from scratch. A big picture approach will think about the general specifications of the car first like what are the features wanted in the car. After having considered the general specifications, then the person moves on to design the detailed specifications to match the general specifications.

A detailed approach will first design the engine, the gear system, the braking system and so on, each in detail. Having perfected each parts, then the person combines the parts into a whole car.

Now, both approaches have their own pros and cons. And usually, people tend to have the ability to approach things from both perspectives. Let us examine one cons from each approach.

For the big picture approach, there is the risk of lacking the links to make things happen. Say, if the person keeps on to the general specifications of the car, the person may well totally forgot that without a detailed design of the parts, the person cannot complete this car to the said specifications.

For the detailed approach, the risk is in considering one or some of the detailed parts the whole picture, becoming a small [incomplete] picture. It wouldn't be good if you design a super engine and forgot about having the gear box, seats, stirring wheel and so on. You'll have totally missed the point.

Now that we've covered the overall idea (big picture approach), please allow me to go into a detail that stood out to me.

I believe that we are having a small picture pandemic. We were told to focus on one subject area and become the master of the subject area. We were told that we have to focus on the details of things to be successful. We were told that having an ambition to "save, protect, preserve the world" is not clear enough; we have to define whether we want to do it as a medical doctor or a lawyer or an engineer and so on. When we start to think and consider options in decision making, people tell us not to think too much; just focus on what you want to do. And so, many people got stuck in this small picture syndrome.

Say, we want to tackle climate change by working on carbon emission. Sounds like a great thing, right? But what is actually happening? They tell you to buy green points, plant a tree or do something to offset your carbon foot print. And some people happily followed. Yay, we fought against carbon emission! Or did we not? "Why not?" Some may argue, "At least we've done something!", "Every small effort will add up!"

A big picture approach will respond, "I didn't say what you've done is wrong. I'm just saying, it is NOT ENOUGH." The major carbon emissions do not come from household activities! By seeing the details of household contribution as the whole picture, one basically ruled out the overall industrial contribution which is something more urgent that we need to work on!

Another example will be that of genetically modified organisms (GMO), pesticide & herbicide use, use of dangerous chemicals in food processing or as additives. Most small picture syndrome sufferers were misled to believe that if they choose and eat organic, all will be good. How far is this from the truth! GMO pollen do and have contaminated farms out of the GMO fields. As long as GMO is allowed to be out in the open, the threat will be continuous and often hidden from the users. Pesticides & herbicides are so commonly used that they are present in many places that we do not expect them to be.

It is good to eat organic, to support organic farmers to continue their great efforts. However, to say that it is enough, is not acceptable.

I have seen this small picture syndrome often enough to lead me to believe that it is a pandemic. I hope I am wrong. And I hope this article can alert those who have not suffered this syndrome to be aware of it, as well that this may awaken those who were suffering from this syndrome.

Let me repeat again, it is ok to go from details out to the big picture or from the big picture zooming into the details. However, it is a problem when one thinks a detail is the whole picture.

Have a good week ahead, switching back and forth between the big picture and detailed approach.

A Call for Action

"Why this rush to apply this science before testing it? The simple answer is, those promoting it stand to profit enormously from it." - http://www.realfarmacy.com/ge-trees-may-be-even-more-damaging-to-the-environment-than-ge-foods/

This is happening because of the flaw of the socio-economic system, whereby people perceive much benefits from earning from the whole world's loss. Monsanto stands to earn the profit of GE plants, while the whole world has to share the cost in the future.

With every passing moment, many problems from many different fields are threatening our well being. From this threat of GE plants, to loss of arable lands, to great pollution, to more dangerous/questionable additives in our food and so on.

There will be people tackling these issues from various levels and directions. AVOFT looks at all these problems on a meta level and decided that a change in our socio-economical system can wipe out many of these problems. You can join any of these various groups going in with different levels and directions, but your participation is imperative.

If you keep on sitting there, doing nothing, we will only continue down the projected path to destruction. So, please consider joining in AVOFT or any other organisations. One of these ought to relate well with you and allow for your full expression of talents and capabilities to make the world a better place.

You can also like us on Facebook, start your own group, connect & network with us or share our articles with friends.

Another Version of Familiar Truth

An Interview Video on the Problems and Solutions

This is an interview with Jacque Fresco, who came out with the Venus Project. He is very intelligent and has a lot of great ideas. Listen to him and learn more about the current system and how it is impeding the progress that we can all enjoy.


This is another video, demonstrating the difference between a world with trade and without trade.

Short Update on the Problems - Practicality vs Profitability

At first, we thought it was about being practical in technology (referring to the many applied science cases, such as that of DC/AC battle between Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla and applications pesticides and herbicides in agriculture).

