How to create Cultural Peace

The collision of internal Cultures

 As any two Societies or Cultures come in close contact, most people would see the differences in behaviours or how we act.

They might be overly concerned about such matters as greeting people incorrectly or wearing the wrong clothes. Mistakes at this level of culture are relatively minor. Most people expect those from other cultures to make mistakes at the behavioural level. On the other hand, the real collision of cultures occurs at the subconscious, internal cultural level where there are basic cultural rules inherited and confirmed by your family or carers of a particular culture.

The collision of internal cultures causes us to become more aware of the differences and similarities between Societies or Cultures. More importantly, by understanding your internal culture, especially the significant instincts that drive our subconscious thought, we have a system for analysing and interpreting behaviour

The ability for the Ancient survival System of all Collective Societies to form the 21st century foundations just like they have over the past hundreds of thousands of years is not only ground-breaking but worthy of global leadership.

For 230 years since Colonisation, Aboriginal people have not been able to return to the level of happiness they once enjoyed prior to 1788.

Why?

Why is this still the case in 2021 when the Colonists absolutely espouse they brought industrilisation and modernity which means a better world? They made this country a better place is their firm belief. 

 The Colonial people did indeed bring Australia up to compete with the rest of the world and certainly achieved a new country that is a carbon copy of British and European society.

 The Colonial people have definitely tried hard to lift Aboriginal people out of their unhappiness and despair over the last 100 years, programs, money, laws, education. All unfortunately achieving very little success. Statistics do not lie, and they show a people who are not thriving under this new societies standards and rules.

 What is the cause? Why isn’t it getting better?

 These are the questions I wanted to answer and as an Aboriginal Social Worker, Historian, and evolutionary researcher, I firmly believed it was part of my cultural responsibility to try and ensure our society was represented in a genuine way in Human Evolutionary research. I felt strongly that such important research should be Aboriginal led, designed, and owned. This was a world first comparative of societies with one society framed on the rules and standards of the oldest surviving group on the planet – my Aboriginal family.

 Trauma from being invaded is the obvious answer. Trauma definitely does do damage to our brains and cause stress and cause people to feel unwell. But I and others in my team believed that there was much more to it than just the effects of Trauma.

 After all, we were not just talking about a pocket of the Aboriginal society but all of them, here in Australia and also across the world in many countries.

 Is it cultural differences? What is culture - Dress, physical features, inherited geographic location, language, artifacts, religion. We went down that rabbit hole for a year or two before realising it had to be deeper than that when you also look at Indigenous people around the world, including those that had a treaty.

 After sitting across the table from Colonial Heritage Australians in yet another meeting, trying to talk business and gain clarity about a new project. It hit me that I was feeling like I may as well been talking Swahili to those in the room. The engagement and understanding was so low it was palpable. The more we all tried, the worse it got.

 After the meeting where I felt emotionally drained and despondent I did something I had never done previously. I asked them if they would help me find the reason Aboriginal people and Colonial Heritage people struggle to engage easily and clearly? I asked them for their honesty and feelings. I went first and told how I felt honestly. I said I did not feel they were listening or understanding me. I felt they were focused on areas that were not important – like qualifications of my team and which communities we were working with etc. To say they were shocked was an understatement. 

But to their credit and with genuine kindness they told me they thought I wasn’t listening and that I was focused on areas that did not give them the information they required to trust in the project. My turn to be shocked.

 We talked and discussed different needs and requirements and went on our way.

 This was the critical moment our whole project shifted from external influences of culture to the internal influences of genetic or as we Aboriginal people call it Spirit memory and the first inkling that there might just be two brains who think differently at play in the world.

 This led to step 1 – which is the belief that there are two brains on this Earth in a silent and invisible battle with each other every time they meet.

 This internal brain journey has taken us on an immense body of work trying to figure out how to prove that there are two hard wired brains representing two different societies in the world.

 However, even though this was a huge break through, it did not solve the initial problem of why don’t Aboriginal people thrive in Australia and throughout the world.

Step 2 – How can we make the invisible, visible?

The first part of our research project we decided was for a representative from each society to put themselves under the feelings microscope to honestly say how they are feeling every time they converse, engage, or work together (which we decided must be at least 5 times a week). Myself and a Colonial heritage psychologist trained member of the project volunteered. Goodbye personal space for two long, invasive, revealing years. 

 After many false starts and heading down wrong rabbit holes, I came across the concept of trying to compare these brains in real life scenarios under the same rules at different times. This turned out to be our turning point and after the first picnic/BBQ, I could see the worth in this exercise. I could feel we were on the right path now.

 After three years of volunteers undertaking scenarios and the completion of our Feelings Microscope Project, we realised that we had the proof of two brains hard wired differently in the world. I believe that one brain considered the Collective First in every decision and action they undertook and the other  considered the Individual First in the same. I also believe that this framing or philosophy of how to live is the inherited differences between these two brains that is causing much of the worlds issues, misunderstandings and ‘isms.

 After analysing the Scenario and Feelings project we could see a pattern emerged of over 30 consistent different behaviours when these two brains engaged. This we believe is a world first in identification of unique subconscious differences between two societies.

 Step 3 – Why are our brains different?

 I then decided in my masochistic research mind that it would be a great idea to find out why our brains had become hard wired so differently.

I took those over 30 behaviours and went on the weirdest hunting expedition I have ever been on. An expedition into our ancient past searching for the evolution of a society.

This evolution took me to some super weird and amazing places – to ancient farming lands, wars, royal castles, camps, ritual ceremonies, and spiritual teachings about our connection to Totems and our precious living landscapes.

 How Conflict keeps Boomeranging back

When any two society members representing either Collective or Individual engage, communicate in any way, or try to establish relationships or trust. The same cycle of societal coding conflict occurs.

This cycle reveals itself in people’s behaviours (how we act) and this is where we begin to feel we are not even speaking the same language anymore.

Behaviours are the end result of a three stages of analysing conflict.

We now believe that these three stages of societal conflict are critical to these two actors stopping this battle they have been in. We are confident that by finding the behavioural differences that occur when Collective people engage with Individual we can finally show how we can reduce conflict and create a fairer world for everyone.

Our CultuRecode World program has solutions, policy ideas, real life scenarios and insight we have been searching for since colonisation.

We are coming soon to the digital world - a new healing that is framed on the Collective First and is placed within nature, underpinned by Ancient Aboriginal philosophy and all its incredible strengths for every person.

Contact [email protected] if you would like us to present a workshop on how to reduce conflict within your work places and settings and create peace and safety for all of your staff and fellow humans.