Nearly all of my experience emphasizes the observation that humans, and our intelligence, works best in small, tightly-knit groups. The reason is relatively obvious: this is the context in which it arose and developed. Such groups, assembled for common purpose, learn to function as unities, in which the diverse assembly of skills, attention, ability, and a pseudo-competitive camaraderie drive group and individual development and achievement. This represents the opportunity to embody and relate with an intentionally assembled conscious metaposition.

We quite naturally form such rings as children, but we are trained away from this during our ongoing socialization. Our culture places an assortment of representational substitutes before us as young adults, including those that appear radicalized or subversive. It is curious how rarely we actually assemble consensus; we ‘ride’ along in often fiercely outdated forms of it we inherited by birth or association. Legal systems. Corporations. Governments. We form team-like associations for the sake of interests that actually compete with our own, but not for each other and our world.

An elite military assault team is an example of a group formed to rapidly solve particular kinds of problems and function as an integrated whole. But I think this is actually the shadow of something far more astonishing: a team of ordinary people who, coming together for mutual uplift, learn to organize their relationships to deepen their mutuality, awareness, intelligence, and capacity to accomplish otherwise impossible goals. A small ring of individuals who are armed with something far rarer than exotic weapons: a way of rapidly developing, integrating, and deploying the hidden assets of human intelligence. Together. With and for each other, and their world. Cell-groups of heroes. Training and learning to solve deadly problems… with intelligence, creativity and insight. And not only can I imagine this… but I think it could become rather contagious. To be blunt: this paradigm it is far more like who and what we are… than most of what we are doing instead.