However, after so many of these cases with so many points of suspicion, we've come to consider the possibility of money being the culprit. People want to be right because they have a monetary stake in it.

The latest news on GMO seem to prove the case. Being truly right about practicality and safety doesn't seem to be the prime concern but profit...

PS: Edison strongly defended DC because he patented his designs and wanted to cash in on these "assets", while Tesla gave out his AC design to public domain, basically destroying Edison's profitability. And it is sad that people remember Edison much more than Tesla.

A Hypothesis on the Origin of Modern Civilisation

This is a hypothesis contributed by a friend.

There are several ways early humans obtain food, in no particular order, they are:

• gather
• hunt
• nomadic
• agriculture

Based on agricultural model, does it make sense to build permanent buildings, create sustainable cycles in various aspects? It doesn't make much sense for a agricultural society to keep moving around, so usually agricultural societies tend to focus on making good use of local resources and settling down on a specific location. Now, let us change our focus to the nomads.

How do nomads generally sustain their lives?

1. Herd and control livestock, bring them to places with grass to graze.
2. When grazing land ran out of grass and filled with manure, move on to a new pasture.
3. Repeat step 2.

It is an acceptable theory that civilisation correlates with agriculture. However, if we take a careful look at the above two paragraphs and compare with our modern day civilisation, there is an anomaly.

Look at how we are utilising the world and her resources and you can see that we are basically running the nomad model instead of the agricultural model. We are stripping mother earth of natural resources, using them wantonly and leaving behind them wastelands!

And this talk about finding another habitable planet out there, isn't this like the nomad who has stripped the land of grass and is looking for another pasture?

Well, sadly, as of now, we only have this planet. Do we want to keep stripping this planet of all the natural resources? Or do we want to slow down and turn into a more agricultural model, building something more sustainable?

We need to start making the change now, before it is too late to halt the downward spiral to destruction of the habitability of this planet.

A Good Presentation of the Problems

This almost-3-hour video presented some of the Problems very clearly and can definitely add perspective to the viewers. Though we do not fully agree with the solutions proposed as there are aspects that we think may end up causing some problems, effort to work out viable alternatives is our prime target now. We don't claim to have a perfect system ourselves, so we hope that discerning readers can give us feedback and work out their own ideas to contribute to efforts [with us or by themselves] in changing the current course of world development.

AVOFT is also not affiliated with the Zeitgeist Movement or the Venus Project. This video is only intended to demonstrate some of the Problems that we have similarly identified, as well as to inspire people to participate in various efforts to stop the current trend toward destruction.

[note that the video does have irritating background buzzing during certain intervals, switching on the caption and lowering the volume may make your viewing more pleasant.]

The Blame Mentality

There were several occasions that we have been accused of blaming the system to justify poverty, crime and sloth, making an article addressing this issue necessary.

Claim #1, participation in politics and various activities to call for ethical, green policies and so on are good. But they are NOT ENOUGH.

Claim #2, our socio-economic system as a whole is flawed. Working things on any lower levels, such as politics, will only address the symptoms.

Claim #3, we do not hold that criminals or lazy people are justified to be so in the current flawed system. What we are saying, is that the current system tip the balance to encouraging such people, causing a lot of damage to the health of the society.

Claim #4, by changing the system, the balance is restored, and hence people can act truer to their hearts.

Claim #5, we believe that people, in general, are great in hearts and intentions.

Claim #6, the system CAN be changed.

Very often, in discussion, people keep accusing us on blaming the system, so much so that we are beginning to question, “Are you the one holding the blame mentality, blaming the victims, criminals and sloths, so that you don't have to be held responsible at all?”

We do not believe in blaming the system nor the people. If we do, we'd be ranting on and on about injustice, without doing anything. We believe in finding out the root causes of problems and work on solving them.

For the knowledge of all, we are doing all we can, finding all cracks and crevices within our access to affecting changes, at any level possible for us. As it is, we are working on the first phase, which is to develop a coherent alternative system. Concurrently, we are also working on creating abundance in food sources. Our reach and effect may be small now but we are doing something. Other people are doing other things that we know can be very useful for society in the future too.

Let us reiterate:

We are telling you that we think the system is flawed. We want to change it. And we are working toward changing the system.

So, please, no blame mentality. We don't have time for that. The clock is ticking, the world is closing in on destruction beyond return as it is. DO SOMETHING!

Over standardisation

In our current system, there seem to be an obsession to standardisation. Medicine must be given in standard dose, products must be standardised so that each and every one of them has as little difference as possible, standard university entrance exam, standard crops and so on.

