[OSList] Fwd: Summer research project idea: 'self organisation'

Mon Dec 1 14:12:48 PST 2014

Harrison kindly pointed out to me that I sent the following message only to
him, and not all, so here it is again..... :)

Julie

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Julie Smith <jsmith at mosquitonet.com>
Date: Mon, Dec 1, 2014 at 6:31 AM
Subject: Re: [OSList] Summer research project idea: 'self organisation'
To: Harrison Owen <hhowen at verizon.net>

Dear Harrison ~

I can see how we could legitimately refer to gangs as “brothers” in the
very same way that Thich Nhat Hahn wrote about pirates in Call Me By My
True Names (http://www.quietspaces.com/poemHanh.html), but if we look
around and see that we are, indeed, careening toward mutual
self-destruction, we might also see that it is imperative that we find out
what is happening, and why, and what we might do about it.  And we should
probably do that before it is too late.

Ken Wilber raised awareness of many useful ideas, among them research
related to adult human development.  Wilber was reluctant to talk about
“higher” and “lower” development because people resist those kinds of
ideas.  We are in a time when egalitarian points of views hold much sway.
But he defined “higher” and “lower” in a way that may be useful to this
discussion.  Wilber said any of us can easily recognize “higher” human
development because “higher” development always reflects an embrace of
more: more humanity, more beings, more of all.  So a person who cares about
himself is at one level, at a higher level she cares about family, then
community, then nation, then world, then planet.  Something like that.  So
call a gang “brothers” if you like, but those “brothers” are killing others
of our brothers and sisters and children.  This is not neutral.  It is
wrong.  Wrong for those who are being killed, and wrong for those doing the
killing.  It is a sickness.  The sickness is rooted in other sickness that
permeates our world, and all of it needs to be addressed.  The only being
that can address it is us, understanding and acting as
everybody-all-at-once.

Julie

On Dec 1, 2014, at 5:54 AM, Harrison Owen <hhowen at verizon.net> wrote:

Julie – I rather suspect that self organization covers a much larger
territory than the more limited range of preferred outcomes we might
choose. Gangs and Cancer would be cases in point. What you call a gang, I
might call “brothers.” And were you to interview a cancer cell, I suspect
it would report that it was doing just what it was supposed to. Both gangs
and cancer are very much a part of what we call “Life,” even if that Life
does not proceed exactly as we might wish it to. And it is all self
organizing, I do believe.

Harrison

Winter Address
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Potomac, MD 20854
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Summer Address
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Camden, ME 04843
207-763-3261

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*From:* OSList [mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org
<oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org>] *On Behalf Of *Julie Smith via
OSList
*Sent:* Monday, December 01, 2014 2:35 AM
*To:* John Baxter; World wide Open Space Technology email list
*Subject:* Re: [OSList] Summer research project idea: 'self organisation'

Hi John ~
The more I’ve been thinking about the relationship between self-organizing
with self-correcting and self-rightening, the more complex it all looks.
Take cancer for example, or gangs.  Are these both examples of
self-organization?  Self-organization that is destructive (not
self-correcting or self-rightening) rather than constructive?  So maybe
self-organizing is not inherently good, but is only good if done in a way
that is self-rightening and self-correcting?
As for Adi Da’s use of the term “system”, note that he talks about bits of
the system in 6.2 and then references the system as a totality in 6.6.
This essay is about the bits interfering with the totality.  Exactly like
cancer, or gangs.  This fragmentation of bits in opposition to the totality
is a key aspect of what there is to understand.  In another part of the
book, Adi Da says “fragmentation leaves people open to being controlled and
manipulated…. fragmentation is what power-seekers exploit….”

The totality of humankind has not yet recognized itself (ourselves) as a
single system.  We, everybody-all-at-once, do not yet see ourselves as a
single totality, a single system.  Because we are not acting as a single
system, we have not yet identified the rules and accountability that would
enable our continued co-existence.  *Not-Two Is Peace* was written to help
us see humanity as a single system that has the power and the
responsibility to act for the common good.  If we don’t participate in this
expanding awareness and responsibility, we will continue careening downhill
with a stave in the wheels, headed toward destruction.

My comments are my best understanding in this moment, but they fall far
short of the teaching in *Not-Two Is Peace,* which is profound.  I typed in
just that one brief essay.  The book contains a great deal more.

Julie

On Nov 30, 2014, at 9:16 PM, John Baxter <john at jsbaxter.com.au> wrote:

Hi Julie

An interesting and very engaging essay.  I could imagine a substantial
discussion from ruminating on it.

