Beyond Linear Thinking
by Linda Seger
reviewed by Cathleen LoeserBeyond Linear Thinking (2022) is a page-turner in which Linda Seger uses humor, spiritual wisdom, and practical advice, supported by scientific research, to describe ways of moving beyond linear, competitive, hierarchical, patriarchal thinking – toward cooperation, equality, and diversity. I love the metaphors of line, circle, spiral, and web that she uses to explore these different thinking models. I also like her repetition of this point: holding a goal larger than the self is one way to avoid the pitfalls of pride and the pettiness of hierarchy.
Seger’s recommendations for team-building are not naïve. She draws on works by game theorists to show that cooperators win over competitors, and she discusses the policy “Tit for Two Tats,” which says that if somebody “does you wrong,” you should give them a second chance to make it right, which deescalates the conflict and lowers the temperature of the exchange.
Seger shares an example of cooperative networking from her own life. She attended the 1995 United Nations Women’s Conference in Beijing, China, and was a part of a delegation that had to cope with repressive policies. She helped form a community of women within the delegation, and the bonds they felt among themselves helped them survive some humiliations.
This book offers uplifting examples of ways that prominent industries – even aviation and health care – are adopting cooperative, web-thinking methods of organization. These methods have even been adopted by the U.S. military. Drawing on the most recent research, Seger compares U.S. military systems to Russian systems, which still use the hierarchical model and have suffered a greater loss of commanding officers and shown an inability to adapt to changing conditions.
Seger asserts that the problem with individualism in our nation is not that it is immoral, but that it is incorrect. She quotes Philip Slater from The Pursuit of Loneliness, “Pretending that our fortunes are independent of each other may be perfectly ethical but it is also perfectly stupid.” And this from Albert Einstein, “The perception that we are separate from one another is an optical delusion of consciousness.”
Turning to the health sciences, Seger conveys findings from scientific studies that demonstrate benefits we can experience from affirming our connections with each other and our communities, including improvements in our immune system and the overall health of our relationships, social systems, and global networks.
This book is like a master class in Quaker process. It shows how patience, respect, and inclusion of all contributors, without regard to status, help us adapt to change and connect with each other for more effective and happier lives. It reminds me of the biblical metaphor that one part of the body does not despise another, because all must work in unity.
Cathleen Loeser is a member of Santa Monica Friends Meeting (PacYM).