Admittedly, there are advantages to standardisation, such as accuracy of scientific testing, matching components in production of items (such as car parts, we don't want car parts that can be assembled) and so on.

However, when standardisation is applied across the board in all aspects and in all industry, it can mean problem. One size doesn't fit all. This is the reality. So, let us take a look at where over standardisation may be an issue.

Medicine/Health
It may be good to standardised synthetic or extracted medicine, this will be helpful for the doctors and pharmacists in deciding dosage. However, it will become problematic if there is a view of standardised patient, i.e. all patients are taken as same and equal in all aspect. Prescription given without taking into account of the history of the patients can be disastrous.

Another possible issue is the lost of the art of herbalism. With the need to standardise all dosage and active ingredient, herbalists who use non-standard dosage/application are discredited as "unprofessional". But unbeknownst to the some of the critics, to the herbalists a synergistic and holistic approach is more important, i.e. observing the patient as a person and customising the dosage according to the the person and condition of the disease.

Agriculture
The standardisation of crops have led to the extinction of many varieties of wheat, corn, potatoes and so on. This is an excerpt from National Geographic:

Food varieties extinction is happening all over the world—and it’s happening fast. In the United States an estimated 90 percent of our historic fruit and vegetable varieties have vanished. Of the 7,000 apple varieties that were grown in the 1800s, fewer than a hundred remain. In the Philippines thousands of varieties of rice once thrived; now only up to a hundred are grown there. In China 90 percent of the wheat varieties cultivated just a century ago have disappeared. Experts estimate that we have lost more than half of the world’s food varieties over the past century. As for the 8,000 known livestock breeds, 1,600 are endangered or already extinct.

Why is this an issue? Nature made all species in many varieties because this is an insurance against species-wide extinction. By having varieties, a species can have varieties that can stand drought better or more able to withstand pest. These different qualities help keep the species as a whole alive.

By culling off many varieties, we run the risk of having one crop species being wiped out if we are faced with some environmental or biological threat.

Dull Life
Imagine, how much do fashion, tech hype and so on force some sort of standardisation onto us? If someone is not following the current trend, they become an outcast! We are expected by the society to be the same, from the way we dress to the way we behave. This is not the way life is supposed to be.

We need to be more accepting of differences. Each of us have different social and education backgrounds, as well as genetic make ups, giving rise to very different perceptions and behaviours. We have to be learn to respect the differences, if we want to live in peace together without sacrificing our individuality.

There are many other areas where over standardisation can become an issue. We need to learn to take the middle path, knowing when it is good to have standardisation and when not to have it.

Why charities, green efforts and various attempts to make the world a better place is futile?

The system is inherently flawed. Consider this, if you are allowed to use only integers, such as using the number of cars, you will definitely be unable to process some fractions accurately. You can't split 3 cars to 4 people fairly. This is an inherent flaw in the system (integer) used and problems can arise from it (error in fraction processing).

Similarly, our economic model is flawed, in several ways, that charity, green efforts and attempts to improve on the current model will not be successful. There may be some degree of success but nothing near being able to remove the problems. It is like having some genetic disorders, you can only control and possibly alleviate the problems but nothing seems to be able to cure it.

Some of the most common suggested solutions are to vote for a better government, to pass better policies, to promote more green movements and to pull in more people in doing charity work. All of these are merely reactions toward the symptoms and will not remove the causes of problems from the society. As long as the current system is intact, it will be subjected to many abuses by many parties, just so each may have a chance of getting an edge in survival and preservation of one's benefits.

In order for actual improvement to happen, things must change at the very fundamental level, i.e. the assumptions and basic framework. The capitalist, consumerist and selfish assumptions and framework that we are all in now are the biggest hurdle for us to jump across. Many people do not even dare to imagine challenging these because they have became the holy guide to riches, set forth by example by many of the richest people around the globe.

People are so used to either playing by the rules or breaking the rules within another set of rules that they no longer realise that the greater background rules must be re-written, in order for the world to be a better, greener and friendlier place.

What exactly is wrong with the current system, some might ask. The answer is, almost everything. So much of what we are so used to is problematic that we accept that this is the way life is. The problems are so interconnected that there isn't a place that can make a coherent introduction to the problem. However, it will not be fit if some attempts of clarifying the problems are not made.

