Gandhi’s Approach

Dr. Thomas Fischbacher

University of Southampton
Computational Engineering and Design Group
School of Engineering Sciences
University of Southampton

United Kingdom

06. 03. 2009

Dr. Thomas Fischbacher Gandhi’s Approach

Why Gandhi is Important

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Lawyer,

Farmer, Weaver.

Why is he more important than ever? If we

are wrong, the world will give us feedback
about that. If we go on, feedback will be-
come stronger. If we keep on ignoring these
signs, pain and suffering, and ultimately, col-
lapse will make sure our ideas do get re-
aligned with reality.
Image source: Wikipedia

Gandhi’s achievement lies in demonstrating (and

hence reminding us of) the power of using an
approach towards this problem that is both very
ancient and very sophisticated.
Dr. Thomas Fischbacher Gandhi’s Approach
Who is Afraid of the Mahatma?

One of the main reasons why so little is known about Gandhi

in our Society is a number of misconceptions about him:

Gandhi’s philosophy is not about extreme asketicism (the

“running round in self-spun clothing only and living in a mud
hut – and, of course, celibacy” thing).
The very name of the concept of non-violence is misleading:
in its essence, this is neither about ‘passive resistance’, nor
‘unilateral disarmament’, or any such idea.
Gandhi’s ideas were more about economics and resource
management than about living the life of a saint (in the strict
religious sense). So: this is not “Let us all become saints now
and everything will be fine”.

Dr. Thomas Fischbacher Gandhi’s Approach

“Experiments with Truth”

The title of Gandhi’s autobiography (for reasons that are

related to how it got published) is The continued story of my
Experiments with Truth.
Two key notions: Experiment (“Any number of experiments is
too small”) and Truth (“God is Truth”).
If sticking too long with a stupid idea is what causes (maybe
even most of?) the pain and suffering in the world, how do we
minimize that problem?
Evidently, we human beings are very prone to holding on to
beliefs that ultimately turn out to be in conflict with reality –
so getting that right is a bit tricky.

Dr. Thomas Fischbacher Gandhi’s Approach

How to know early when we are wrong (I)
Simple logic dictates that we would be well advised to learn to
utilize every source that can give us early feedback on whether our
ideas are in conflict with reality.
In some situations, “order of magnitude” guesstimations work
well.
Most problems one has to face are at the ‘personal/household’
level – and hence open to an experimental approach. Can I do
it that way? Adopting an experimental attitude is the key
strategy for acquiring self-reliance.
We are actually equipped with a number of useful internal
sensors that can tell us whether something seems not right –
but our society is ‘too loud’ for us to cultivate and develop
our skills in taking much notice of them. This is what
meditation and fasting can address.
...

Dr. Thomas Fischbacher Gandhi’s Approach

How to know early when we are wrong (II)

Surprisingly, the following approach also works: What often keeps us

from seeing the truth is the confabulatory predisposition of our ‘internal
monologue’, so if we can temporarily ‘deliberately sabotage’ that, this
may open up entirely new perspectives.
One very efficient technique to do so is exposing oneself to a loud regular
acoustic rhythm (“shamanic drumming”) in the range of 4-7 Hz. (“Sonic
driving”).
This “levels the playing field in the brain a bit”, by making the work of
those departments more difficult that are involved in “spinning on more
and more of the confabulatory explanations, as needed, that
unfortunately have little to do with reality”.
The non-verbal departments of the brain “talk in (often strange)
images”. So, shamanic experience is very different from ordinary reality,
more like dreaming.
...

Dr. Thomas Fischbacher Gandhi’s Approach

How to know early when we are wrong (III)

...
While such dreams easily can be wrong, their value often lies in
generating new perspectives to overcome mental blockades.
For sure, oppressive ideologies that claim truth for themselves cannot
allow people to have access to independent means of getting an idea
about when something is seriously wrong. Therefore, “The empire hates
the drum”.
As a related issue: there is one known case where a religious leader
dissolved his own order as he saw that “as soon as you follow organized
belief, you have stopped following Truth”: Truth is a pathless land (J. J.
Krishnamurti).
Shamanism will not be covered here!

