A conversation between a Giraffe and Hyena
Hyena (sniggering): Hey Giraffe, you look funny when you chew sideways like that.
Giraffe: That’s part of the skill you need when eating branches with long thorns. I don’t want an unexpected lip piercing from a three inch thorn.
Hyena: So what are you doing here by yourself?
Giraffe: Just thinking.
Hyena: About what?
Giraffe: About how badly the world needs a new ontology.
Hyena: A whaaaat?
Giraffe: Ontology
Hyena: What’s that?
Giraffe: An ontology is a way of being and doing.
Hyena: Huh? Don’t make me sorry I asked.
(Giraffe sighs an exasperated sigh with a slight shake of the head)
Hyena: Don’t treat me like I’m stupid!
Giraffe: I can’t make the words “being” and “doing” shorter or simpler.
Hyena: Okay, then give me an example, so I understand.
Giraffe: You often use that big tree that fell over to cross the stream, right?
Hyena: I do.
Giraffe: And you can see the fish swimming around looking for food. Sometimes they are chased by Crocodile.
Hyena: Yes, what about them?
Giraffe: Wel , their ontology, their way of being and doing, is to live in water. It’s all they know. They don’t even realize that they are in water. To them it’s normal, the way life should be and, in their belief, it’s how everyone lives. If you were to drag one of them out onto the river bank it would very quickly realize that things are different and that it’s no longer in water. They can’t breathe air like we do, they can only breathe underwater.
Hyena: Real y? They can’t breathe air? That doesn’t sound right.
Giraffe: Wel , they have a special way of taking air out of the water around them. Just like we can’t breathe under water, they can’t breathe on dry land.
Hyena (somewhat dubiously in that “yeah, right” kind of way): I see. But what does that have to do with ontol… ontol… whatsisthing?
Giraffe: Ontology
Hyena: Yes that.
Giraffe: Wel , fish can’t be any other way. They can only BE in water. That’s their only way of being and doing. And the whole world – all of us – animals and humans, have our own unique ways of being.
Hyena: So it’s the stuff we know.
Giraffe: No – not knowing; that’s something different. We use “being” kind of like a verb.
Hyena: What’s a verb?
Giraffe: A verb is a doing word. Here, “being” is an action.
Hyena: Oh. So then your ontology is about how you are being – when being is a doing word not a… being word.
Giraffe: Yes. Ironical y, you got it perfectly right.
Hyena: Are you trying to make me feel bad?
Giraffe: No, I’m trying to enlighten you.
Hyena: There you go again, big words!
Giraffe: I’m trying to make you understand more clearly, about the world needing a new ontology.
Hyena: So why do you think the world needs a new ontology? What’s wrong with the way we are “being”?
Giraffe: Because the world is in trouble. From up here, I can see further and more of what’s going on. I can see there is fire before anyone can even smell the smoke. The way we’re carrying on can’t last, and something’s got to give. It’s going to break, and when it does we will have real problems.
Hyena: (Laughs hysterical y)
Giraffe: What’s so funny?
Hyena: Do you remember the time Elephant was trying to pull that branch of marula fruit off the tree?
He pulled and pulled and when the branch broke and the tree snapped back, you just saw monkeys flying. I thought I was going to tear my fur I laughed so hard.
Giraffe: I remember. Those monkeys were real y angry, and some were pretty badly beaten and bruised.
Hyena: So are you saying the world is heading for another broken branch?
Giraffe: Yes, but this time it won’t be just a branch or a tree. The whole world is at stake and no-one will be laughing.
Hyena: Why so dramatic?
Giraffe: Because it’s a real problem that we’re not being responsible, taking responsibility for how we act and behave towards one another. We take whatever we can get, more than we real y need without thinking about the smaller animals that can’t reach. Humans are the same. Take and take with no thought of the consequences.
Hyena: What’s wrong with that? It’s survival of the fittest.
Giraffe: Wel , of course you would say that. Your ontology as a hyena is exactly that. You sneak up and steal Lion’s food when he’s not looking.
Hyena: Because I can get away with it.
Giraffe: But you take more than you need and more than you can eat.
Hyena: Like I said. I can get away with it.
Giraffe: Well it’s not right and not sustainable. We should all be accountable to everyone else. It’s not that hard to do and in the end everyone will benefit.
Hyena: Are you saying that the world is using a Hyena ontology?
Giraffe: Exactly. And it’s time for a new one. A Giraffe ontology.
—
Hyena: So… what is a Giraffe ontology? What’s so special about it? How is it different?
Giraffe: Do you real y want to know or are you just asking to argue?
Hyena: No, I real y want to know. You made it sound so serious.
Giraffe: Very well then. A Giraffe ontology is based on unselfish caring, sharing and responsibility.
