We will now look at how the abilities of several persons within a group can mutually support each other. For this purpose we will imagine that these people are jointly working on a task.
Let‘s consider first a group of several people with spheres of the same colour, i.e. all members of the group are pursuing amongst other things the same objective X. Let’s first remind ourselves again of the definition of the model: Inside the sphere are the fully-trained abilities to achieve the goal X. The size of the sphere is a measurement of the already developed ability to achieve this goal X.
Figure 11: Overlapping spheres
The similar-coloured spheres of the participating people will often overlap. If two spheres are positioned beside one another so that for example the areas with 50% illumination overlap, then the overlapped area will be fully illuminated in the corresponding colour (hatched area in Figure 11). The area, which is thus fully illuminated through the group together, can therefore under certain circumstances be significantly greater than the area of the individual spheres. The abilities of a group can therefore be greater than the sum of all the abilities of the individual members of this group.
We know of this through our day-to-day life: Many tasks can only be jointly accomplished by a group of people whose abilities mutually complement each other. If for example the task is to carry away a load weighing 250 kg, then 3 people whose individual carrying capacity is 100 kg cannot achieve anything alone. However together they will be able to carry away this load.
What has been demonstrated in this example with physical abilities (strength), is naturally also valid in the intellectual area. In exactly the same way people can supplement each other as far as intuitive perception is concerned and hence they can jointly assess additional information.
This mutual addition of peoples‘ abilities has been used to benefit mankind from time immemorial. In particular the more complex problems are solved by groups of people. Today we use fine-sounding terms for this: We have brainstorming sessions, arrange conferences, meetings, discussions etc. in order to find solutions to particular problems.
We can however also observe similar phenomena in nature, for example in the case of animals the navigational abilities of swarms of birds and fish, the joint hunting of certain predators etc.
In the chapter on the interaction with nature we will again find evidence that we human beings often make use of this «group formation» with nature unconsciously. The white sphere of awareness basically exists in all beings. For this reason additional intuitive abilities are available in the healthy natural world, for example in a forest, on a sea or in the mountains. It is therefore worthwhile making difficult decisions in peace and quiet in a natural setting!
In conclusion we would again like to emphasize that self-responsibility does still exist in a group in spite of all this: We are also fully responsible for those decisions which we make within a group. This responsibility cannot be shared out like a cake but instead remains with the person or persons who made the respective decision.
Other people, or in general all beings, can help us in making the decision, in that within a group additional abilities are available. Amongst other things we can also by this means assess additional information in intuitive ways. We must not however confuse this help with the division of responsibility.