Without a governing principal agent, how can a cult with no leader effectively operate?
Our neural-democracy, supported by the tools of technology, frees us from the stochastic effectiveness of any individual, be they constructive or destructive. We do not place our faith in the deliverance of the divine hero or wise ruler, but in ourselves. We are not a hive-mind, but the opposite; we are the wisdom of the crowd, and from our novel form of governance emerges the mind of a new kind of leader – the People’s voice in action. The effectiveness of our form of governance relies on two aspects commonly corrupted by autocrats in order to supplant democracy: factual information and widespread participation. Neither are guaranteed, nor easily implemented. They must be shepherded with transparency, integrity, intention, and expertise – the duty of our clergy.
As a single Body comprised of transitory experts, the River’s sole function is to balance Love (Water) and Power (Rocks), with the administration of the Novel Universe Cult falling to our clergy. River Sages not only manage the daily operations of the Cult, but also address potential internal corruption and conflict – both an emergent “mind,” but also an “immune system,” geared for the protection and regulation of the Cult, our Bodies, and the veracity of our information. Metaphorically, the River underlies the Novel Universe Cult’s “brain,” like the ever-working unconscious mind, constructing and proposing relevant, timely, useful information (truth) to the conscious mind – the Cult’s membership. By evaluating and reacting to the River’s efforts, NUC expresses itself as the singular voice of Saint TJ.
The position of Sage is considered a lifelong appointment, but can be effectively lost through “retirement.” No longer considered a Sage, besides rhetorically, Retired Sage’s are members who have either been removed from the clergy for cause, for personal reasons, or simply because they no longer wish to participate. Retired Sages may return to their duties only through a River ISD nomination and confirmation by the Cult’s membership – the same process any member must go through to become a Sage.
All functional aspects of the Cult’s administration are broken down into “cases,” discrete tasks to be accomplished by Active Sage. Cases are assigned by the River’s administrative body (Inactive Sages) to an Active Sage, primarily based on relevant expertise, and may be handled either individually, or in concert with other Active Sages. Cases range widely in scope, timing, and repetition; some are simple, some complex, some happen over-and-over, some only once. A relatively simple task might be answering messages on behalf of NUC, or approving a periodic transfer of supplies from one Cult Body to another. More complicated cases are things like resolving disputes between NUC Bodies, amplifying / evaluating information for membership consideration, or negotiating contracts with outside organizations. The only limit to the number of Sages assigned to any single case, or cases assigned to any single Sage, simultaneously, is a function of the Sage(s) involved and determined difficulty of the case(s).
Active Sages are intended to not be direct representatives of individuals / institutions involved in a case, such as a US Congressperson, but rather, indirect representatives, such as a court’s impartial jury, representing the will of the People. For instance, Sage Noa, belonging to the Whistling Hills Community, should not be an Active Sage for any cases related to Whistling Hills Community or its affiliated Rock Bodies; however, he may be asked for his input as a witness. Although it may be impossible to find a Sage with absolutely no tangential connections to a given case, Sages with primary or secondary interests should be excluded, like Noa’s brother, Sage Mica from Dancing River Community. It is preferable for an Active Sage to be the one with the least conflicts of interest, but it is also understood that, in light of the Sage’s experience and / or expertise, sometimes the best Active Sage for a job will be the one with more entanglements than another. Because these are complicated decisions, each unique case is voted on by all the Inactive Sages.
Active Sages are those Sages currently engaged in a case, and do not participate in the Cult’s administrative body throughout the duration of the case, unless circumstances warrant, such as an insufficient number of Inactive Sages for the River’s neural-democracy to adequately function. In such circumstances, Active Sages will be temporarily “inactivated” for the sole purpose of performing the duties of an Inactive Sage. Inactive Sages, Sages “on call,” are all expected to participate in their duties as administrators, in other words, weigh in on all River neural-democratic votes. The segregation between active and inactive allows one portion of the River (Inactive Sage) to act like the right hemisphere of the brain, or “stage,” able to comprehend the “bigger picture” with the distance and perspective to direct the River; while the other (Active Sage), as the left hemisphere, or “spotlight,” able to act decisively with the capacity and focus to complete the job at hand. Any given Sage will serve either role as they are activated or inactivated. Furthermore, within the River, no formal structure of seniority or authority exists, but instead, relies on our Sages’ experience and expertise, expressed through our neural-democracy. The River is founded on the concept of “natural leadership,” or the idea that leadership is a quality that emerges in an individual who best suits the situation, and not a predetermined role given to a fixed person(s); in other words, those most valuable ideas, regardless of who proposes them, might be those most pertinent, and therefore the ideas instituted.
As it is Power’s inclination to control Its environment, special consideration is given to the composition of the River in order that the Sages are not corrupted by Power’s biases, and a balance between Sage categories is maintained. Whatever threat Power might pose unchallenged, It cannot, however, be totally siloed away, and in the Novel Universe Cult, Power will always be valued for Its unique contributions. To this end, Sages are categorized based upon affiliation, and each category fitted to some proportion of the River’s total, active body (both Inactive Sage and Active Sage). “Power Sages” are those Freemen River Sages who belong mostly or totally to Rock Bodies, whereas “Love Sages,” the same, only as Citizen / Civilian River Sages. “Mixture Sages” are those River Sages who belong to a balance of both Water and Rock Bodies simultaneously, whereas “Wandering Sages” are River Sage Wanderers who do not belong to a single Body other than their River site(s).