Hyena (yawns): Sounds boring. Where’s the excitement in that?
Giraffe: No doubt the idea of sharing and caring doesn’t appeal to your killer instincts. But as I already said, the Hyena ontology isn’t working, so the world will have to be prepared to change the current attitude.
Hyena: And how will that happen? Where do you start?
Giraffe: We start by teaching a focus on consciousness.
Hyena: What does being awake have to do with it?
Giraffe: Not awake, aware.
Hyena: Aware?
Giraffe: Yes, in this case consciousness means awareness. When we are aware of the danger of fire we can move. When we are aware of the world around us, we can change direction, follow a different path.
Hyena: So you start by making everyone aware of the problem.
Giraffe: Correct, and the solution. And why it’s important to understand both the problem and the possible solution.
Hyena: And why is it important?
Giraffe: Because we have to work together, cooperate honestly and get organized.
Hyena: I see.
Giraffe: I believe that if we show everyone the value of doing what is right, for the right reason, and everyone gets it, the situation will improve for all of us. The new path is very exciting and is full of promise.
Hyena: But how do we know what the new path is? Where should we go?
Giraffe: This may sound a bit strange but you find the path by walking it; even if it’s not yet there or you can’t see it.
Hyena: How can we follow a path that isn’t there?
Giraffe: That’s part of the adopting and holding on to a new way of being. It may not make sense immediately and we have to be brave and dare to do something in a very different way. Like an explorer charting a new area.
Hyena: But we are all so used to doing things the way they’ve always been done. How do we know that we will find the path?
Giraffe: Correct, change isn’t an everyday thing. But creating the path where it isn’t, by walking it, is all about the opportunity for something new – new prospects where everyone benefits and, in the process, you sometimes have to break through some thick brush to get there.
Hyena: But won’t it be very higgledy-piggledy?
Giraffe: At first it wil . But you will see that we wil , in time, become organized in a new way, instinctively.
Hyena: Find the path by walking. Imagine that. Sounds like something the old Owl would say.
Giraffe: There is something very important about creating the path by walking it.
Hyena: What’s that?
Giraffe: We have to stop believing in the old ways of doing things and stop thinking that there is only one straight route to get to a new place.
Hyena: That’s not so easy.
Giraffe: It is if we change what we believe the result should be – until now there has always been a focus on only one result; the way it has always been done. But why should we only do things the old way?
What if we allow ourselves the freedom to imagine a new result, a new outcome?
Hyena: So you’re saying that if we focus on a new result it would be easier to let go of the old beliefs.
Giraffe: Exactly.
Hyena: It’s worth a try.
Giraffe: It’s more than just worth a try. It’s important that we change things and look after the bottom of the pyramid.
Hyena: The bottom of the pyramid? What pyramid?
Giraffe: It’s a figure of speech. Picture the world and all that live in it as a pyramid – the king of the jungle at the top and the small animals at the bottom. The power and money is concentrated in the upper part and the big base at the bottom has little money and no power. This is how the Hyena ontology has shaped it. Survival of the fittest, as you called it earlier.
Hyena: Yes, the Hyena way.
Giraffe: If we want the world to work better and reflect, what I cal , Giraffe values, we need to start taking care of the bottom of the pyramid. We have to live in a way that is sustainable, equal and inclusive, and start working together.
Hyena: Smaller words Giraffe, please!
Giraffe: Let me explain it this way. Rats and ants react in a different way when the water rises and they’re trapped. The rats will frantical y clamber all over one another, pushing each other down, fighting to get to the top. And that way most will probably drown. The ants will hold hands and together float to the top. That way they all survive.
Hyena: Crafty.
Giraffe: Indeed – and it shows the value of working together. It’s like when humans do business. It should be business FOR society and not business BEFORE society.
Hyena: I like that, it’s clever.
Giraffe: But it must also be sustainable, and before you ask, sustainable is used so much today that it’s lost some of its meaning, so let me give you the real meaning. Sustainable simply means that we use our resources in such a way that we don’t run out and that we leave enough for our children, their children and many generations to come.
Hyena: Yes, I always hear about sustainable this and sustainable that and it gets confusing.
Giraffe: So, I want the world to stop using Hyena values and adopt Giraffe values.
Hyena: What are they?
Giraffe: The values we all still have to create together, but I can tell you what the principles are.
Hyena: Real y Giraffe…
Giraffe: The starting points
Hyena: Okay, and they are?
Giraffe: As I said already: sustainability, inclusiveness, fairness and most importantly, caring generosity that takes us away from the I-want-more greed. If life is about give and take, then there is far too much taking and not enough giving.
Hyena: So where do the values come from?
Giraffe: The values are a product of the new path; the new way that we invent together
Hyena: It’s all very exciting. Let the journey begin!
