Superprograms

      Here is a short story that describes superprograms and why they help "complete the Code of Life."

Mito’s Boy Scout World

Mito  was sitting in his backyard on a summer day, brooding about the state of the world. While he was trying to get at the root of the world’s suffering, a big black and white shorthaired dog galloped through the back alley. He could see that its tail was up like a flag at full mast and it had a look of doggie happiness on its face. Mito had seen the dog a few times before. It was always happy.

Mito thought to himself, ‘How is it that this dog, an inferior life form, is happy, while I, the great Mito, always feel morose and sad? It is almost as if things are reversed, as if the dog that romps, the cat that loafs, and all the other animals that go about their business are superior to us.’ Suddenly, Mito had a disturbing and shocking revelation that made his jaw drop and his mouth hang open.

The next morning, as usual, his disciples sat in a semicircle on the floor in front of him to hear his daily words of wisdom. So he began to explain to them what had horrified him. “You know that we and the animals all have DNA which carries the coded instructions for life. For them, it is a complete ‘Code of Life’ because it not only contains the design of their bodies, but it provides them with all the survival and social behaviors that they need, from the bee that is hatched knowing how to gather honey, to the beaver which knows how to build dams, to the dolphins that are born knowing how to team hunt. Only humans have incomplete codes of life. A baby knows almost nothing. Therefore we have to learn in order to complete our Code of Life. Here is a list of the kinds of things we must learn in order to survive.” He handed each disciple a copy of this list:

We must learn:

•     An ethical code: how to treat others

•     Personal health and hygiene techniques

•     Physical safety (around household chemicals, electricity, cars, and strangers)

•     Economic viability: having some job skills

•     Home economics: maintaining a livable home and budgeting

•     Political stabilizing: citizenship duties, political awareness and advocacy for keeping the government and community stable

•     Mate selection skills and standards

•     Child-rearing practices

•     Practices that protect or repair the environment

•     Language and communication skills: for taking in and sharing new information

•     Social skills: learning who to trust and who not to trust

•     Learning and critical thinking skills: for drawing correct conclusions in new situations

Mito continued. “Unfortunately, a full Code of Life is not learned by most humans. Our learning is defective and incomplete for at least seven reasons: It’s disorganized, unfinished, out of date, primitive, de-prioritized, avoided, and compartmentalized.

“It’s disorganized because we learn pieces of the code from many sources: parents, teachers, TV shows, religious leaders, friends, advertisers, books, the government, magazines, the Internet and elsewhere. Sometimes we get two or more versions of the code that conflict with each other. For instance, your religion may give you one ethical code; your parents may live by another ethical code; and your friends might live by another.

“For most people, learning is incomplete simply because it’s unfinished. If you study the list of twelve areas of learning, you’ll probably find many gaps in your practical education. Furthermore, those who usually have primary responsible for our educations, our parents, are often amateurs who themselves have had incomplete educations.

“Some of these gaps in learning are due to the information being out of date. Our world is rapidly changing. Medical knowledge is growing, but equally, threats to public health are growing as new, resistant disease strains emerge. Information has exploded, but most people lack the skills to manage it and sift through it. So we become overwhelmed by junk mail, multiple cable channels, unwanted email and clutter. The pace of life speeds up, and the mechanisms to update adult learning fall behind.

“Human learning is primitive because it’s still mostly done through lecturing and repetitious drilling, rather than with the advanced memory techniques that produce efficient learning, and with experiential learning processes that produce flexible thinking and creativity. In other words, people are more often trained like dogs to perform specific actions in specific situations, rather than being educated to create solutions tailored to the situation at hand.”

One disciple had raised his hand, so Mito stopped talking and called on him, the disciple said, “Master, I can’t help noticing that you are lecturing us at this very minute. Does that mean you are training us like dogs?”