Dr. Thomas Fischbacher Gandhi’s Approach

Truth

Back to Gandhi: While he is most well known for his role in India’s
process of achieving independence from Great Britain, he did quite
much of his important work in South Africa (cf. “Satyagraha in
South Africa”). While his many achievements superficially
encompass a range of very different issues, including healthcare,
they all stem from one common root: Advanced protocols for
Truth-Seeking, knowing that this is a permanently elusive task.
(Remember: As we have seen, nothing makes as blind for Truth as
firmly believing to “Finally Have found Truth”!)

Dr. Thomas Fischbacher Gandhi’s Approach

Truth and Conflict

As Orwell observed, when a deeply held false belief

bumps into reality, this often happens on the
battlefield. So, truth-seeking is intimately linked
with dealing with conflict – and, not surprisingly,
Gandhi often was involved in sorting out conflicts.

Dr. Thomas Fischbacher Gandhi’s Approach

Conflict Protocols
In 2005, Thomas Schelling won the “Bank of Sweden Prize in
honour of Alfred Nobel” (often called the “Nobel Prize in
Economics”) for work related to his book “The Strategy of
Conflict”.
This essentially is based on the view of
“Conflict-as-a-game-to-be-played” (to maximize personal
outcome). Hence the key notion of Strategy. From this, ideas flow
such as How do we use our nuclear arsenal as a diplomatic tool to
maximize the pressure on “the Russians”?
A very different perspective is that Conflicts arise for a reason
(which may – and often is – quite non-obvious to the parties
involved). This way of thinking leads to the idea of applying
Truth-Finding Protocols to conflict, ultimately aiming at getting
both parties to collaborate on finding out what it actually is they
are at war about. From this approach, ideas flow such as What do
I need to know in order to understand why the opposing party
believes to have a valid point?
Dr. Thomas Fischbacher Gandhi’s Approach
Conflict and Human Nature: “Non-Violence”

We will see that, as claimed, the term “non-violence” is a

misnomer and leads to a number of misleading interpretations.
The fundamental idea is to ally with the strongest force present in
any conflict, which is the opponent’s need to keep up a positive
self-image. So, an interesting radical alternative to the way we
usually think about behaving in a conflict is to behave in such a
way that the opponent must choose between using violence at the
cost of getting into serious conflict with their positive self-image
and starting to work with one’s own party to find out what the
deeper nature of the problem is that started the conflict – and how
to address this.

Dr. Thomas Fischbacher Gandhi’s Approach

Example: The “Three Pound Tax”
When Britain tried to produce sugarcane in South Africa, they
encountered the problem that they could not use Zulu men to do field
labour (“women’s work” in Zulu culture, men taking care of livestock).
So, they had to use a different source of labour and used indentured
labourers from India.
Unfortunately to them, some Indians were very industrious and also
competent enterpreneurs, so the risk of being outperformed economically
was very real to the British (a small minority in numbers in South Africa,
after all) – so they tried to address this problem by introducing a
(financially crippling) tax to be paid by the Indians.
This is, of course the Indian interpretation of the situation only (as
provided by Gandhi). An interesting question certainly is how the British
self-justified this tax.
Getting rid of the “Three Pound Tax” was one of Gandhi’s major
achievements in South Africa and helped him refine the details of his
“non-violent” approach to conflict resulution.
Dr. Thomas Fischbacher Gandhi’s Approach
Rules for Non-Violent Campaigns

When striving to abolish grave injustice (a highly relevant issue

these days!), a number of specific rules immediately flow from the
adoption of the principle of behaving in such a way that, while
standing firm1 to one’s point, one makes sure that should any
violence be used in the conflict, this will hurt the opposing party’s
self-image of “being the good guys”.

Gandhi articulated such a set of rules, which are readily understood

with this underlying idea in mind. Let us hence briefly evaluate
each of the 19 ‘guidelines’ given2 , one after another, with respect
to how they follow from the basic principle, and why they are
necessary.

