In these days, the ways that people living side by side make meaning can be vastly different.  We can find the facts we want (or, failing in that, simply create the facts that suit us) and construct the meaning or our choice.

Not all meaning is of equal value.  The best meaning is that which most closely approximates reality.  Ultimately we cannot know what is real.  We can only approach it.  It is an asymptote; a limit we can move towards but never fully grasp.

When the meaning we make, the cognitive maps we craft, are close renderings of reality, we can make choices which best construct what we need; that is, the conditions which keep us safe and allow us to be satisfied.

Choices which attempt to meet our needs but ignore the needs of others are based on faulty maps.  They don’t acknowledge the unity of all things.  They are a short-term fix that causes long-term problems.

As we approach the inevitable conflicts of life, especially those with whom we have the most intimacy, we benefit greatly by having a cognitive map that acknowledges the interconnectedness of all and thus supports our ability to create what we need such that others get what they need as well.

The Workshop on Interpersonal Nonviolence is an introduction to just such a map.