Wednesday, October 26, 2022

A Parable, part 2

My previous talk about building campfires assumed everyone was fairly independent...

Like multiple campsites at a campground. Any movement between sites was strictly voluntary (though avoiding a cold night and/or cold dinner at a site that never succeeded at building a fire is motivating enough for them to wander... The rest are probably doing it out of their own curiosity, desire to be helpful, or joy in meeting new people.)

Things look different, though, if all the campers are members of some shared identity.

Someone might see a need and step up, or there might already be a hierarchy in place, but a group can coordinate on a much larger scale. 

And not only by sending more knowledgeable campers around to share their skills... 

Maybe they aren't camping in a forest with readily available wood... So someone finds a way to get wood and distribute it so all the campers can build a fire. Maybe they also distribute pans, and soup, so everyone can have something hot to eat. 

Or blankets... And camping knowledge (if you sleep directly on the ground, the ground tends to suck your heat away... So a layer between you and the ground is pretty important.

How important such leadership is depends -

In summer, where the nights are warm? Not having a good campfire can just make for a less enjoyable evening.

In fall? Chilly and miserable, but probably not deadly. 

On a freezing cold winter night?

If nobody coordinates, you'll have people freezing to death.

And maybe if you're a collection of individuals you could say that it's just their bad luck (though most people would try to find a way to help... Honestly.)

But if you're an army... Well, good luck winning your next battle. You lost a good portion of your people out of incompetence, plus the ones remaining know it and don't trust you to take care of them. 

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