Holding Space in Emergent Systems

[Harrison Owen]

I am, as some may know, afflicted with the notion that all systems are 
essentially self-organizing, and that in Open Space we are basically 
dealing with one more such emergent system. Holding Space, therefore has 
something to do with the art and practice of sustaining self-organization. 
turns out we are not alone. Programers who do games of an emergent sort 
seem to be playing in the same sandbox. See the following:

“One of the pleasures of what I do,” Zimmerman tells me, over coffee near 
the NYU campus, “is that you get to see a player take what you*ve designed 
and use it in completely unexpected ways.” The designer, in other words, 
controls the micromotives of the player*s actions. But the way those 
micromotives are exploited— and the macrobehavior that they generate—are 
out of the designer*s control. They have a life of their own.

Sound a little Familiar?  For more, check out Steven Johnson's book 
"Emergence" (Scribner/2001)

Harrison


Harrison Owen
7808 River Falls Drive
Potomac, MD 20854 USA
phone 301-365-2093
Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com
Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org
Personal website http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hhowen/index.htm

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