1
Note: there is an important but slightly subtle distinction between
firm and stubborn
2
“Some Rules of Young India, 23.02.1930; as quoted from the
Wikipedia article on “Satyagraha”
Dr. Thomas Fischbacher Gandhi’s Approach
Rules for Satyagraha Campaigns

Harbour no anger

Dr. Thomas Fischbacher Gandhi’s Approach

Rules for Satyagraha Campaigns

Suffer the anger of the opponent

Dr. Thomas Fischbacher Gandhi’s Approach

Rules for Satyagraha Campaigns

Never retaliate to assaults or punishment; but do

not submit, out of fear of punishment or assault, to
an order given in anger

Dr. Thomas Fischbacher Gandhi’s Approach

Rules for Satyagraha Campaigns

Voluntarily submit to arrest or confiscation of your

own property

Dr. Thomas Fischbacher Gandhi’s Approach

Rules for Satyagraha Campaigns

If you are a trustee of property, defend that property

(non-violently) from confiscation with your life

Dr. Thomas Fischbacher Gandhi’s Approach

Rules for Satyagraha Campaigns

Do not curse or swear

Dr. Thomas Fischbacher Gandhi’s Approach

Rules for Satyagraha Campaigns

Do not insult the opponent

Dr. Thomas Fischbacher Gandhi’s Approach

Rules for Satyagraha Campaigns

Neither salute nor insult the flag of your opponent

or your opponent’s leaders

Dr. Thomas Fischbacher Gandhi’s Approach

Rules for Satyagraha Campaigns

If anyone attempts to insult or assault your

opponent, defend your opponent (non-violently)
with your life

Dr. Thomas Fischbacher Gandhi’s Approach

Rules for Satyagraha Campaigns

As a prisoner, behave courteously and obey prison

regulations (except any that are contrary to
self-respect)

Dr. Thomas Fischbacher Gandhi’s Approach

Rules for Satyagraha Campaigns

As a prisoner, do not ask for special favourable

treatment

Dr. Thomas Fischbacher Gandhi’s Approach

Rules for Satyagraha Campaigns

As a prisoner, do not fast in an attempt to gain

conveniences whose deprivation does not involve
any injury to your self-respect

Dr. Thomas Fischbacher Gandhi’s Approach

Rules for Satyagraha Campaigns

Joyfully obey the orders of the leaders of the civil

disobedience action

Dr. Thomas Fischbacher Gandhi’s Approach

Rules for Satyagraha Campaigns

Do not pick and choose amongst the orders you

obey; if you find the action as a whole improper or
immoral, sever your connection with the action
entirely

Dr. Thomas Fischbacher Gandhi’s Approach

Rules for Satyagraha Campaigns

Do not make your participation conditional on your

comrades taking care of your dependents while you
are engaging in the campaign or are in prison; do
not expect them to provide such support

Dr. Thomas Fischbacher Gandhi’s Approach

Rules for Satyagraha Campaigns

Do not become a cause of communal quarrels

Dr. Thomas Fischbacher Gandhi’s Approach

Rules for Satyagraha Campaigns

Do not take sides in such quarrels, but assist only

that party which is demonstrably in the right; in the
case of inter-religious conflict, give your life to
protect (non-violently) those in danger on either side

Dr. Thomas Fischbacher Gandhi’s Approach

Rules for Satyagraha Campaigns

Avoid occasions that may give rise to communal

quarrels

Dr. Thomas Fischbacher Gandhi’s Approach

Rules for Satyagraha Campaigns

Do not take part in processions that would wound

the religious sensibilities of any community

Dr. Thomas Fischbacher Gandhi’s Approach

Widespread (False) Perception of Non-Violence (I)
The view presented in this talk exhibits a number of issues where our
culture generally seems to mis-understand what “non-violence”, in
essence, is about:
When a group of activists climbed onto the German Reichstag to
unroll a banner “Der Deutschen Wirtschaft” (“For The German
Economy”)3 on top of the inscription “Dem Deutschen Volke”
(“For The German People”), this utilised insult, so while no physical
harm was done, this would not qualify as adhering to the principles
of non-violence. (Still, the activists – wrongly – believed what they
did to be “non-violent”.)
The non-violent approach – in extreme cases – exposes participants
to as much risk of being maimed and killed due to violent opponent
action as does the violent approach. So, this is not for the cowardly,
and has nothing whatsoever to do with “passive resistance” (with
which it frequently gets confused).
...
3
Maybe, ‘Industry’ would convey the idea better how native speakers
interpret this message.
Dr. Thomas Fischbacher Gandhi’s Approach
Widespread (False) Perception of Non-Violence (II)