At this, some of disciples laughed. Mito knew that this disciple liked to show off, so he said curtly, “Please stand.” The disciple did so, expecting a reprimand. Mito then held up his index finger and looked off, as if he were weighing some alternatives. Then he said, “On second thought, sit back down.” As soon as the disciple did so, Mito said, “Good boy! Now roll over and play dead until I’m done talking!”

This got laughs from the others, and even a smile from the show-off.

Mito continued. “Human learning is often incomplete because it is de-prioritized. Generally speaking, the poor are trapped in a struggle for survival, so that educating their children must be put off. This helps to continue the cycle of poverty. On the other end of the continuum, the wealthy invest great time and energy on business, but instead of business being a means to supply people with what they need and want, people become a means to supply businesses with labor to make a profit. Meanwhile, the middle class spends much of its time focused on work and entertainment. Ultimately, however, human learning is de-prioritized because you and I often put what we want ahead of what others need.

“Human learning is also incomplete because adults often avoid it. Pain is a signal that a change is needed; often it’s a signal to learn. If your back or neck is sore, for instance, you might first change your sitting position. If this doesn’t work, you might learn stretching exercises, yoga, or massage. But people frequently avoid learning in favor of quick fixes, such as taking a pain reliever. In the same way, trouble in a relationship, finances, health or career are all signs that learning is needed, but people avoid learning in favor of escapist entertainment, blaming others, or resigned acceptance.

“Finally, learning is incomplete because it’s too compartmentalized. As an adult, you may actually want to learn more about finances, be part of a support program for your emotional growth, learn how to repair and maintain your house and your health, and so forth, but there’s no time to take a class or join a support group for each of your needs.”

Mito paused. “Any questions so far?”

A disciple raised his hand. “Well the obvious question is ‘Where do we go from here? How do we complete the Code of Life?”

Mito shook his head. “While that’s ultimately the question, we would be better served to examine five great attempts throughout history to complete the Code of Life. Moses, Jesus and Mohammed provided us with religious laws, commandments and recommendations. But Buddha and Baden-Powell in addition taught techniques from how to meditate to clear the mind to how to do first aid to protect the body.

A disciple asked, “I know the others, of course, but who is Baden-Powell?”

“He was the founder of the Boy Scouts.

“But Boy Scouts is not a religion.”

Mito smiled, “Ah, yes, but that was Baden-Powell’s big mistake! I’ve been thinking all night about this, so hear me out. Baden-Powell emphasized practical learning and not dogma. The only dogma is the Scout Law, ‘A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, thrifty, brave,’ and so forth. That’s why advanced scouts know how to do first aid, swim, survive in the woods, appreciate and protect nature, participate in the political process, and so forth. All that advanced Buddhists know how to do is meditate, which by the way, would make a good addition: Meditation Merit Badge. Boy Scouts earn these merit badges so that they can pin them on their chests. But badges and awards only motivate boys until they are eighteen or so. After that, boys and girls have outgrown Scouting, mainly for two reasons. First, while some essential code-of-life skills are taught like First Aid and Citizenship in the Nation, others are not taught, such as Time Management, Assertiveness and Fooling the Boss into Thinking that You Are Really Working. If essential skills like these were taught, as well as recommended merit badges, such as ‘Increasing Your Sexual Prowess’ and ‘Raising Your Baby Because You Increased Your Sexual Prowess,’ then more adults would continue Scouting into adulthood.

“But Baden-Powell’s other mistake was not making Scouting into a religion. The Queen of England tried to give him a hint by knighting him Lord Baden-Powell, but he missed her big fat clue. So, what we need to do is tell people that if they get 100 of our Merit Badges including 50 required merit badges that teach them essential methods for learning the Code of Life, then they very probably will go to Heaven.”

“But you don’t know that!” protested a disciple.

“And you don’t know that it’s not true!” Mito replied. “Why I could be receiving divine revelation right at this minute! Never limit what God can do.” He then continued to address the group. “So we need to add certain ranks. Boy Scouts ranks end with Eagle, so we need to add more advance animals such as Lion, Dolphin and Chimpanzee, but I think we should end with Super Eagle, since at the end of their life, a Super Eagle’s soul will fly up into Heaven.”

