Some unwritten pressupositions of OST

WB-TrainConsult wb-trainconsult at gmx.net
Tue May 28 23:34:22 PDT 2002


Hi Artur,

great new thread you are opening here!

Looking at the pressupositions has always marked an essential point
in the development of thinking&acting traditions. A point which marks
maturing in the sense of overcoming naive & naturalistic approaches.
Typical examples are physics (and some of the pressupositions you
have pointed at, are physical ones (e.g. volume is not zero, no body
at two places at the same time, movement needs time) and the
development of mathematics based itself on the externalization of its
implicit pressupositions from the very beginning, as far as I know.

Looking at the pressupositions facilitates to come to a better
trans-cultural understanding, especially if we see knowledge systems
as sub-cultures.

Especially your point about "us beeing animals" seems very rich for
me. Because especially the occidental thinking usually "forgets"
(supresses) this basic condition of our communication.

It makes clear, that communication with all its sensorial aspects is
a lot richer, than what you perceive, if you see it as only a
confrontation of heads (mental-map-carriers). I think there is a lot
to explore in relation to that point. This has a lot to do with the
info-overload, infoxication as Wurman called it, because our capacity
to integrate sensorial informations is basically our animal
inheritance.

I think that is also the basic point in your different FEELING of IRC
and Meta-Net, you expressed in your answer to Chris. For me it seems
to be a difference in dealing with the "sensorial deprevation"
aspect.

I feel very much the same way as you: it tried IRC ans Metanet and
had the impression of a "Simulacrum" of being within, which just did
not feel right.

The nice thing with a list like oslist, or egroups is that it IS
asynchronous, I think. The difference to physically beeing together
in a room is clearly evident. And this gives more time for
contemplation. Although I sometimes react immedeately, when I read a
posting in the oslist (right now, for example), it is easier to stay
lurking at the emergent pattern of the discussion and try giving a
contribution on basis of the perception of this emergent pattern.
This is quite difficult in IRC.

I now understand my own aversive reaction better than before. Nice
isn't it?

Artur, I am really greatful and looking forward to a rich discussion.

Bernhard



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On Tue, 28 May 2002 18:30:09 +0100, Artur Ferreira da Silva wrote:
Hello dear friends:

No, this is not a reflection about VOSonVOS. It is a reflection about
OST, based on a personal and incomplete experience with what has been
called Virtual OS (an the memory of many old experiences with BBS's
and
WWWboard)

I think that there are some "principles" (or "principles-like" or
"presuppositions")
that have never been written because they are obvious and need not be
clarified
in a normal OST meeting, where people really meet together). But they
need
to be
clarified - and probably one must find "virtual" equivalents to them
-
if
one wants to
have virtual conferences that are meaningful and OST-like.

I will call them "presuppositions" (things that are present but have
not been
made explicit - and probably need not to be - because they always
happen
in normal OST settings.

Presupposition 1 - Human beings have volume!

(The volume implies that they can be seen by others and by oneself;
that when
They enter (or leave) a room everybody will understand that this
particular
volume
Has entered (leaved) the room.

Presupposition 2 - Human beings are animals

(they can see the others, the others' movements; feel the warmth of
others,
interpret many signals that we transmit to each other  - as the other
animals do
to each other of the same species).

Presupposition 3 - In OST the non-verbal signals that people transmit
to
each other
are vital ingredients as important (more important?) as the law and
principles.

Presupposition 4 - People (volumes) cannot be in two places (rooms)
at the
same
time

Presupposition 5 - To go from one session to another people have to
LEAVE the
first one (and that will be noticed by everyone that is there - and
before
leaving
one knows that the others can see that), to spend some time WALKING
from one
place to another (they are NOT real bumblebees - the bumblebee
metaphor is
just
that - a metaphor) and then ENTERING the new room (again, being seen
by
everybody that is there).

Presupposition 6 - if one is speaking in a room the others must be
listening - if not,
no one will understand and everyboby will leave - if no one is
listening
there is no
communication.

Presupposition 7 - Each person that is speaking in a room can see the
others
and their non-verbal reactions.

Presupposition 8 - except in very special conditions, there can't be
two
different
discussions at any time in one single "room"

Presupposition 9 - The fact that a new break out session is scheduled
for
the same
room implies that the current session has to stop (or be
renegotiated). The
principle "When its over..." is enforced by the physical conditions
of the
conference
and the natural tendency to continue "saying nothing" (as it happens
in many
meetings") is impossible.

(to be continued - and revised)

Regards

Artur

PS: As Wurman once wrote, in the information age the main problem of
any
person is information anxiety, information overload, shat sometimes
is
called "infoxitation". We need tools that help us avoid infoxication.

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