I am inclined to analytically 'umbrella' self righting and self correcting
as examples of self organisation... but I would be pleased for this to
prove simplistic.  They both look like 'self organisation towards a
particular end' (righting / correcting).

I have some reservation with the quote you pull out... the message is
solid, but it confuses 'the system'... 'the system' cannot be bypassed, as
it encompasses every effort to bypass it... by intersecting with the
system, an intervention becomes part of it.  What is bypassed is the
*formal* system, the rules and structures.

Still the messages are solid and that's going straight into the bookmarks
re consideration of global self organisation.

Cheers

*John Baxter*
*Cocreation Consultant & ****Co****Create Adela**ide Facilitator*
jsbaxter.com.au <http://www.jsbaxter.com.au/> | CoCreateADL.com
<http://cocreateadl.com/>
0405 447 829
 | 
@jsbaxter_ <http://twitter.com/jsbaxter_>

*Thank you to everyone who came, helped or spread the good word about City
Grill!*
*Summary and links: cocreateadl.com/localgov/grill-summary/
<http://cocreateadl.com/localgov/grill-summary/>*

On Sun, Nov 30, 2014 at 4:47 AM, Julie Smith <jsmith at mosquitonet.com> wrote:
Dear all ~

In *Not-Two Is Peace* Adi Da sometimes lists self-organizing with
self-rightening and self-correcting in a way that infers these are
complementary concepts.  I wonder if in some ways these terms are
interchangeable.  I’m thinking about this question because I recently
noticed this statement about the relationship between systems and
self-correction:

“Systems self-correct, but when you bypass the system, as is now the case
globally, then the system cannot correct itself anymore.  It is just
careening downhill with a stave shoved in the wheels.  It is inevitable
that it is going to self-destruct.”

The context for this comment is an essay on rightening the current global
instability, but perhaps there is something in the essay that may move the
more general conversation about self-organization forward.  This is a brief
essay, so I’ll share it in its entirety here for anyone who might be
interested:

*On Establishing Rules of Participation For A Global Cooperative Order*

6.1  Presently, the international community has no effective way of dealing
with geopolitical issues, because it is fundamentally about “tribes” in
competition with one another.  There is no force that embodies everybody
and that, therefore, can effectively deal with the system as a whole.

6.2  Bits of the system are always confronting one another.  Therefore,
those who hold out or want to “play it hard” wind up controlling the whole
system.

6.3  In general, the so-called “big powers” are bypassing rules and playing
for dominance.  But everybody is playing their part in the “tribal”
struggle-game, which is not in the interest of humankind, and it is not
survivable.

6.4  Rules and accountability are essential for any system.  Any notion
that you can bypass such accountability is a lie in the name of serving
some kind of “self”-interest.  And this disposition is creating every
crisis.

6.5  Systems self-correct, but when you bypass the system, as is now the
case globally, then the system cannot correct itself anymore.  It is just
careening downhill with a stave shoved in the wheels.  It is inevitable
that it is going to self-destruct.

6.6  Therefore, the international power-struggles have to be replaced by a
systems-based order with rules and limits established.  It is only when the
system can represent itself as a totality and keep its rules in front of
everyone that the system can correct itself.

6.7  A rational and positive global situation requires rules for
participation, based on global interdependence and prior unity—rather than
being based on nation-states or other groups engaging in reactive measures
in the face of being provoked or (otherwise) acting aggressively to extend
their influence.

6.8  The process for dealing with global realities should not be merely
punitive.  Rules for participation should be established—and then doors
would be either opened or closed, based on whether any given nation-state
or other entity abides by those rules.

6.9  Participation should be the one thing everybody values—not
competition, not dominance and victory over all, but participation in a
global system that allows every nation-state, every human domain, to
survive and enjoy essential well-being and the growth potential and
benefits of participation in the whole.

6.10  The rules of participation in the global community should not be
arbitrary, or set up to favor certain parties over others.  The rules of
participation should establish positive and equal participation for
everyone, with no double standards that require some to obey the rules
while others do not.

6.11  The Global Cooperative Forum is the system of everybody-all-at-once
reasserting itself and establishing rules of participation that put all
matters of global business equitably on the table—including matters of
severe chronic conflict, competition for resources, degradation of the
environment and disruption of weather-patterns, poverty, disease, and so
forth.

6.12  Right rules of participation will establish an entirely different
principle than nation-state competitiveness.  It will allow humankind as a
whole to become a functioning system—a system to which all parties get
access by fulfilling certain obligations and responsibilities, which apply
everywhere.

The full text of *Not-Two Is Peace *is available through bookstores, via
Kindle download, or at http://www.da-peace.org.

