Meeting #4 July 23, 2020

Proposed agenda:

1. Catching up with @Toni Blanco and the inputs he wanted to prepared with the previous meeting.

2. A conversation about signaling ... continuing the thread of conversation that emerged during the previous meeting.

Toni

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stigmergy

One cannot not communicate: Every behavior is a form of communication. Because behavior does not have a counterpart (there is no anti-behavior), it is impossible not to communicate.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Watzlawick

emphasis on RECEIVING signals ... because we already emit them anyway!

getting acquainted over time .. noticing patterns in people ... and noticing divergence from patterns ...

https://blog.p2pfoundation.net/the-fifteen-geometric-properties-of-wholeness/2014/03/01

"there is no innovation on social structures" quote from Gilbert Durand

"I wanted to make an intervention on Loomio ... but I did NOT HAVE TIME"

how do "agile clusters" form in Argentina? why do they emerge instead of competitive structures?

imperative <-> nice to have

mutualization of risk

relate between deceleration and mutualization ... slowing down / getting into phase into relationship

What is the offering?

after break: what is imperative?

Toni: to have something valuable and generative

Protecting (work)time

Setting/Articulating an intention

(as imperative)

First response: fuck imperative

But once you start it is imperative to finish it

"I know how to do it but I'm all alone"

correct effort

Imperative Correct effort

Emanate correct effort

Ok results, but in this context

Ain´t what you do it is the way that you do it 🎶

go towards a place of integration

doing work that I want to do, but also getting on with the work

orientation around alignment

"I care for you and I care for the space"

feeling more clearly the boundaries of the space

boundaries created intimacy

nobody was in that space but us

As I mentioned in our meeting, microsolidarity seems to make sense in the first-world kind of society of mostly accommodated individuals. "Practice solidarity in a micro-dose, it will not hurt, we promise. You will find it rewarding and useful. You still can be free. Your autonomous liberal self will not be compromised." If I had to talk about microsolidarity in a more precarious, risky, and uncertain context in which solidarity and mutual support are unavoidable for survival, I am afraid that my Ted Talk would be entitled to something like "Microsolidarity: the very idea". 

I think I am a very lucky person. As I explained in my presentation here, the Covid19 Pandemia just made my life very busy, for I had to face an important workload together with the care of my children and my suddenly dependent mom. That was the cake. For the icing, two kidney stones, and my laptop hinge broken. And I am still very happy with my life, now it is just harder so I will have to make adjustments. But look! I am back writing at midnight when my children are sleeping. If you pay attention to the Loomio group activity, despite "not having the time" for writing here because of all that, I have been one of the great contributors here in July. This is a totally and unexpected achievement that @Alex Rodriguez , @Josh Fairhead and @Ronen Hirsch made possible.  

What caught my interest in microsolidarity was the possibility of bringing to my professional life something that I have plenty of it in my personal life. I was curious to learn from others and eventually share my experience. In fact, I was already exploring that path for a year in a crew. I just called it "mutual support".     

So, talking about signals, for me the most important signals I seek in so-called professional communities are contributions that respond to being attentive to the needs of the group or its members. And what measures the commitment in solidarity (in the strong sense) of instituted groups is the mutualization of risk and actual scarce (opposed to artificially scarce) resources.

This is connected with the fact that I was raised by Tolstoi-like Christian-Anarchists parents. And as such, of course, I was antithetic to the word "imperialist" (and "imperative" for that matter), but because of Gilbert Durand and biosemiotics, I am more sympathetic now. As the etymology shows us, the imperative is not necessarily oppressive. From imperātīvus(“commanded”), from imperō(“command, order”), from im-(form of in) + parō(“prepare, arrange; intend”). For instance, in Catalan, we say "parar taula" for setting the table (for lunch or dinner). In that sense, as I mentioned, for instance, a couple of the fifteen transformations mentioned are "imperial" in that sense, for they arrange the space by combining other transformations. 

I love that Alex had the intuition to intervene at the end with that exercise that made it imperative for us to be in four different spaces and yet feel we were in the same space together in the four spaces at the same time. I have indeed been saying over and over to offer different entrance paths for different profiles but now I say fuck that for now, and If we move to a second cycle for building a beta, I would at least initiate the space on an audio-only basis. I think that it is powerful to start with the "active imagination" when creating that space. I felt that space more real than the zoom/screen, and more suitable for building together a generative space for stimulating crewing happen.   

I do not why, by our conversations made me think about something I learned in an academic conference called "social dreaming matrix". Basically, participants were told to wake up early, write down their dreams, and show up in a room before the conference day started. We were around 15 people. Chairs distributed randomly avoiding eye contact between participants. We sat down in silence with closed eyes and shared our dreams when we felt compelled to do it. After most of us did it, we intervened pointing out connections between our dreams and others' dreams, interpreting a bit that connection. It was pretty interesting. I googled and I see that it is practiced in virtual/remote environments, but I guess that different time zones make it less doable. 

Another line of thinking: I thought the other they what would be the right sequence of the Hum patterns for being a generative process? I tried also to formulate a question around each of them: 

"1. Intentionally produce counter-culture." This is about the purpose of subverting. What do we want to subvert in terms of organizational life? That creates the first boundaries and common vision.  

"2. Systematically distribute care labour." Needs/expectations may vary.  What kind of care the members of the group expect to find (therefore, offer)? 

7. Use rhythm to balance flexibility and focus. This would be about rhythm for figuring out what we would like to do and do it. So it is about thinking a generative process in terms of nested cycles. What would be a good cyclic process of production for us to crew together?

