The following blog post was written by Saïd Majdi, Principal Research Scientist of Integral Scientific Institute, a proud partner of Compassionate DFW.
Science in Compassion or Compassion in Science?
Is it the science of compassion, or compassion in science, or both? I will go for the all-of- the-above option. Why? Well, because I can. Let’s see if you would agree.
As a research scientist and engineer, I believe systems thinking leads to compassionate thinking. And when I say systems, I don’t mean only industrial systems. I am including social, economic, financial, educational, legal, political, environmental, and healthcare systems.
Like systems thinking, compassionate thinking is not limited to any one disciplinary area. Compassion and systems are both multidimensional constructs. One intangible, the other tangible. There is a sort of duality between the two.
I have been accused of seeing systems everywhere. Guilty. I use the systems worldview to be able to see the big picture and to gain better understanding of our world and its complexities. I believe systems thinking allows us, among other things, to assess the unintended consequences of proposed solutions before they are implemented. And that has a huge compassionate component. When it comes to negative unintended consequences, we would all agree that meeting the needs of some should not result in the increased suffering of others.
Both compassionate thinking and systems thinking include feedback loops. This makes the expression of compassion a dynamic process. Like feedback systems, compassionate behavior consists of action, internal feedback, inner correction, and action again.
The expression of compassion begins with a base of variations in personality. This base is shaped by an underlying substrate made of cultural, environmental, physical, social, emotional, and cognitive factors. These factors do not necessarily allow us to predict compassionate behavior, but they can increase or decrease the possibility of such behavior. The main point is that we all start from different places. These substrate factors can be thought of as degrees of freedom in systems, except that they are more like limitations of freedom. In systems, whenever we talk about limitations or limits, we expect nonlinear; i.e., chaotic, behavior. Starting from different places means we have different initial conditions. As with nonlinear systems, starting from different initial conditions can lead to unique responses to individual situations and individual relationships. Therefore, we may not be able to measure compassion just by observing behavior.
Between the substrate and the behavior, there is motivation and discernment. These two are the main components of the decision-making engine that processes sensory stimuli and informs behavioral responses (words/actions).
This is a vast field of research. My brief presentation here is based on one of my research projects on the modeling of compassion and compassionate behavior. The kind of behavior that is intended to benefit the other. This touches on a small segment of the larger field of cybernetics; specifically, artificial intelligence and robotics. The research project aims to contribute to understanding the “anatomy” of the substrate and its factors (cultural, environmental, physical, social, emotional, and cognitive) and how motivation may be contingent on these factors subject to age, gender, ethnicity, educational background, socioeconomic status, and theological framework.
How important is compassion? A world void of compassion is a world where social malaise reigns, and anxiety and stress abound, leading to systems, where humans play a role, underperforming with wasted resources and more suffering.
Putting science into compassion helps us to understand the inner workings of the kind of human behavior that is intended to benefit the other. Putting compassion into science helps us to create a built environment that is compatible with the natural environment, which already comes with compassion built in.
There is much we can learn using science to understand compassion. There is much we can do to feed that knowledge back into science and what we create using that science. The knowledge we gain must be used to put in place systems that mold the necessary substrates at the individual level for a more compassionate society.
Compassionate DFW is a partner of the Charter for Compassion, which is an international movement. You can be part of it by first affirming the Charter, then joining Compassionate DFW to start taking local action. Invite others to affirm the Charter and start learning more about the science of compassion and how to be more intentional when it comes to applying compassion in our dealings with others and the natural environment. Together we can build a community that believes in and practices compassionate action.
Live compassionately and prosper!
Saïd Majdi
Principal Research Scientist
Integral Scientific Institute
Compassionate DFW
Advisor on Science and Research