The whole is contained in each part
At BBR and our sister companies, we are constantly inspired by the genius of the natural world – from the movement of air and ocean currents, to the migration of birds, and the behavior of social animals, of which humans are but one example. There are clues everywhere to the answers we often ask, such as “Why do people behave in certain ways as groups? What impels these behaviors and tendencies?”
There’s a fundamental principle in nature that was discovered simultaneously and independently by a neuroscientist and numerous physicists- and it’s one of the biggest “aha” moments in the history of aha moments. It’s the notion that all the information that pertains to a system, is contained within each part or member of that system.
Karl Pribram, a brilliant 20th century neuroscientist, did experiments with amphibian brains, searching for the physical location where certain memories are stored. What he found was that even when he took out or rearranged parts of the brain, the other parts of the brain were able to compensate in a way that indicated there was no one fixed location for this information. Nearly any part of the brain could access the information if it had to. The whole is contained in each part.
Similarly, physicists and optics experts noticed an amazing phenomenon when it came to holographic plates. A holographic plate is a two-dimensional medium where a hologram (such as a 3-dimensional image of an apple) is stored through laser technology. Shine the laser through the plate, and a cool 3-D image of the apple appears. Here’s the truly amazing part: when you cut that plate into pieces, into as many pieces as you like, and you shine the laser through any piece, no matter how small, the 3-D image of the whole apple appears! The whole is contained in each part.
This discovery was so significant that the Library of Congress is now transferring all of its data (the data that comprises our civilization) from CD’s and DVD’s, which can deteriorate after a decade or more, to crystals that holographically embed the data. This way, our civilization’s knowledge is protected, and should you drop one of these crystals and break it – each piece still contains the whole set of information.
We maintain that this fundamental principle of nature also applies to “societal preferences” – i.e., the preferences of our mass consciousness. We believe, and have firm evidence, that all of the preferences of our society are buried in, or accessible through, the mind of any individual. The trick is how to get at this information and how to “shine the laser” through the mind so that this information becomes visible.
Those who know us know that through the Structural Mapping Process (SMP), we have devised a powerful way to see those preferences in a participatory manner. But this post isn’t meant to sell the process, only to reveal the truth that hidden within your intuition, is the answer to all questions such as “What is this brand’s DNA?” In next week’s post, we will specifically tackle the question of brand DNA, what it really means, and how to see it.
-W.