OST & Scientific Method

Siona van Dijk siona at sionavandijk.com
Wed Nov 24 20:32:33 PST 2010


Juan; Harrison:

I would venture that academia as a whole exists as an institution
vaster, and more pervasive, than that which OST practitioners have
opened space within, and as such would find the necessary trust in and
mystery of the process challenging--even dangerous--to its established
structures and systems. I say this only to grant the room for each;
that is, that OST has a role in the world (an important, even
necessary, one) and yet for those systems that are still, to some
extent, functioning, the acknowledgment of shattering processes can be
unsettling at best.

I don't mean to somehow grant systems or institutions a personal
autonomy here, though, so perhaps more accurately, those within such
organizations might not wish to be the ones to point to an alternate
process or route, or might shy from a too-broad espousing of something
that, in my view, can't be entirely grasped by the intellect, nor
explained away. To me OST is--necessarily, and beautifully--a threat
to established order, and as such I can understand why academia may
not leap acknowledge it.

Although does it really matter? To me part of the beauty and the
success of OST is precisely that it's not been institutionalized or
owned; to me such necessary outsides ought be tended to and furthered.
My sense is that if academia "catches up" it will no longer be
academia--and although that's fine with me I'm not sure many academics
would be overjoyed. ;)

Siona

On Wed, Nov 24, 2010 at 7:10 PM, JL Walker <jlwalker at terra.cl> wrote:
> Thanks you Harrison.
>
> In a way then we could ask the following questions:
>
> Is it possible that the scientific method can also may account for the
> results of the Open Space Technology, if groups of academic interest permit,
> although it is not so clear that they would be suitable for them?
>
> How to understand then that something that has been repeated over 100,000
> times in over 140 countries for over 25 years do not possess adequate
> documentation from the standpoint of scientific method?
>
> Or is it rather depends on the particular characteristics of its
> practitioners who do not like or simply hate this point of view?
>
> Or is there some scientific research efforts that heretofore are unknown or
> has not been published yet?
>
> Appreciatively,
>
> Juan Luis
>
> http://www.espacioabierto.net
>
>
>
> De: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] En nombre de Harrison
> Owen
> Enviado el: martes, 23 de noviembre de 2010 14:34
> Para: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> Asunto: Re: [OSLIST] OST & Scientific Method
>
>
>
> Juan – I would not hold my breath. To the best of my knowledge, the academic
> community has totally avoided Open Space, even though there have been
> multiple OS held within the sacred walls of Academe. Just two weeks ago I
> helped the Arkansas State University to get on with their Strategic Plan.
> The lack of scientific evidence did not seem to bother them much. Of course
> you could offer him the opportunity for an academic scoop, if he has the
> courage. After all when you have done something in excess of 100,000 times
> in 140 countries, over 25 years – one might suspect that something useful
> has been going on. All without benefit of the wisdom of academia. Maybe
> someday they will catch up?
>
>
>
> Harrison
>
>
>
> Harrison Owen
>
> 7808 River Falls Dr.
>
> Potomac, MD 20854
>
> USA
>
> Phone 301-365-2093
>
> www.openspaceworld.com
>
> www.ho-image.com (Personal Website)
>
> To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of
> oslist at listserv.boisestate.edu:
>
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>
>
>
> From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of JL Walker
> Sent: Tuesday, November 23, 2010 12:10 PM
> To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> Subject: OST & Scientific Method
>
>
>
> Dear Friends
>
>
>
> Yesterday I shared a coffee with a colleague who is one of the greatest
> exponents of positive psychology in Chile. My interest was to motivate him
> to know how is that an open space experience brings out the best of a human
> being and thus allows for experiencing many of the theoretical concepts that
> he manages. Great was my surprise when he said he was not interested in
> anything that was not strictly and rigorously related to the scientific
> method and that before he can accept my invitation, he first needed to know
> some scientific publications which demonstrate "objectively" the benefits
> and results of the methodology.
>
> What would you respond to him? What are the sources or scientific research
> on Open Space to which we could refer him?
>
> I know that this issue has been discussed here in some way before, but I
> would love now that you could refresh my memory and my knowledge in all of
> this matter.
>
>
>
> Hugs,
>
>
>
> Juan Luis
>
>
>
> PS: I know also that Frederik Wortmann from Boscop in Berlin is working just
> now on his thesis with this optical, but I don't know about the details and
> his results.
>
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