Internet Peace Initiative

Internet Peace Initiative

by

Willard Van De Bogart

Public Relations Director

International Association of Educators for World Peace

Emergency Action Request

All of us on this planet who read this can help stop the wars on planet Earth. We must do this before we loose this Earth, and poison this Earth forever.

We, as internet citizens, have more combined connectivity, and access to more information, than any combined group of govermental bodies on Earth. It is time we assert our collective identities as "information citizens" in this cyberworld, and stop all wars, all plans that take away the right relationship to the Earth, and start a new global society based on awareness for the peaceful legacy we all deserve, and the need to maximize our minds in the next millennium.

We must find a way to do this! We do not want to participate in global slaughter, and only read the news of the death of Earth Citizens. We want life, and the pursuit of higher states of consciousness!

As the elected Public Relations Director for the IAEWP during 2002-2004 it is a privilege to write these words about an Internet Peace Initiative. I know there is only a small percentage of the global population which is capable of reading the following words, and of that percentage only a few will understand what it is that is trying to be conveyed and expressed. This situation is not due to the complexity of the words, but more to do with the effective use of symbolic arrangements of concepts and ideas using the words. The few left to continue reading are going to be the people that may be able to develop educational models and solutions that the Internet Peace Initiative is striving for.

The internet is fast becoming as ubiquitous as the television, radio, or film media. The internet has brought images of every country to millions of people around the world. The many algorithms the software developers have created have resulted in search engines which have become the hunters and gathers of the late 20th century. The data that can be converted into useful information, and the diversity of the storehouse of human knowledge is not only massive, but is also growing exponentially everyday.

These few facts about the internet are known by a good number of people on the planet. However, what kind of social impact will the internet have on the world? We know the telephone enables people to talk to one another at a moments notice around the world, and we know we can see our planet from many different perspectives with the myriad of reconnaissance satellites circling the Earth. We can collectively participate with ideas using words, images, and music instantaneously using the internet. So, the question looms up as to the real world effectiveness of having this new "knowledge tool" to create everlasting peace among all nations.

Many nation states are already banning particular kinds of information that can be seen by their citizens. China is a good example. Free speech initiatives have cropped up everywhere to keep the internet free from governmental control. Ideas are the life blood of the planet. Utilizing the right idea can bring as much benefit as it can disaster. How we think as a global community, utilizing the internet, will be the next evolutionary step for humankind. For this reason we need an "Internet Peace Initiative".

What is peace?
Peace is when all parts of an organized system maintains a balance, and a harmony, even as that system grows and has new elements added to it. Syntropy was a word used by R. Buckminister Fuller to define the coming together of many parts of a system. This is also referred to as whole systems thinking or holonomy. An extension of holonomy has been referred to as the holonomic or holographic universe wherein every part of the universe contains an element of the whole much like a hologram. Therefore, whole systems thinking is an out growth not only of holography, but also of holonomy. The concept of all the parts of a system working together in harmony has been the main impetus of the whole systems theory. The opposite effect of syntropy is entropy or the loss of coherency of the system so it no longer can maintain itself.

What can we extrapolate from these whole system ideas? The question arises can the internet act like a "syntropic generator" or a "coherency amplifier" to generate peace. In other words, can there be invented new ways to encourage symbolic systems as they might apply to the internet?

At the moment of this writing in early 1998, and as we approach the 21st Century, many nations are afraid of allowing their citizens to have complete access to all the information available through the internet. Even the United States has many protective devices against sexually explicit material, or socially sensitive material that could be harmful if accessed by people with mal intent.

The "I want to know" syndrome is being replaced by "You can only know so much". Encryption technology is being written to protect information from getting into the wrong hands. Firewalls are being developed acting as gates to store houses of knowledge. Filters are being installed in libraries so only certain parts of the whole can be accessed. As the rate of protective measures increases so too does the rate of new data emerge to be as yet identified as threatening or unworthy of viewing.