"3. Make explicit norms and boundaries". The above goes in that direction, but that should expand to more aspects, particularly in terms of conflict resolution. What are our current or foreseeable conflicts of interests and how do we solve them?

"5. Agree how you’re using your tech". This is a no-brain to me: What is our netiquette?

6. Make decisions asynchronously. What kind of decisions benefit for synchronous deliberation and which ones benefit from asynchronous deliberations?

"4. Keep talking about power". I like to see this as a result of being attentive to the previous question, but I see that examining explicitly how our organizational role affects conflict resolution. "What are the power relations anyone in the group is not comfortable with?" may be naif, but in egalitarian groups may work. I would be more attentive to unveil the lack of reflexivity of any member regarding the following question: Am I in a power relation with anyone that would make him/her hard to express that he/she feels oppressive and non-reversible?  

8. Generate new patterns together. What is the next minimum intervention through a new pattern/center that would have a greater good impact?

Looking forward to our next meeting :-)

thank you for your midnight presence @Toni Blanco :)

I was out of the game for two days, got back on my feet today. I feel a desire to share what happened to me during these two days ... but not here ... maybe during our call ... if we choose to make some time for it).

I am in awe of your ability to be "very happy with your life". I have no children that demand attention, no kidney stones, my parents are too far away for me to able to care for them, and my laptop hinges are holding up well ... and I am still not very happy with my life :) I suspect that "happiness", as obvious as it may seem, is not very solid ground to represent "state of being"!

Part 1

Your statement about "Your autonomous liberal self" spoke to me ... I feel like it embodies a precious duality:

1. That which has brought us this far and can carry us no further.

2. Potential within us to move forward in new ways.

As I've mentioned before, I am somewhat present in another online context around the work of Christopher Alexander. And in that context there are often mentions of some famous examples of beautiful architecture from the past. During one of the calls this year, someone mentioned that most of those beautiful structures were built using slave labor. And to this day, many (if not most) of the architects who try to be true to Alexander's work struggle to do so within the modern processes of construction.

This frames a question a challenging question: How can beautiful structures, like those of the past, be built without slave labor?

The answers, as pointed out by Alexander, lie not in architecture itself, not in the geometry of space, but in the social constructs and processes that form the foundations for our collective sensing and acting. (sidenote/ potentially bad news: according to Alexander this will require a shift in our most basic metaphysical assumptions about the nature of space and matter).

I have not directly experienced "solidarity for survival" so I do not know what that is like. I am assuming that many people in many cultures in many eras have experienced this. But it doesn't seem to have caught on ... it doesn't seem that that flavor of solidarity lasts.

Growing up in Israel I was exposed to, but did not buy into the indoctrination of notions like the nobility of "dying for your country". I did see its "solidarity" effects. When Israel is attacked by one its neighbors, internal divisions are seemingly set aside and the entire culture turns ferociously to face the external enemy. But that "solidary" fades very quickly ... in recent generations it doesn't even seem to last the duration of the attacks! When the enemy is "within" (as is increasingly the case!) ... that solidarity is nowhere to be found.

I (want to?) believe that our "autonomous liberal selves" - after they are stripped of their excesses and misperceptions - hold potential for something new ... a new kind of solidarity. A solidarity that isn't bound to temporary and volatile outcomes. A solidarity that emanates naturally from a deep place. A solidarity that is effortless and doesn't require understanding. A solidarity that is undeniable and unstoppable. A solidarity that comes from a place where you can't help but to care!

This echoes ethical truths ... doing the right things because it is the right thing to do, not because of what outcomes it will generate (for you or for anyone else).

This echoes the difference between Yoga as a means for healing your back pain or dealing with your low blood pressure vs Yoga as a curiosity and life practice.

This echoes the difference between being with your kids because you want to be with them vs, being with your kids because you are obliged to be with them.

This kind of (imagined?) solidarity comes from a place where you can care! There is something about the place you labeled "autonomous liberal selves" ... which, I believe, may hold a key to "a place from which you can care".

Part 2

I too enjoyed and appreciated the experience @Alex Rodriguez ushered us into. But that and your story about your "social dreaming matrix" reminded me of the need for gradual maturity.

I believe that Alex's sound experience was possible because we already had an increasingly deepening sense of each other and a context that held us together ... and just from hearing Alex's last statements during our last call ... I suspect we had some shared threads of experience in and of that space!

There is a famous Yoga asana called Savasana (pronounced SHavasana) ... known in English ss "corpse pasture" ... the physical form is lying down on your back in a rested position. I once commented to my dancer friend that for some people lying down and closing their eyes is already a big deal. He laughed at me and remarked that for some people taking off their shoes before entering a room is a big deal!

Asking people to "wake up early, write down their dreams" is a HUGE (and risky!) ask. I do not remember my dreams, so asking me to do that could have easily alienated me and made me (consciously or unconsciously self-critical). I feel that we need to find more graduality in our internal and external explorations.

Part 3

In an indirect way, reading and digesting your comment (and I intend to read it again a few more times) ... crystallized something in me. I can feel a "Japanese Tea House" of our exploration these recent weeks, brewing inside me.

With it, also comes some awareness of the conditions that may be needed for it to emerge.

Yay, I am excited about Part 3! (And I think that I found my purpose in our crew: to be this playful sometimes annoying midnight daemon that messes a little bit and inspires you ❤️)

You are right, I joined the social dreaming matrix voluntarily. I am just sharing what our conversation pops out.