Conflict

P-worlds are autonomous and separate. They can influence each other only indirectly. Much of our attempt to forge social order has been done with the illusion that control is possible. To try to control one P-world from another is to deny the reality of the other.

An alternative metaphor to control is coordination. Under this metaphor, we recognize the reality of the other and attempt to find a way to co-exist. This appears to have borne fruit in Northern Ireland recently. It is also indicative of a general development in human affairs, and it seems to arise naturally when we become more aware of the reality of other people’s existence.