So how does world peace factor into the internet? Another question is how do we as evolving humans promote peace? Evolution to date is bringing us to near extinction. War is being waged both on the environment and people, extinction of other species is growing exponentially, and the psyche is being filled with hate campaigns for our elected officials. In the name of progress humans are using weapons of destruction, and insidious motives based on greed, avarice, and control which are rampant in many parts of the world. So then, could these unsavory elements become amieliorized by more humans promoting peace or seeing more of what their fellow humans could do for peace, or do fellow humans perpetuate into perpetuity the sins of selfishness and disregard for life?

The situation we collectively face as members of the IAEWP is to figure out the educational component of peace as it relates to this all encompassing global data exchange. Today education can be instantaneous, and concepts are promoted at rates never before possible which requires new models and systems for the delivery of ideas to be expressed. Peace on the internet, although framed in data identifiers, such as "peace coalitions" or "peace assemblies" or "peace rallies" is none the less a part of the virtual consciousness which is finding a new world to express itself in. This world is the virtual world created by the thousands of real world computers connected simultaneously all over the planet.

The human interface, however, is the first step in accessing this virtual world. To coin a pun, the affects on human consciousness, at this early stage of development of the internet, is virtually unknown. Certain parameters are completely understood, such as how many users there are on the internet, or how many connections have been made. But, the net effect, again, no pun intended, is quite unknown when it comes to how humans will confront one another in the real world after visiting the virtual world.

It's the immediate association of ideas that the internet provides the curious mind. The internet also enables a deeper appreciation of the breath and depth that human consciousness has evolved to. Not only are there historical reflections, but also immediate and future scenarios for where we as a race have come from and where we are going. However, there are indices and data bits that indicate that certain aspects of human intervention on the planet are taxing the sustainability of the eco-system to offer long term livelihood for all life on the planet.

The Internet Peace Initiative is a way to finally address the collective availability of human actions and knowledge for the education of every citizen of Earth who has access to the internet. The IAEWP has over the past 31 years published articles and conducted World Congresses of which the nineth will be this August in Brasil. This author published a paper in 1983 focusing on the effects information has on consciousness:
Article appeared in: Peace Progress, IAEWP's International Journal,
Editor: Prachoosmuk Achava-amrung, Bangkok, Thailand:
Title: "Designing Decision Strategies within an Information System for Concsciousness Evolution",
Vol III, No I pp 77-85, photo p. 95 1983
Fifteen years later the planet finds itself with a very powerful tool where decisions can be made to truly affect people for the better, as well as for the environment using the internet. The recent lobbying effort to stop cutting forrests won in congress in late March 1998 by a vote of 208 to 181. This was in large part due to the many action groups than came to the resuce by communicating the need not to cut old growth forests or even to clear older trees from the ground.

To continue this legacy of peace education the IAEWP now has a presence on the internet. The url is: http://www.earthportals.com/Portal_Messenger/mercieca.html
With this web site presence, the IAEWP can now offer an outlet for ideas that can foster global peace through the utilization of the internet. Perhaps we can now find new ways to link ideas and encourage those ideas to be implemented by grass root action groups as well as auspicious world leaders.

Never before has there been a time in human history where human actions and behaviors are threating the safety and livelihood of its global citizens. Likewise, there has never been a tool in human history like the intenet, that we know of, that has the potential to communicate to all Earth citizens so immediately and so effectively as the internet is capable of doing.

To this end the IAEWP offers its world wide internet presence as an outlet for other peace educators to offer new ways we can all bring a state of peace to our minds, and to the world we bequeath to future generations.

By example, the following links are to other individuals who demonstrate how their own self-actualization has contributed to new ways of thinking about peace and consciousness on our planet.

Using the Internet for Global Solutions:

Buddhadasa Bhikkhu

INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF EDUCATORS FOR WORLD PEACE NGO, United Nations (ECOSOC), UNDPI, UNICEF, UNCED & UNESCO

Secretariat's Executive Council, 2002-2004

Part I

Part II


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