Peace

Peace is a condition in which all interactions amont humans are nonviolent.

Basic Concept

It is frequently argued that peace is not possible because humans are violent. I'd like to bring some context into consideration: Most humans today are violent (in some respects) in the conditions they live in. I believe, however, that for each human, there exist conditions in which they do not use any violence. The peace challenge is to attain such a condition for all people at the same time. This is obviously not trivial, and there is no straightforward proof that such global peace conditions even exist.

However, as it is possible that global peace conditions exist, mankind should continue to try to attain such a condition.

Basis in Theory of Cognition and Information

Cognition is a process by which a human develops a mental model that represents aspects of reality. The process of modelling may be formalised based on mutual information.

It is a key human ability to develop mental models not only of the actual state of reality, but also of potential states of reality (known as fantasy, utopia, vision etc.). The discrepancy between an actual state of reality and a desired, mentally modelled potential state results in motivation.

Humans can develop mental models of the mental models of others. (The modelling of one's own mental models would result in a pointless and possibly infinite recursion.) Modelling the models (and thus desires and motivations) of another person amounts to understanding that other person. It is important to notice that understanding someone else does not mean accepting their models: Modelling someone else's model does not amount to adopting their model.

Transparency helps to people to develop adequate models of reality, and specifically of other people.

I conjecture that obtaining a sufficiently adequate model of another person, i.e. understanding them sufficiently well, enables and motivates a human to only interact nonviolently with the other person.

Pacifist Principles

Non-Judgemental Approach

Pacifism can only work toward achieving peace through informing and convincing others. Applying coercion of any sort would amout to relying on structural violence and thus be inconsistent with pacifist objectives.

Current Problems and Challenges

• too much competition, too little cooperation
• militarism
• too little education

Miscellaneous

• All ideas that there will always be violence among humans seem to be implicitly based on the assumptions that humans are inescapably egocentric (or perhaps tribocentric, if that word exists).