You assume there is only one set of agreements, one reality. This is the way it is. If I like it, I like how it is. If I don’t like it, I don’t like how it is. And, that’s how it is. That’s reality, and I cannot change reality. I can like the experience or not. I can like the outcomes or not. But, that is reality. That is how it is.
That’s what you think. Yet, you also know that it is not true. If it were true, if that is the way it is, then it would have to be always true. True in all circumstances, in all situations. If it is sometimes true, and other times not, then it isn’t always true. Then, it depends. Sometimes that’s the way it is, and sometimes it is another way. What does it depend on?
You have two very different experiences of reality–one of scarcity and being disengaged and one of abundance and being engaged. You know the difference, in your own experience, in your own knowing. You have a preference. I have directly asked thousands of people from 39 countries, and I have surveyed people from 125 countries, asking if they know the difference and if they have a preference. So far, everyone says they do. They know when they are experiencing scarcity or abundance, being disengaged or engaged. And, they prefer to be engaged; they prefer abundance.
For you to experience scarcity to abundance, low to high engagement, there are different rules of the game, different rules of interaction, different agreements. Some of the rules of the game, the agreements, lead to the experience of scarcity and low engagement. In the exact same setting, some rules of the game lead to the experience of abundance and high engagement. It is a choice.
You may believe that it just is that way, because you believe there is only one substrate, one underlying substance to all agreements. One underlying reality. One underlying structure for how we humans agree to interact. That’s just the way it is. It turns out there isn’t only one possible substrate, rather there is an infinite number of underlying sets of assumptions that lay the foundation for the set of agreements that you experience in every group, in every system. An infinite number of substrates, which you can pick. It’s like going to the paint store. There isn’t just beige, rather an infinite number of possible colors to use.
Ecosynomics refers to these sets of assumptions about reality as the underlying agreements field, the foundational agreements structures. They include assumptions about what you think is real, what resources are available. About who decides how those resources are accessed, and who enforces those decisions. About the values that permeate the system, providing the criteria used to decide. About the rules of the game for how we interact with the resources and with each other. These are a set of agreements. A set of coherent agreements that describe the interactions that determine the experience you are having. One tool for mapping out, understanding, and changing these underlying agreements is called the agreements evidence map, which has been used in thousands of settings by groups across the world.
So, you assume the substrate is the same. It is just being used differently There is one set of agreements, which are used differently. That is what you assume, consciously or unconsciously. The last 20 years have conclusively shown that there is not just one substrate, rather there are an infinite variety of substrates. An infinite variety of ways that you can agree to interact. The substrate, the platform, the set of agreements used matters. What you are able to do within and with your agreements, your experience and your outcomes, depends on this substrate, on this set of agreements.
There is one experience. There are many ways to perceive that experience and what is real in it. This makes for many different realities that can be perceived in the same experience. You know what you experience. And, with reflection, you can know even more about what you experience, in all of its rich dimensions. The deeper vibrancy you experience to be real. You are the chooser of the experiences and outcomes in your life. You can take the path to choosing your substrate.
Reflections of a Pactoecographer 