Cooperation is the Middle East’s Legacy, not Conflict

Even before Moses scaled Mount Sinai to recieve the Ten Commandments Middle Eastern civilizations created and recorded social codes that govern how humans interact. If it be from the Pharaohs, Moses, Mohammed or Jesus of Nazareth, a good number of humans agreed to subject themselves to rule systems that stem from the Middle East.

There is a dangerous over-simplification of Middle East conflict within Western dialogs that Jews and Arabs have warred for thousands of years, and it is hubris to expect a solution in our lifetime. What these discussions fail to calculate are examples of Jewish-Arab peaceful co-existance, like within the Ottoman society. The post-World War II series of regional wars against Israel has its roots in Christian-Euro/Russo attempts to irraticate and expel Jews from those lands, more than any dissolution over Abrahamic birthrights. Abraham’s offspring ususally find political and commercial balance until European crusades, colonialism or ethnic cleansing challenge that balance.

Jews honor themselves as “people of the covenant,” meaning those claiming linage to the Twelve Tribes of Israel have a special contract/code/agreement/rule system with a devine power. Jewish beliefs say all humans can return to God’s presence, however Jews have additional stipulations. Muslims also pride themselves as submitters to rules. The word “Muslim” itself means “one who submits.” An example of how it is “cool” to be subject to the rules of God, look at the popular Muslim name “Abdullah;” “abd” is Arabic for “servant,” and “ullah” is derived from “Allah” or God, so “Abdullah” is a contraction for “servant of God.” As is the case of any King Abdullah or the now Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah, there is a message of while I am royalty, I am no more than just a humble servant of God. So, if the Middle East is proven place for rule creation and has cultures of rule following, what new rule systems are coming out of the Middle East?

Attached is an interview with Grace Rachmany and Marco Houwen, authors of the book “So you have a decentralized autonomous organization.” In this podcast discussion we cover how humanities future systems will use computer code to facilitate scaled cooperation through transparent rules.