The disciples just looked at each other in disbelief as Mito rattled on, “And as a further incentive, men and women can camp together and sleep in the same tent, as long as they have the Raising Baby merit badge. But I am more concerned about the required Merit Badges that teach people methods they can use every day of their lives: Goal-Setting, Active Listening, Assertiveness, Negotiation, Computer Literacy, Critical Thinking, Ad Neutralization and many others.”

“What is Ad Neutralization?” asked one disciple.

Mito explained, “Advertisement Neutralization is automatically reframing the ads that you hear and see. For instance, today when people hear that a certain product is 30% off, they run to the store as if a gold mine had been discovered there. But when they have learned Ad Neutralization, they will say to themselves, “30% off is 70% on, and 10% off is 90% on!” He paused. “But these are details. The other advantage of making Scouts into a religion is the big tax break that we’ll get! Thus it is an article of our faith that Lord Baden Powell was the Eagle of God and Revealer of the Way of Fullness.”

“But the Boy Scouts would never go along with that!” a disciple protested.

Mito pondered this a moment. “You’re right. Let’s give our movement a different name, a classy name. Let’s call it the Tuocs.” ( Mito was fond of spelling things backwards to create a new name.) “Tuoc sounds like “to walk” as in to walk a path to wholeness—and that fits in nicely with this Oath that I’ve written based on the Scout Oath, but pumped up a bit:

Mito continued. “Just imagine a world containing several billion Tuocs who have learned methods and passed tests on everything from child rearing to socially responsible investment, to evaluating charities, to lobbying corporations! They would have weekly meetings where the more advanced Tuocs would teach the less advanced Tuocs skills, and then they’d have brief support meetings to share progress and appreciations, and then they would have a half-hour for games, maybe touch football or spin the bottle. It wouldn’t be heaven on Earth because there would still be earthquakes and hurricanes, but there would be a hundred times less suffering because people would have the skills to find jobs, manage their emotions, counsel and support each other, and even do emergency care for victims of floods and famines!”

“So we must get to work immediately to save the planet since it could fall apart at any minute unless we stabilize its vital life-support systems. I will now form you into small groups that will each write one of the merit badge booklets that teach the needed methods. Meanwhile, one of you will pursue tax-exempt status and proclaim this new religion and path to Heaven. Finally, since I spent all last night doing all the intellectual heavy lifting, I will now begin my retirement, having earned the title for life of “Nearly Divine Re-Interpreter of the Message of the Eagle of God, Lord Baden-Powell.”

The next day, when the big black and white dog[1] galloped through the alley with his tail bolt upright, Mito was racing behind it on his bicycle with an exuberant smile on his face.

No learning. No hope.
Little learning. Little hope.
Learning. Hope.
Comprehensive learning. Comprehensive hope.

Commentary

All silliness aside, Mito realized two things. First, he realized that human learning, even in our modern age, has many serious defects. Second he recognized that a program like Scouting could create a learning environment that can enable adults to remove the common defects in human learning.

Of course, I realize that adults don’t want to dress, learn and act like Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. Instead, Scouting helped me realize that a new category of learning structures was possible. I call the new category superprograms, and I created a handful of model superprograms. Like Scouting all of these provide an ongoing structure for learning. Like Scouting all of these blend personal growth learning with service to others. But superprograms have a few elements in their design that makes them superior to Scouting. One is that they have a chain reaction growth pattern build into them. A second is that they have a higher quality learning environment that makes them more flexible and more adaptable. (More on this later.)

The “Code of Life” perspective in the story allows us to see estimate the vast potential of superprograms. Compared with most animals, human DNA is “defective” because it doesn’t contain all the knowledge we need to live secure and fulfilling lives. Superprograms enable us, in a sense, to complete our DNA. They make possible the equivalent of a genetic improvement for humanity.

