We saw in Chapter 7, some of the samples of groupings such as:
Country as a grouping with constitution as the value system
Scientists as a grouping with the principles of science (integrity of knowledge, collegiality, honesty, objectivity, openness etc.,) as the value system
Students as a grouping with the value system imposed by the learning institution
Local Community as a grouping with the value system imposed by the local culture and so on.
In the same chapter, we also saw about the concept of defence in depth as seen being used by different groups and individuals in their adopted value systems.
So when I refer to 'the formative years of a group' , in a broad context, it also means formative years of a new groups like a group to be formed for climate protection. But in a specific sense, I would like to focus on the group context and value systems that was present and evolving at the time of the dawn of the civilization in the various parts of the planets in this universe. Because this is where some of the early constructs of the society was put in place that is reverberating in some forms, even in the current modern societies.
What comes to one's mind is the confusion on the authority figures that can set value systems for the society. In the dawn times, it is like a melting pot of ideas, prejudices, bias, judgemental errors and possibly sheer brutality that corrupted or influenced the creation of group value systems. Adding to the conundrum is the idea of nature, god , purpose of human and other lives, position of a women in the society (refer to my early article Chapter 6). We all know, that when we undertake an effort, to create a new group such as creating a new company or a software or a global group/trade-blocks etc in the current times , the most difficult times are in the beginning stages even when we are amply supported by knowledge from areas like science, management science, behavioural science etc., . Now, consider the same difficulty multiplied by several magnitudes - that was most likely to be the zeitgeist during the troubled times of the dawn of civilization in various geographies, when important decisions on topics such as religion, god, stature of women etc., were decided in a state of complete ignorance, with lack of scientific knowledge or based on fear of natural elements or clan-strength or by charlatanism or persuaded by wealth/strength. Hence, I think, if any old ideations/customs does not appeal to a new modern society built upon a formal educational system and with abundance of common-sense/intelligence, there should be a way to discard them !
When a very wrong person like a king or a chieftain or a politician, with lots of bias and ignorance, assumes leadership and sets direction for a group, a morally corrupt value system is set in place that may travel several centuries , as part of legacy, as guidance from the elders, customs, traditions and history till it is completely uprooted by phenomenal events like global disasters, dawn/discoveries of the science, clashes of the civilizations or any black swan events.
Hence, it is important for a group, that such verified, truthful signal events are detected, during the group's existence over a given timeline, by any or all of their adopted value systems to amend their existing value systems. We have to consider the biases mentioned above before moving ahead. These changes should be recorded appropriately in the history with proper justification and immense efforts should be taken to preserve the truths that influenced the change of the value systems.
For a truth to be vetted, all bodies of knowledge of the time such as politics, science, philosophy, medicine, spirituality etc of each and every group should be deployed without undermining the other's effort by any bias. Hence it is important for a modern society to acknowledge the role of significant groups and devise a time-tested, fool proof process (may itself change based on new truths discovered) to detect significant events in time and initiate the change process for the betterment of the not just the mankind but for all the lives.
Hari Om!