|
|
Interesting. I woke up this morning having decided to disallow comments in my news log. But I changed my mind when I saw some of the nice and useful stuff people had posted. And I decided instead to exercise some editorial control on the comments in my log.
I'd prefer not to. I'd rather for things to work well all by themselves. But it can be a bit irritating when a couple of people decide to hang around in order to tell me, whenever I post something, that I suck, and that whatever I stand for sucks too.
And its not that I can't handle that, and that the ensuing exchange of words isn't potentially useful for something. Not either that it really is mean people. Just folks who are a little frustrated and who somehow think it serves a social purpose to heckle me. No, the thing is that I had in mind that my newslog would serve to keep my friends and colleagues connected with what I do and what I'm thinking about.
[ Information | 2002-06-15 03:45 | | PermaLink ] More >
|
|
|
|
I'm very interested in emerging order in human systems. Meaning, self-organization amongst humans. Or, how a bunch of people might get something useful done, voluntarily, without being forced to do so. I'm most particularly interested in what might emerge amongst people of good will who are fully aware that they're free to make their own choices, and who live within a system that ensures that it remains like that.
[ Patterns | 2002-06-14 01:04 | | PermaLink ] More >
|
|
|
|
I believe one of the key roles in the building of better societies is that of what we could call a Weaver. We could say it is somebody who helps self-organization to happen, even if that sounds a little paradoxical. Somebody who notices things that are possible and assists them in emerging, by making connections where there were none.
In order to release our collective intelligence I think it is a firm requirement that creative diversity is allowed and nurtured. That people are inherently free to come up with different approaches to things, and they're free to move about and pursue them in the ways they find appropriate. In other words, a free market of ideas and activities.
But, as that will often seem rather chaotic at first glance, there's a great need for people who will assist in making what is going on clear and meaningful, and who will help new meaningful things in becoming manifest. There are probably several different distinct roles there. But let me talk a bit about the Weaver role.
[ Patterns | 2002-06-13 14:24 | | PermaLink ] More >
|
|
|
|
I try to go to some conference every month or two, to stay in touch with what is out there, and to connect with real people. The conference I just went to,
Structures for Change in Seattle, represents what I most enjoy when I go. The focus was on the people who came, not on any presenters, because there largely weren't any. And it was run by Open Space principles.
[ Diary | 2002-06-12 22:10 | | PermaLink ] More >
|
|
|
|
I'm off to Seattle for a couple of days for Structures for Change with a bunch of old and new friends from many different groups dedicated to social change, to work on what kind of structures might best support linking things together. Any suggestions?
[ Diary | 2002-06-07 04:31 | | PermaLink ] More >
|
|
|
|
 I've been concerned about my own health recently. Which is in part why I'm going and taking different kinds of tests. Maybe I'm just going through an emotional experience, maybe I'm a hypochondriac, but it is probably a good idea to get a checkup once in a while. So, today I went and got a full body CT scan. That's where pictures are taken of 1 mm slices through the body, and a computer then puts it all back together into a set of 3D pictures. Rather fascinating. For example, on the picture to the right you see my heart, in the middle, with all the arteries going out from it. It is sort of seen from above and behind. In the lower part of the picture you see my back. The yellowish part is fat, and the reddish part is muscle. They could rotate that picture around in 3D space. And there was another, animated one, showing the heart beating, with the two major aorta valves opening and closing. Don't mean to gross you out. I found it very interesting. Particularly since they couldn't see anything wrong.
[ Diary | 2002-06-07 01:19 | | PermaLink ] More >
|
|
|
|
I have for a long time believed that we need better ways of linking up what people need and want with what is offered by other people. I mean, other ways than just buying and selling stuff. My hunch is that if we really look at what resources are available, globally or locally, and we effectively match up what is there with what is needed, our whole planet can operate at a high rate of success and prosperity. And my preference for implementing that would be some kind of grassroots free market mechanism, not any central bureaucracy, whether it is corpocratic or communistic.
But there are various obstacles. One, I think, is to how to pursuade people to be clear on what they want and what they offer, to such a degree that it is possible to actually match these things up.
[ Thoughts | 2002-06-04 00:28 | | PermaLink ] More >
|
|
|
|
I continuously find Solara's surf reports to be a very reliable reading as to where the collective energies currently are. Here is the June Surf Report titled "Getting Unstuck". Oh, and Solara could use some support, so for anybody who reads these things regularly, and who can afford it, send her some help.
[ Energy | 2002-06-02 23:44 | | PermaLink ] More >
|
|
|
|
 Yesterday, as we do every year, my family and I went to the Renaissance Faire. If you don't have something like that in your area, it is a big faire in the style of Elizabethan England, the beginning of the Renaissance, in the 16th century. Everybody who works there is in authentic costumes and speaking old Elizabethan English. And the same goes for a large percentage of the visitors.
[ Diary | 2002-06-02 14:25 | | PermaLink ] More >
|
|
|
|
 One of the threads the Minciu Sodas Laboratory is exploring is that of "Working Publically". It doesn't quite reflect on the website yet, but it takes place on some of their mailing list discussion groups that I'm on. The same kind of thing is also going on on an increasing number of web logs (~news logs}, particularly amongst well-known techies on the net, like Jon Udell, Dave Winer or Adam Curry
[ Inspiration | 2002-06-01 02:34 | | PermaLink ] More >
|
|
|
|
 A friend of mine, Ron Fitch, who's trained in such things, did a brain mapping test on me today. That is where you test, with EEG equipment connected to a computer, the ratios of different types of brainwaves in different parts of the brain. The functioning of the brain is something that currently interests me, so I thought that would be fun and educational. Which it was.