All best wishes ~

Julie

On Nov 29, 2014, at 6:46 AM, Harrison Owen via OSList <
oslist at lists.openspacetech.org> wrote:

John – the literature on self organization is massive, and to be honest a
number of years have passed since I felt myself to be marginally informed.
That said, there are three books that I found to be most helpful, and all –
to the best of my knowledge – are still in print. In historical order they
are: “Order out of Chaos,” Ilya Prigogine, “Chaos,”  James Gleick, and “At
home in the Universe” Stuart Kauffmann. I would suggest starting with
“Chaos” – which is the best written and pulls together lots of wonderful
strands.

Harrison

Winter Address
7808 River Falls Drive
Potomac, MD 20854
301-365-2093

Summer Address
189 Beaucaire Ave.
Camden, ME 04843
207-763-3261

Websites
www.openspaceworld.com
www.ho-image.com
OSLIST To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of
OSLIST Go to:
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*From:* OSList [mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org
<oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org>] *On Behalf Of *John Baxter via
OSList
*Sent:* Friday, November 28, 2014 10:49 PM
*To:* Daniel Mezick; World wide Open Space Technology email list
*Subject:* Re: [OSList] Summer research project idea: 'self organisation'

Great idea Daniel

Stigmergy I am familiar with (from Mark et al from Collabforge in Melbourne
- did his PhD on stigmergy and collaboration! Public book in the works
now), but I know there is much more there.

The main references to self organisation in the sciences I have come across
so far, I have not been able to track down due to being out of print and
the like...

Tracking down such refs and mapping the gems from them is exactly the kind
of thing I imagine myself doing over summer.

I've now saved those links to my reference list : )

If anyone can recommend a good primer or iconic text in self-org systems
from the sciences (or otherwise) I'd appreciate your recommendation.

Cheers

*John Baxter*
*Cocreation Consultant & ****Co****Create Adelaide Facilitator*
jsbaxter.com.au <http://www.jsbaxter.com.au/> | CoCreateADL.com
<http://cocreateadl.com/>
0405 447 829
 | 
@jsbaxter_ <http://twitter.com/jsbaxter_>

*Thank you to everyone who came, helped or spread the good word about City
Grill!*
*Summary and links: cocreateadl.com/localgov/grill-summary/
<http://cocreateadl.com/localgov/grill-summary/>*

On Fri, Nov 28, 2014 at 10:50 PM, Daniel Mezick via OSList <
oslist at lists.openspacetech.org> wrote:
There are many well-established words that are used to more precisely
discuss self "organization" in the biological and social sciences. I wonder
if actively using some of these well-defined words might be helpful in the
discussion.

Example: stigmergy
https://www.google.com/search?q=define+stigmergy
*Stigmergy* is a mechanism of indirect coordination between agents or
actions. The principle is that the trace left in the environment by an
action stimulates the performance of a next action, by the same or a
different agent.

More details
http://www.evolutionofcomputing.org/Multicellular/Stigmergy.html
http://www.evolutionofcomputing.org/Multicellular/StigmergyAndSelf.html
http://www.evolutionofcomputing.org/Multicellular/FourPrinciples.html
http://www.evolutionofcomputing.org/Multicellular/IntertwinedPrinciples.html

Daniel

On 11/26/14 8:25 PM, John Baxter via OSList wrote:

Hello facilitators of self organisation

Let's take a moment to consider self organisation, as 'field' or 'practice'.

I am scoping a summer project at the moment (in the southern hemisphere!).

I have been reading and learning all I can about self org.  There is less
than I expected at the heart of self org practice, but much more than I
realised in intersecting fields (e.g. in governance, democracy, community
organising, management, change, systems...).  There are also unanswered Qs
about what 'self org' *is* (indeed, if it is anything at all).

It might be worthwhile formalising this, through a focused research
project, and sharing the results in a report or the like.

Possible focus questions that come to mind for me are
- what does someone need to know to say "I do self organisation"?
- what would someone need to know to be an 'expert' in self org?

Would appreciate your perspective, as a practitioner-facilitator-fellow
wave rider:

What (if anything) do you think deserves to be done?
Who should be involved in doing it?

Thank you for contributing to the quest!

*John Baxter*
*Cocreation Consultant & CoCreate Adelaide Facilitator*
jsbaxter.com.au <http://www.jsbaxter.com.au/> | CoCreateADL.com
<http://cocreateadl.com/>
0405 447 829
 | 
@jsbaxter_ <http://twitter.com/jsbaxter_>

*Thank you to everyone who came, helped or spread the good word about City
Grill *
* *
*!*
*Summary and links: cocreateadl.com/localgov/grill-summary/
<http://cocreateadl.com/localgov/grill-summary/>*

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