Givens (was: Already-thereness, Empowerment and Such)

Jack Ricchiuto jack at designinglife.com
Sun Mar 2 05:27:09 PST 2003


Give-ins vs. givens - great distinction Chris.  I still rely on my friend
Virginia Postrel's distinctions (in The Future And Its Enemies) about
stasists and dynamists - those who live to expect and protect
change-lessness and those who expect and live for change.  The nature of any
given is shaped by those perceiving it: stasists see givens as permanent
while dynamists see them as impermanent.

thanks,  Jack

_______________________________________________
Jack Ricchiuto / 216.288.9431
web: http://www.designinglife.com/   blog: http://www.gassho.blogspot.com/

-----Original Message-----
From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU]On Behalf Of Chris
Corrigan
Sent: Sunday, March 02, 2003 6:32 AM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: Re: Givens (was: Already-thereness, Empowerment and Such)

Yes Bernd, my point was that the Wright brothers, having fully
understood the givens, figured out how to fly.  I recently read that
only weeks before they did this, the New York Times published an
editorial saying that humans would never fly.  Seems to me to be a prime
example of what I'm talking about.

This case is in fact an eloquent example of what I mean now when I say
that the real "givens" are empowering and the false ones are
disempowering.  Dealing with real givens, we can work around them, bring
to bear all the creativity and ingenuity of the human spirit alone or in
groups to figure out solutions that include and transcend the givens.
But I believe that the hardest givens to overcome are the ones that
aren't even real: the stories we tell ourselves about why we can't do
things.  In that case, empowerment finally comes when one sees that the
stories are simply stories, and not reality at all.

To put it on a bumper sticker, it's the difference between "givens" and
"give-ins"

Eh?

Chris


---
CHRIS CORRIGAN
Consultation - Facilitation
Open Space Technology

Bowen Island, BC, Canada
http://www.chriscorrigan.com
chris at chriscorrigan.com


>  -----Original Message-----
>  From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of WB-
>  TrainingConsultingDevelopment
>  Sent: Tuesday, February 25, 2003 6:44 AM
>  To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
>  Subject: Re: Givens (was: Already-thereness, Empowerment and Such)
>
>  Has nothing to do with open space,
>  just a note for science-metaphor using freeks:
>  ------------
>
>  Chris,
>
>  I like your argument
>  but your example is only good in the sense of a metapher.
>
>  f you look at the real history of technology, the Wright- brothers'
(and
>  other genial technical engeneer's) approach was not the one you
>  described. Yet they flew.
>  The point is, that you forgot that there was another fact-or in the
game
>  you unduely reduced complexity
>  Air: they did not invent ballistic rockets (for which your argument
would
>  be right)
>  But they used aerodynamics against gravity in their art (greek:
téknè) of
>  flying
>
>
>
>  On Tue, 18 Feb 2003 14:14:18 -0800, Chris Corrigan wrote:
>  Without getting esoteric, one can WANT to fly, but if one advances
>  efforts to do so without admitting that gravity is a force to be
>  reckoned with, one won't get very far.  However, if one accepts that
>  gravity is real and can be absolutely known and that it is a true
>  given, then one can accommodate gravity in one's quest to fly.  "Okay
>  then" one would think, "I need to make something that accelerates me
>  away from the earth with more force than gravity can exert on me."
>  This is profoundly more empowering thought than "Screw it, gravity is
>  too strong.  I'll never fly."  It is more empowering because it
>  actually leads one to flight.
>
>  *
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