Whenever possible, Wandering and Mixture Sages constitute a majority of the River’s total population of Active and Inactive Sages. Whatever proportion of the River remains is ideally split evenly between Love and Power Sages. When this cannot be done precisely, the smaller portion will be filled by Power Sages, thus limiting Power’s potential to unduly influence the River, as is Power’s nature. While maintaining the rights of individual Sages to flexibly affiliate between Love and Power, temporary retirement may be used to maintain the River’s proper proportions by adding or removing Love or Power Sages as needed, and such Sages do not require reconfirmation to return to their duties. In such circumstances, priority will be placed upon those Sages needed to carry out the current slate of cases before the River, with extensive expertise and tenure playing the key roles in deciding who remains.
To easily identify these foundational categories of affiliation, both a season and color are assigned to each category: Power, blue winter; Mixture, green spring; Love, red summer; and Wandering, black autumn. This color motif extends to the membership of the Cult, who are encouraged to use such styles in any tattoos, art, or other media the members may produce.
Instead of a leader, CEO, or even a fixed governing council, the Novel Universe Cult uses scientific principles based on neural networks to simulate the function of a brain – a single mind emerging from its countless parts. In order to create the River’s singular voice in real time, NUC uses technology in tandem with our neural-democracy to nimbly aggregate and quickly unify the multitude of Inactive Sages. This unified operation of Inactive Sage members is imbued with full administrative powers, covering things like: the creation of an ISD, ability to certify / clarify information, Sage nominations, Sage assignment to or removal from cases, oversight of cases, conditions of a case’s success, compensation for our clergy, and so on.
Joining our professional clergy requires passion, training, evaluation, and confirmation. Once qualified, an Ionotropic Sage Declaration nominates the member for the Cult’s consideration. After the ISD’s time-frame successfully closes, the final step is for the Cult to vote, neural-democratically, and confirm the member as a River Sage. The total number of Sages in the Cult has more to do with the technical qualifications and contributions of individuals, rather than some predetermined need to fill a number of “job openings.” In comparison to other institutions, religious or secular, NUC may appear to have more “cooks in the kitchen” than is necessary, but that is because of our unique way of activating and inactivating our clergy, and the important role each state of activation independently plays in the River’s overall function. Financially compensated for their expert services, the clergy is designed to fulfill the wide variety of administrative responsibilities associated with any institution, including, but not limited to, logistical, welfare, and policing of policy (our spiritual “laws”).
As the Cult’s professional clergy, River Sages are paid both a yearly salary and hourly rate, although these compensations may be returned to the Cult as donations, should the Sages so desire. For instance, a Love Sage would likely have no desire or need for money, and would therefore donate their entire income to the Cult. Salaries reflect such things as: experience in their field of expertise, tenure as a Sage, and value of their ongoing participation in the River. The hourly wages Sages earn are standardized to the job at hand, and not reflective of the involved Sage(s) or their tenure. These wages are based on two factors: the difficulty of a particular case, and level of expertise required. For example, a critical case requiring a PhD with a specialized, rare skill set has a rate higher than a case with no time limit that requires nothing more than basic communication skills and common sense. As with all aspects of NUC, in general, these amounts are publicly known to the membership. Salaries are typically not intended to function as one’s primary income. However, Sages who spend a majority of their working life as an Active Sage may expect that the combination of these dual incomes constitutes a living wage.
In a singular governing body with an all-encompassing scope of authority, there’s a propensity for cliques to form among participants, corruption to erode the effectiveness of its operations, and general malfeasance to arise from every corner of the institution. To keep this in check, and protect the River’s health by preventing these conditions from taking root, a team of Inspectors General (IG) is temporarily convened with the unlimited authority to investigate the River.
Two types of IG teams exist. The first, a Case Inspectors General team, is constituted by NUC’s non-Sage membership, voicing a desire, through the passage of law, for a specific subject (case) to be looked into – for example, the suspected corrupted use of an ISD to disband a particular Tribe. The second is a Health Inspector’s General team, also comprised of non-Sages, randomly assigned in its timing, nature, and subject(s). An example assignment might be an audit of the most recently delegated cases to see if there is any inappropriate bias present.
IG members cannot be Sages or direct family members of the Sages under audit, as this would be a conflict of interest. Instead, IG members are semi-randomly chosen from Wanderers, Freemen, Citizens, and Civilians. Ideally, the cohort is a mixture of inside versus outside perspectives – those with valuable, relevant life experience with the issue at hand, and those with no such background. At the conclusion of an investigation, all information from the IG’s findings is made public to the Cult, and reforms are submitted directly as issues (not proposals) to be immediately voted on. Reforms may include the removal of a Sage(s) for cause. This process is intended for the transparent, direct, ongoing regulation of the River by the Cult’s membership.
Read our philosophy to better understand our Creed.