[ Diary | 2002-05-31 19:40 | | PermaLink ] More >
|
|
|
|
 I believe that one of the major obstacles humanity collectively needs to overcome and master is communication between people who are different, have different ideas, different priorities, different backgrounds, different cultures, etc. In other words, how can two people who are wearing different colored glasses still share a meaningful experience with each other. How can there be meaningful dialogue between fundamentally different world views.
Below is an article from one of my processing facilitator training manuals, which tries to break down the process of communication so that it might be understood better.
[ Processing | 2002-05-31 03:21 | | PermaLink ] More >
|
|
|
|
The New Civilization Network is intended to be a place where useful connections form, where people find the collaborators and resources they need to manifest the things they dream about doing. Or, shall we say, NCN is an exploration towards creating structures that accomplish that, and that allows such teams of people to inter-connect productively with each other.
Now, as to people finding what they're looking for, there appears to be a problem. I know that some people do find important things they were looking for. But the tendendency is to leave after you do so.
[ NCN | 2002-05-30 13:23 | | PermaLink ] More >
|
|
|
|
 Last weekend I was listening to Don Beck speak at the Twilight Club's conference in Washington D.C. Don Beck and Chris Cowan are the two authors of the book Spiral Dynamics. Both are extremely inspiring speakers. Anyway, I just wanted to call the subject of Spiral Dynamics to the attention of anybody who doesn't know what it is.
[ Information | 2002-05-30 03:22 | | PermaLink ] More >
|
|
|
|
 I somehow have ended up with quite a following for my Transformational Processing materials in the Russian speaking part of the world. Which is both wonderful and sort of strange. Well, it is natural enough in that it is the only place where my books have actually been published, by a publisher, in hardcover books you can buy in a bookstore. But it is sort of odd that thousands of people read my words in Russian, and have gone out and had, often marvelous, results with thousands of clients. Odd because I often have a hard time communicating with them, but the stuff really works for them.
[ Processing | 2002-05-29 23:17 | | PermaLink ] More >
|
|
|
|
I'm often torn between whether to be diplomatic or whether to say what I think. Or, we could say, I'm exploring the space in-between.
For example, in my de facto role as a facilitator, and sometimes mediator, in the NCN community, I think I'm expected to be impartial and diplomatic. I would sort of be representing the core principles of NCN, which involves the respect for different ways of being, and the open welcome for all sorts of people, as long as they align with a very minimal set of guidelines.
But as far as my own personal views and activities go, I certainly don't believe that everything is equally valuable. I'm quite discerning and have strong opinions about many things. Some things I'm passionate about, some things I could care less about, some things I think are bad.
And it is not that I myself am confused between my different roles. Rather that I'm trying to communicate more clearly what is what, and that I'm trying to not have to hide myself.
[ Thoughts | 2002-05-25 03:46 | | PermaLink ] More >
|
|
|
|
I just realize that I'm not talking much about my counseling practice here. I suppose that's in part because I mostly talk about things I haven't quite figured out yet, and the focus of my learning is nowadays mostly in other areas.
And I can't really talk too specifically about the juicy details of my client sessions, because they're confidential. But at least I can talk about some of the principles at work once in a while.
[ Processing | 2002-05-15 19:45 | | PermaLink ] More >
|
|
|
|
Money can be a very useful thing. Its original purpose was probably to facilitate exchange. It allows you to trade things even when what you have to trade with doesn't match exactly what somebody else has to trade with. You know, you have an extra ox, but need eggs. The person who has extra eggs needs to have his roof fixed, etc. A monetary currency allows you to make an exchange, even if your items don't quite match. That assumes of course that you somehow have managed to have some money ready for when you need something. And there are various hidden issues and problems with the type of money we happen to use (fiat currency created by privately owned banks and lent out for interest). But the point I want to focus on is how the use of money tends to break down networks and communities.
[ Thoughts | 2002-05-14 22:53 | | PermaLink ] More >
|
|
|
|
 Interesting article in L.A. Times about a scientist, Stuart Newman, and his friend Jeremy Rifkin, who are challenging the patent system. They're trying to get a patent on a deliberately outrageous construction, a "humouse", something that would be half mouse and half human, in other to better define the limits in these matters, and to show how ridiculous many granted patents are.
[ News | 2002-05-12 18:34 | | PermaLink ] More >
|
|
|
|
 Here's a rather fascinating report from a panel of experts called together to figure out how to construct appropriate warning signs around a huge nuclear waste dump to be constructed in Nevada. The idea is to somehow show the importance and the significance and the danger of the site, even to people 10,000 years into the future who potentially might be living in a totally different culture, no longer speaking English or understanding our current symbols.
[ News | 2002-05-11 03:59 | | PermaLink ] More >
|
|
<< Newer stories Page: 1 ... 90 91 92 93 94 ... 97 Older stories >> |
![[Valid RSS]](http://www.newciv.org/pic/valid-rss.png "Validate my RSS feed"){kind=small}