...
There is a difference between justice and law. When adhering to the
principles of non-violence, then, one possible outcome of striving for
justice when the law is unjust is ending up in jail. This is accepted,
for it shines a strong light on the problems with the legal system.
Non-violence may seem slow to work, and unreliable. However, (as
Gandhi demonstrated many times over), it is an extremely reliable
method that quickly leads to solutions, and usually lasting ones.
(Because everybody freaks out fairly soon if confronted with the
task of having to find some excuse that explains why, in a conflict,
the own party is the only one causing any harm: It would appear
more promising trying to resist gravity than the conflict between the
self-image and observed self-behaviour.)

Dr. Thomas Fischbacher Gandhi’s Approach

So. . .

If non-violence is such a strong tool, what, after all, would happen

if the non-violent protocol to approach conflicts were adopted by
both sides. . . ?

Dr. Thomas Fischbacher Gandhi’s Approach

What examples from history say

Here, it is important to realize (and remind oneself) that

non-violence is not a “strategy for defeating the enemy” (in
Schelling’s (celebrated, but still seriously confused) understanding
of the deeper nature of conflict), but a “method to get the
opponent to jointly work towards finding root causes and
productive solutions”.

In a bitter conflict, one is usually safe to assume that each side got
something right that is quite fundamental, but handles it in such a
way that it cannot see the fundamental issue upon which the
opposing party’s interpretation rests. How can they get together to
join up their incomplete views onto a complex situation to get a
more complete picture – which may lead to very surprising,
originally completely unexpected, suggestions for joint ways
forward.

Dr. Thomas Fischbacher Gandhi’s Approach

On Being Wrong

Note that the Satyagraha Rules contain a ‘mechanism for

apoptosis’: They try to ensure that, if a campaign has gone badly
wrong, it collapses due to desertation of its followers.

There is no value in unnecesarily staying on the wrong path –

certainly not for the purpose of “staying consistent with former
(false) beliefs”

Dr. Thomas Fischbacher Gandhi’s Approach

A word of advice

In any bitter struggle, always look out for those who

get attacked by both sides, for that may well be
because they are actually the ones that have an idea
about what part of each side’s interpretation is
valid, and how they can be reconciled. (Consider
e.g. how the Amish came into existence).

Dr. Thomas Fischbacher Gandhi’s Approach

Truth: An alternative perspective

The application of “the non-violent principle”4 towards conflict tends to

emphasize the idea “Truth is something very real, and strong enough to
mercilessly break your neck should you keep on stubbornly ignoring each
and every sort of feedback you get. . . ”’
But – as Gandhi demonstrated – the principle of “Seeking Truth as a
Journey” is applicable to very different aspects of life as well, such as
health.
Here, the perspective is that, in this world, things are as they are for
particular reasons (very often: the co-evolutionary context that multiple
parts of the world provide to one another). Using our primitive ways of
reasoning, we human beings comprehend these interactions very
imperfectly – but may reasonably assume that there are plenty of subtle
harmonious interactions in the living world, and piece by piece, we are
discovering a small number of these.

4
Still in need of a better name. ‘Organic Warfare’, anyone?
Dr. Thomas Fischbacher Gandhi’s Approach
Consequences of the alternative perspective

If we can expect most aspects of the world to “click in place” to

form a harmonious total if allowed to, then getting our affairs
sorted out becomes an activity much like solving a jigsaw puzzle
(but with more than one possible solution): we have to look closely
for minute hints (shape, color, pattern of individual pieces). If some
of these properties give us a clue how things could fit together, we
usually find that the other properties match up as well – even if we
would have had much more difficulty spotting this straightway.
So, keeping in mind that what we are and how we behave, and
how the world around us behaves, may be governed by cooperation
principles mostly unknown to us, we can deduce that studying
details to find out what could match with what in which way can
bring great benefits.

Dr. Thomas Fischbacher Gandhi’s Approach

. . . But does that work?

There are striking examples that strongly indicate that such a

“philosophy of hidden harmony” is a viable basis for – in particular
– designing low-maintenance-effort systems:
Masanobu Fukuoka: Natural Farming
Bill Mollison: Permaculture

Dr. Thomas Fischbacher Gandhi’s Approach