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- Mathematics of Peacemaking
- Milt Hetrick
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- Although the English language (or Spanish, or …) is a necessary means of
communicating information about the Department of Peace and Nonviolence,
these languages are not sufficient to convey the complex nature and
operation of the DoPN. English
(or Spanish,..) is necessary but not sufficient.
- Additional tools are also necessary to move the process of peacemaking
to the next level – including a “Mathematics of Peace.”
- The DoPN is intended to be a real physical “system” involving people and
equipment and information needed to deliver a valuable service to
Americans.
- A car is also a real physical “system” involving people (driver &
passengers) and equipment and information needed to deliver a valuable
service to Americans - transportation.
- The car is several orders of magnitude simpler than the DoPN, yet it is
safe to say that we could not build a car if the only tool we used was
the English (or …) language
- Additional tools are also required including diagrams, charts, computer
models, simulators, databases, …. and the efficacy of mathematical
symbolism
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- One of the first steps in developing a model of a complex system is to
be clear about the mission and the intended function of the organization
/ system
- The next step in modeling involves establishing a data dictionary
- The Data Dictionary is a document that contains a precise definition of
terms / variables used in the model.
The computer will not allow ambiguity or dual use of the same
term/variable.
- A key element of developing a “model” of an organization is describe
the flow of information using a communication diagram. The Data Dictionary is required for
this step in model development
- To develop a new social structure or system we need to use additional
languages and symbolism to communicate with each other.
- We use the premise that if our goal is build a more peaceful society, we
need to be able to “measure/describe/quantify” peacefulness
- We begin with Mission statement of the proposed Department of Peace and
Nonviolence and define terms that can be eventually describe in adequate
detail to be “quantified”
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- (1a) hold peace as an organizing principle,
Let’s first define “Peace” as the combination of “negative
peace” and “positive peace” as follows:
- Peace = absence of violence + availability of opportunities
- Using mathematical symbols, where S is used to denote “the summation
of” and f() is used to denote “is a function of”
- Peacefulness(i) = f( S opportunities(i)j – S violence(i) k
) [1]
- When written in English, equation [1] above would be translated as:
“the measure of the peacefulness of a society as experienced by
individual “i” (where “i” is used to uniquely denote each person living
in the U.S. from 1 to 300,000,000) is a “function of” or “proportional
to” the summation of all the opportunities that are actually available
to this particular person, (where the subscript “j” is used to uniquely
number the opportunity from 1 to n, and where “n” is the total number of
actual opportunities for growth that we can identify for this person)
minus the summation of all the forms of violence (situations that
prevent this particular person from reaching his/her potential) that
exist within the society, (where the subscript “k” is used to uniquely
number the form of violence this person experiences from 1 to m, and
where “m” is the total number of violent situations occurring to this
person that we can identify).”
- Equation [1] captures the
observation that the “peacefulness of a society” is experienced
differently for each person.
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- (1a) hold peace as an organizing principle, (cont)
- An underlying goal of the DoPN is to contribute to the “strength” of our
country by helping each citizen reach her/his individual potential and
thereby help our country reach its collective potential – that’s the
true measure of “peacefulness”.
- Any thoughts, words, or deeds that divert us from the objective of
reaching our individual and collective potential are forms of violence.
- American has a reputation of being a “land of opportunities.”
- Unfortunately it is also a “land of violence” that detracts from the
overall peacefulness (and strength) of our country.
- It is interesting to observe that a mathematical expression of the
“strength” of America would also look like:
- Strength of America = f( S opportunities(i)j – S violence(i)
k )
[1a]
- This suggests the following slogan for America:
“Peace through Strength (conservative argument for a strong
DoD) AND Strength through Peace (progressive argument for a strong
DoPN)”
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- (1a) hold peace as an organizing principle, (cont)
Peacefulness(i) = f( S opportunities(i)j – S violence(i)
k )
[1]
- We can continue to expand on Equation [1], where:
- opportunities(i) i
= S
actions_that_promote_individual_growth(i)j +
-
S actions_that_promote_collective_growthj
- violence(i) i = S
actions_that_limit_individual_growth(i)j +
- S
actions_that_limit_collective_growthj
- Where typical actions that promote growth include:
- actions_that_promote_individual_growth(i)j
=
-
educational_opportunities +
-
training_opportunities +
- access_to_health
care +
-
employment_opportunities +
-
recreational_opportunities +
- spiritual_freedom +
- individual_freedom
+
- responsibility_for_
self +
-
responsibility_to_others + ….. (TBD e.g. 40 Assets)
- actions that promote collective growth =
-
responsibility to others +
… (TBD)
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- (1b) coordinate (peace-related) service to every level of American
society;
- level of society =
- intrapersonal_level +
- interpersonal_level +
- intrafamily_level +
- interfamily_level +
- intragroup_level +
- intergroup_level +
- intranational_level +
- international_level +
- intraglobal_level
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- (2a) promote justice
- Justice = S actions_related_to_law
- Law = Local_law + State_law + Federal_law + International_law
- actions_related_to_law =
identification of possible illegal activities + confirmation of
illegality + deterrence + prevention +
restoration
- + penalty / punishment + incarceration for punishment / rehabilitation
- (2b) promote democratic principles to expand human rights;
- Remaining Mission statements of the DoPN to be translated from English
into the “mathematics of peace” at a later date
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- (3) strengthen nonmilitary means of peacemaking;
- (4) promote the development of human potential;
- (5a) create peace,
- (5b) prevent violence,
- (5c) divert from armed conflict,
- (5d) use field-tested programs, and
- (5e) develop new structures in nonviolent dispute resolution;
- (6) take a proactive, strategic approach in the development of policies
that promote national and international conflict prevention, nonviolent
intervention, mediation, peaceful resolution of conflict, and
structured mediation of conflict;
- (7) address matters both domestic and international in scope; and
- (8) encourage the development of initiatives from local communities,
religious groups, and nongovernmental organizations.
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Notes