Guarantee and security. Most people will only do charity when they deem they have sufficient excess in resources or that the risks they are taking are small enough, such as committing to a few days of charity work. This is because in the current socio-economic system, there is no guarantee for anyone at all. Everyone has to look after themselves. If one man dedicate his life to charity work and things aren't doing well, there is no guarantee that anyone will give him help. If one woman who has donated much of her time and money to various charities suddenly finds herself with a business crisis and on the verge of bankruptcy, there is no guarantee that people will help her based on the virtues she has done. In fact, it is quite common in the current situation for people to blame this man and woman for being stupid and not look after their own well being properly!

This leads us to the second problem, related to the first one, blaming the victims. It is all too easy to blame the victims. You got raped? That's because you wore too little. You are poor? That's because you didn't work hard enough. You are sick? Why didn't you take care of your health?

This syndrome of blaming the victims stem partially from the selfish standpoint that we are all too used to. The lack of security and guarantee by the society have led us to be selfish, looking only after ourselves. And so, it is getting harder for us to relate objectively to the plight of the other parties. This syndrome impedes the progress of a lot of charities and green efforts.

This lack of security and guarantee also lead to another problem, it's all about the money. Everyone's focus is on money that many forgot that money is just perceived value. Big corporations and rich people usually do charity or participate in green efforts for certain gains, such as reputation, branding, tax deduction and so on. So, the actual cause of helping people become secondary and resources can easily get wasted or for corruption to happen in the process.

It is also very easy to perceive 10 dollars as being of similar value for everyone. However, for some, 10 dollars can potentially help them toward breaking the vicious cycle of getting poorer/sicker and hence be able to contribute more back to the society. For many others, the 10 dollars may end up as part of the cost to purchase luxuries. The perceived values are the same, 10 dollars, but the actual values are very different.

Money basically clouds the whole picture, because most people have to look after themselves in the current system. There are, undeniably, many who go into charity and green efforts truly for such causes. However, the fact that money is required for all aspects slows down the whole process. Grants need to be sought, proper distribution mechanisms must be applied to avoid corruptions by people who care more for their own profits. If grants are to be sought, the proposal must then bring forth enough perceived values to justify the grants. This will limit the efforts to be focused on smaller chunks of the causes to ensure that results can be delivered. No one can ask for grants to solve poverty on a global level, not even on a national level, but most can make it by helping a few families or even neighbourhoods.

Bureaucracy. How much time, money and effort is wasted on bureaucracy? Many efforts ended up being small scale because they can't get through the bureaucratic wall. There are also those who took strong stance in their effort that ended up being called criminals as they are being pushed to the edge by various issues.

One last reason that we have to discuss is conflict of interest. It is to the interest of countries with oil and gas, as well as those corporations involved in the oil and gas industry, to ensure that no green energy can replace oil and gas before they squeeze out the very last cent from this free natural resource. It is also to the interest of banks to have people poor enough to take loans but not so poor as to be unable to pay back the loans. It is to the interest of the government that the citizens are not so well educated that the people can realise and escape the control of the government. There are also various other conspiracies, so many that it is hard to tell which makes sense and which does not. However, it can be accepted that there are various major and minor conflicts of interest blocking the ways of charity and green efforts.

This is especially visible when we talk about making changes that will cause people who have unrightfully gained to lose this “power”. Consider one of the biggest changes: the release of slaves. How many have died because of this cause? How many have been maimed? Why were there so much resistance? The “owners” of slaves have unrightfully gained from holding these slaves hostage. Releasing the slaves will mean losing their power over these slaves. It took a lot of effort, a lot of fighting and dying, for such a change to happen. There are still many causes in this world worthy of supporting but most dare not push this far. Is the price well worth it?

If we use the current system, trying to improve it, then likely a similar price of deaths, fights and turmoil needs to be paid. At Another Version of Familiar Truth (AVOFT), what we suggest is we work on creating a pathway to make fundamental changes to the system, from the current capitalist & selfish system to that of a goodwill & charity system. The fundamental thing is to ensure that basic living is guaranteed for free. This will then free up many people and resources to do more to create abundance for the society and to create green systems that will ensure the survival of all. It is the hope of AVOFT that this can then create a positive cycle, with excess to further build up a better world. The vision is that at one point, people will be able to pursue their various passions and creating values for the society at the same time, without the constraint of money and basic survival.

The Problems - Story of Stuff

There are many points in this video, some you may agree, others you may not. But the video definitely raised up a few points that we must look into if we want to continue living in this planet. So, we'll discuss some of the points raised in the video and see the bigger picture of the Current System.

These are the points that are worthy of note but not directly related to the core problems we need to discuss:
1. Linear system with limited resources.
In the Current System, profit and "survival" are the only important things. People involved in production, especially the bosses, do not really care if they are trashing the world. They need the profit to "survive". Survival used to be about having food on the table, a place for shelter when the weather is bad. However, in the Current System, the definition of survival has mutated. One has to have a smartphone, the latest fashion and so on to "survive". And hence, we mine the world more and more, just to keep us "alive".

