The genesis of crisis and a healthy society

    03-Mar-2026
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Boro Laipubam
Information is the fundamental requirement for ecosystem balance and survival. The exchange of information enables understanding of nature from plants and animals to humans, microorganisms, and even technological systems. Every living and artificial system depends on accurate information processing to function effectively.
Information arises through understanding, experience, habits, adaptation, knowledge, and imagination. However, imbalance in information can generate crisis. These include:
· Over-information
· Misinformation
· Incomplete information
· Loss of information
Such distortions can trigger governance failures, technological breakdowns, social instability, and even biological dysfunction.
In today’s digital, hyperconnected, high-performance culture, the volume, speed, and emotional intensity of information significantly affect mental health. Information is not neutralits structure, framing, and intensity shape cognition, emotion, and behaviour.
Information in Biological Systems
Just as technology depends on user input, living organisms depend on precise information exchange.
· Plants coordinate through cellular signalling.
· Animals communicate through sensory and behavioural signals.
· Humans exchange information through verbal, non-verbal, written, and visual communication.
· Emotions can be understood as outcomes of internal biological information processing.
Information at the Cellular Level
Within the human body, information is transmitted primarily through chemical and electrical signals.
1. Nervous System (Fast Communication)
The nervous system transmits electrical impulses and neurotransmitters, enabling rapid communication across the body.
2. Endocrine System (Slow Communication)
Hormones act as chemical messengers carried in the bloodstream, regulating long-term processes such as growth, metabolism, reproduction, and stress.
3. Immune System Communication
The immune system exchanges information through:
Cytokines; Cell-to-cell contact; Antigen recognition
This coordination ensures defence against infection and maintenance of internal balance (homeostasis).
Cells Communicate with Four Types of Signals
· Autocrine Signalling
A cell sends signals to itself.
Example: Certain cancer cells use autocrine signalling to stimulate their own growth, leading to uncontrolled division.
· Paracrine Signalling
A cell sends signals to nearby cells.
Example: During wound healing, injured tissues release growth factors that stimulate neighbouring cells to divide and repair damage.
· Endocrine Signalling
Long-distance signalling via hormones in the bloodstream.
Examples: Insulin regulation of blood glucose, adrenaline during stress, growth hormone control.
· Juxtacrine (Direct Contact) Signalling
Communication occurs through direct physical contact between neighbouring cells.
Examples: Immune cell activation and heart muscle coordination via gap junctions.
Information, Disease, and Crisis
Disruption in biological information signalling whether through excess, deficiency, mutation, or misinterpretationcan lead to:
· Metabolic disorders
· Autoimmune diseases
· Genetic conditions
· Neurological disorders
From foetal development to ageing, life depends on precise informational balance.
Impact of Information on Leadership
Individuals or systems that can modify or manipulate information hold power to influence direction and decision-making. The success or failure of leadership often depends on the quality, accuracy, and context of the information received.
Such information structures may influence the emergence or lack of transformative leaders and entrepreneurs. In the state, particularly where businesses are predominantly family-based, autocratic leadership structures may dominate. Limited openness in information flow can reduce innovation and shorten organisational lifespan.
For sustainable leadership information senders must communicate honestly and transparently. Information receivers must critically evaluate sources.
Credibility is often compromised when individuals exaggerate achievements or present hoax claims to gain favour with authority. True leadership thrives not merely on authority, but on transparency, adaptability, and healthy information circulation.
Information and Time:
Information and time share a dynamic relationship. As time passes, information either becomes history or loses relevance. Timely communication is therefore essential for maintenance, strategic thinking, and effective decision-making.
Correcting cellular signalling mechanisms is central to modern medical advances. The future of medicine may involve refining biological information systems to reduce disease burden, extend lifespan, and enable new frontiersincluding superhuman and space colonisation.
Information travels rapidly approaching the speed of light in digital systems. As artificial intelligence and quantum computing accelerate information exchange, humanity faces both opportunity and risk.
If information speed and filtration are not ethically managed, crises may intensify. However, if controlled wisely, refined information systems could enhance global health, leadership, innovation, and societal stability.
Information is neither inherently beneficial nor harmful. Its impact depends on:
· Accuracy
· Volume
· Speed
· Interpretation
· Ethical management
From cellular communication to leadership systems and global technology, the quality of information determines whether societies experience crisis or harmony.
A healthy society, like a healthy cell, depends on balanced, transparent, and well-regulated information flow.

The writer is a Pharmacist