Of course, the whole reason for this odd perspective is not to prove that one person can become superior to another. It’s to begin to explain the unprecedented power of superprograms to change human destiny.

Defining and Illustrating Superprograms

What exactly is a superprogram? I define a superprogram to be any multipurpose program that does all of the following:

• Addresses many different life-threatening problems at once
• Increases the capacity (time, money, energy and skill) of its participants
• Provides ongoing structures for goal-attainment, personal change and changing the world
• Maintains a balance between personal development and helping others
• Is low-cost or free
• Is open to all and is not restricted to any religious, racial or socioeconomic group
• Is available over large geographic areas.
• Grows using a chain reaction (pass-it-on) approach.

That definition is too much to take in all at once. So I wrote the following story to help you get a feel for what it would be like to be in a superprogram. All-Around is the name of the particular superprogram mentioned in the story. All of the resources mentioned in the story can be found at www.all-around.org.

The Story of Anne and Diane

 Anne and Diane were two sisters in their twenties. For a year they had volunteered at a literacy program to help adults. They both volunteered five hours a week. Both found their efforts fulfilling. Anne, however, thought about the shape the world was in and wished she could do more. When a friend told her about All Around, she knew she needed to check it out.

What she read excited her. Here was a program that would enable her to do more good! She read through the program steps and understood that one of the most important things was to get a “Buddy” who would give her ongoing support and encouragement. She even had a choice of how to get a Buddy. She could be matched with someone through the website, or she could ask someone she already knew. She asked her friend Tasha to be her Buddy since Tasha seemed goal-oriented. They arranged to make a 10-15 minute check-in call twice a week. 

Very soon, Anne cut her volunteering at the literacy center in half. She still enjoyed it, but she was fairly busy and needed time for the All Around program. Since she didn’t have a lot of time and money to spare, she began by setting two goals: one was to save more money, and the other was to increase her available time. She thought about her monthly fixed costs and found ways to save on her utilities and phone bill. Tasha supported her. Then Anne did the Well Analogy Assessment and realized that one big reason she didn’t have time was that she was too unassertive. She did too much for her boyfriend and other friends that she didn’t want to do—things they should be doing. She was letting other people control her life. With Tasha’s support, she began working through the Increasing Assertiveness tool. She even role-played the exercises with Tasha, who was also interested in becoming assertive. As a result, Anne learned to say no to people’s unreasonable demands of her time and energy without feeling guilty or coming off as being mean. It took six weeks, but the results were worth it.

Meanwhile, Diane still volunteered five hours a week and said she couldn’t be happier.

Eventually the money Anne saved on bills showed up in her bank account. She wanted to make a new, more powerful donation with some of this money. She had always felt like she should be more environmental, so she took the Ecological Lifestyle Assessment and decided to offset some of the damage her lifestyle caused. She also read the Wise Giving of Time and Money resource and spent some of the time she would have volunteered to research high-leverage environmental organizations. She donated money to a tree-planting program that taught children to tend the trees. The trees would first clean the air, then provide fruit, then later yield firewood or lumber. So the program helped the children become responsible, it helped poor families economically, and it was environmental. After three months, Anne had saved $100. This produced 25 mango or banana trees which would help feed five families, probably for at least fifteen years. Not only that, but the trees offset some of the carbon dioxide that her car produced when she drove. Anne liked the Wise Giving resource so much that she told some members of her church about it.

Anne next began to focus on her personal mission and fulfillment. She drew from Part C of the Lifestyle Review to think about her personal mission, but she also wanted to use the Life Mission and Process Statements resource. After a few months Tasha became busy with other things, so Anne thanked her for all her support. Anne immediately got another Buddy, Maria, for the twice-weekly phone calls. One of the questions in the material asked Anne what kind of playing had made her happiest as a child, and she recalled that it was drawing and art. She decided to take a course to explore whether or not she should go back to school and become a graphic artist.