Another thing is that people are almost always involved in only a small chunk of the whole system. How can one perceive and contribute to a circular system if all one is involved in is only a small part of the whole system? Imagine a very big circle and if you focus on 1% of the circle and that is the region where you are involved in the whole system. Do you see the circle? No, you won't. All you can see is just a curved linear line. This is a problem we call over specialisation (We hope to come out with an article on this soon in the future). And one cannot see the whole ecological impact without being more involved with all the aspects of the whole system.

2. They don't own the resources, they don't own the means of production and they are not buying a lot of the stuffs. You don't have value if you don't buy/produce a lot.
The current economic model dictates that we need to produce and purchase in order to keep the economy healthy. But then, the more we produce and buy, the more we are trashing the planet and the more unstable the economy seems to be!

This trend of taking over and exploiting external resources isn't new. It started with nations taking over nations in order to secure resources. At one point, the nations realised that war is not the most efficient way of gaining resources. Hence, they used trade and economic techniques. And with the use of trade, the suffering and exploitation of another place's resources are no longer visible and hence easily got out of hand.

3. Toxin in, toxin out.
In order to cut cost and retain profit, cheap toxic materials are preferred over expensive safe materials.

4. People have no choice but to work with toxins.
This relates to the commodification of humans. In the capitalism system, a person is considered a business entity, able to exchange its products and services for money. And a person can own businesses (read as businesses and humans). Soon, people learn to capitalise on this that they begin to treat other people as assets to generate income. Whoever has more power, capital, status and so on get to capitalise on other people.

On a side note, the commodification of animals is one of the core factor that there are incidences of animal cruelty happening in farms and slaughterhouses. People accept the animals as commodities and people expect commodities to do what they want them to do.

5. Planned & perceived obsolescence.
By getting things obsolete as fast as possible, one gets to sell more and earn more. It's all about the profit.

6. Recycling is not enough.
We can't agree more. This is a cure to one of the many symptoms, the root problem is still causing a whole lot of havoc.

Now, let's get into the main point of the Current System.
The Golden Arrow - Consumerism
The main flaw in the Current System is the assumption that we need to spend, buy & consume in order to keep the economy going & growing. Of course, without consuming, the big corporations won't survive for long. One major question is, do we need these giant corporations around? Are they truly doing us good? If yes, how? If not, why are we working so hard to keep them alive? It is this relationship between giant corporations, their interests & economy that is driving us to the direction of destruction.

Let us take a look back at this assumption.

Are we producing enough things for all the people in the whole world? We'd say yes.

Are all the people in the whole world getting these things? We'd say no.

Are all the things produced fully utilised? No, a lot are being wasted, thrown away daily.

Do we still need to consume more and produce more? Likely not. For a healthier society, we need a better way of redistributing these products & services. While in some nations, a lot of food is wasted, there are other nations with not enough food to go around with.

Why food and other necessities do not go to these people? Well, in the Current System, they are commodities to be exploited for production, hence they don't deserve high pay and hence they can't afford to buy food and hence food do not get distributed to these places. Wonderful system we have, right? (Sarcasm intended)

How is AVOFT system relevant here? In AVOFT system, we no longer have the burden to feed giant corporations that are increasingly lowering the ethical boundaries in order to profit more. In AVOFT system, no money is involved, everyone deserves food, resources, services and so on. In AVOFT system, people can work into fields they are truly passionate about, contributing in various ways they truly believe in and hence more productive. In AVOFT system, no people is exploited. The full concept and implementation of AVOFT system still require a lot of scrutinising and research. As more information and concepts become available, we will post them up.

Let us take a look at the last part of the video, saying that there are many points of intervention & that the people can take back the government of the country.

We do agree that there are many points of intervention but as long as we are running in the Current System model, none of these interventions will be effective. The corporations, the politicians & the corrupted people will still keep abusing the loopholes and the system to earn "their share of the profit". The interventions will only work on the individual symptoms but the root problems will remain strong.

In the Current System, every man is for himself. Everyone has to look after their own interests. This is how people started throwing morality and ethics away. They have  to "survive". By eliminating this idea of every man for himself using the AVOFT system, we can open up to a new world of sharing and abundance.

It will take time for us to eliminate the poison injected by the giant corporations, called consumerism, but it can be done.

Last but not least. The point on idealistic. Indeed it is worth considering, is AVOFT system idealistic? Or is the hope of going on indefinitely the way we are now idealistic?

That is all for now... more soon.