Meanwhile, the assertiveness skills she learned gave her more confidence. She realized that the skills could also help her at her current job. She asserted herself to make suggestions that her boss found valuable. Eventually it led to a more challenging and interesting job assignment with more pay. Some of this newfound money would go to the child & tree charity and some would be put away for art school.

Anne did one more thing before the end of the year. She had realized that All Around had helped her get more skill, time and money, and had changed her life course through the support to explore for her life mission. She wanted to give back to All Around. She decided to become a support Buddy for new people entering the program. She had to do a few things first: practice being a good listener, and learn to be less critical and more encouraging. The Sounding Board tool allowed other people to give her feedback on how they perceived her. Before the end of the first year in the program, Anne had supported two people until they found other Buddies. One of them had a contact in the art world that she would later use to advance her career.

When Anne looked back, so much had changed in just one year: a new career path, a better job assignment, more confidence and skill with others, and the feeling that she had more than tripled the good she was doing with literacy, the new child & tree charity, the good she was doing for herself, and her support of other All Around members. Later, she found out that, because of her, a group at her church used the Wise Giving of Time and Money resource. They wrote her a thank-you note, saying that after studying and discussing the resource and supporting each other for six weeks, they felt like the six people in the group had easily doubled the good they did!

Anne became even more excited when she explored the website further and realized she hadn’t even tapped one-tenth of All Around’s resources for personal growth and improving the world. At the beginning of the year she had liked the All Around concept, but she had thought that the vision of decreasing suffering a hundredfold was too optimistic. But after a year of seeing her own life change and of dramatically increasing her impact on the world, she got goose bumps because in her heart she realized that All Around had the strategies and methods to do phenomenal good by changing the world, one person at a time. 

Meanwhile, her sister Diane had doggedly continued to volunteer five hours a week, teaching literacy all year. Finally, Diane started to have mixed feelings about her work. She knew that teaching literacy was very important, but she was a little envious of all her sister had accomplished. So a year after her sister, she joined. But instead of getting a Buddy, she decided to join a Goal and Growth Group. This was a small group of 4-6 people that met once a week for an hour and a half. Diane began to use the support and momentum of the group to build up her skills.

The Goal and Growth Group’s purpose was to support people in their goal attainment and growth. Three to six people meet, usually weekly, for about 60-90 minutes. There are three rounds. Each person takes two minutes or less per round. In the first round people share on learning: They share on something they are studying; or they share an insight related to their efforts; or they ask if any in the group know of information that they need.

In the second round they share on their progress since the last meeting and their plans until the next meeting. In the third round they share on something that they appreciated. After the three rounds, there is an “Interchange” period in which the group can go into more depth. The Interchange is more open-ended. During this time, the group can discuss an issue that most of the members are dealing with. Diane’s group discussed the problems of staying motivated, and later of saving time. Sometimes the group members can work on a skill together. Diane’s group studied active listening. Periodically the group members evaluate the group, and adjust the ground rules for that particular group.

Diane also used the Dream and Goal Sheet to start her on the path of someday owning a hair salon. She dreamed of having her own hairstyling business and of doing some hair styling free in senior citizens’ homes to make the ladies there feel good. Like Anne, she summarized all her goals and plans on her Life Pact. She made a new Life Pact every four months. When she periodically reviewed it, it gave her a deep sense of accomplishment to know that she could change her life and her world.

Diane also had a friend, Tom, who was always complaining about the country’s politic problems. When she saw the All Around materials about learning how to make a political difference, she thought of him. Since participants can always have more than one Buddy, she challenged Tom to be her Buddy, and to start doing something about politics instead of just complaining. (Incidentally, she had other plans for Tom!)

*   *   *

After writing this story, I wondered if someone could really do the things that Anne did in a year, and still have a job and other interests. So I created a weekly log, and allowed time for illness and vacation. This log can be found at http://www.all-around.org/AnneJournal.cfm. My imaginary Anne spent about five hours a week working on her goals. If you read the log, you will probably agree that I wasn’t overestimating what could be done in a year, with steady effort and ongoing personal support.