Holotopia: Ten themes

H O L O T O P I A P R O T O T Y P E

The pairwise relationships between the five insights provide context for understanding and handling age-old challenges, in entirely new ways.

Governance

Cybernetics of Democracy

Cybernetics roughly means "science of governance" or "science of governability". The basic point that cybernetics has in store for us is that to be in balance or "sustainable" (Wiener uses the technical keyword "homeostasis"), a system must have some requisite structure ("feedback and control")—which our governance systems don't have. ((Formulate as Question?)) This dialog takes place in the intersection of the power structure insight (where the issue of systemic structure is linked with the issue of power) and the collective mind insight (where we see that our communication is profoundly dysfunctional—even though the new media were created to give us the kind of communication we need).

A springboard story here is about Jørgen Randers and his observation, after 40 years of frontier experience, that "we need a paradigm shift in governance". The Wiener–Jantsch–Reagan thread from the The Paradigm Strategy poster provides both the big picture and the nuances to support Randers' observation.

We really need new 'headlights'!

Culture

Ludens: A Brief History of Modernity

While we may be biologically equipped to evolve as the homo sapiens, we have in recent decades devolved to become the homo ludens—who instead of seeking knowledge to understand the world, shuns understanding and adapts by learning the rules of the 'game' and 'playing' competitively. This dialog takes place in the intersection of the collective mind insight (which tells us that we cannot really see through the complexities of our world, when we look at it 'in the light of a candle') and the socialized reality insight (which tells us that while renegade socialization has always been a core cultural issues, we have for interesting reasons surrendered our cultural defenses to the power structure).

The Nietzsche–Ehrlich–Giddens thread provides the entry point into this theme.

Science

Transdisciplinarity—Future Science

We are not talking about "science" as "what the scientists are doing" but about the larger social role "science" has acquired—as the provider of trusted and sanctioned "truth and meaning" for all of society. The role of "Grand Revelator of Modern Western Culture", as Benjamin Lee Whorf phrased it.

Here the stories of Erich Jantsch, Doug Engelbart and other progenitors of knowledge federation is brought in as evidence; and Knowledge Federation's own record of 'success' in bootstrapping academic-systemic change, which we call Quixote stunts for a reason.

To what degree has the scientific discipline become a power structure?

This is where the academic self-reflective dialog in front of the mirror takes place. Can science step through the mirror—and guide our society to a new evolutionary course?

Education

Zero to One—Future Education

By considering the future of education in the intersection of the narrow frame insight and the convenience paradox insight, we can see why, as Ken Robinson pointed out, "education kills creativity": Education has evolved as a way to socialize people to think and act within the narrow frame. As part of the power structure. Can education become a way to improve "human quality"—as our new challenges require?

The title of this conversation is borrowed from Peter Thiel's book, to point to a certain kind of creativity. We know all about taking things that already exist from one to two, and to three and up to one hundred and beyond. What we need is the capability to conceive of and create things that do not yet exist.

Can we free education from its role of socializing people into a worldview, and re-conceive it to have "human development" as goal?

Business

Business unusual

Placed in the intersection of the convenience paradox insight and the power structure insight, this conversation provides a strategically most interesting answer to the key question:

How can the holotopia overcome the existing power structure?

No conflict is needed; we can co-opt the powerful!

The key is to see that the power of the powerful is an illusory one—only borrowed from the power structure, as compensation for services. The price paid is wholeness—both personal and systemic. It is the prerogative of power structure to make us pursue "power" against our interests.

The Adbusters left us a useful keyword, "decooling"; a decooling of our popular notions of success and power is ready to take shape, in the intersection of the mentioned two insights.

Politics

How to put an end to war

By being placed in the context of the power structure insight and the socialized reality insight, this theme offers us more than hope—it points to, and develops, a way to turn the age-old competitive or combative approach to politics to a collaborative one.

Alfred Nobel had the right idea: Empower the creative people, and the humanity's problems will naturally be solved. But when applied to the cause of peace, our creativity has largely been restricted to palliative approaches (resolving specific conflicts and improving specific situations).

What would it take to really put an end to war—once and for all? And to turn political strife into collaboration?

The answer is a clear "yes"—when we see that the power structure is our true enemy; and that all of us are both part of this enemy—and united on the front to take care of it.

Buckminster Fuller's World Game provides an interesting historical precedent.

Research

The largest contribution to knowledge

What might the largest possible contribution to human knowledge be?

An academic researcher needs uncommon courage to even consider that the great work she has published may have no social impact whatsoever—because the structure of our collective mind prevents impact.

Under such circumstances, the systemic contributions to knowledge (improvements of the processes and systems by which knowledge is handled in our society) are likely to be distinctly larger than any specific ones. And that even larger contributions will be the ones that innovate the systems and processes by which those systemic solutions are updated, and allowed to evolve further.

In what way will our knowledge and our knowledge work need to change?

This conversation is about our knowledge federation proposal. By placing it in the intersection of the collective mind insight and the narrow frame insight, we point out that any real solution must comprise those two co-dependent sides, a method by which general-purpose information can be created and given the credibility now reserved for things "scientifically proven"; and a social process, where the best of our technology, and of ourselves, are combined to create a 'collective mind' that works.

Religion

Religion beyond belief

Or think about religion—which has in traditional societies served to bind each person with "human quality", and the people together into a culture or a society. But which is in modern times all too often associated with dogmatic beliefs, and inter-cultural conflicts.

When religion is, however, considered in the context provided by socialized reality and convenience paradox, a whole new possibility emerges—where religion is no longer an instrument of socialization—but of liberation; and as an essential way to cultivate our personal and communal wholeness.

A natural strategy for remedying religion-related dogmatic beliefs and inter-cultural conflicts emerges—to evolve religion further!

Art

Art has always been an instrument of cultural reproduction; and on the forefront of change.

Holotopia is an art project. We are reminded of Michelangelo painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, and in the heart of the old world order planting the seeds of the new one.

Duchamp's (attempted) exhibition of a urinal challenged what art may be, and contributed to the legacy that the modern art was built on. Now our conditions demand that we deconstruct the deconstruction—and begin to construct anew.

What will the art associated with the next Renaissance be like? We offer holotopia as a creative space where the new art can emerge.

By staging this conversation in the context of the narrow frame insight and the power structure insight, we point to two immensely fertile terrain for the new art to explore—the (means of) worldview creation, and (the means of) institutional or larger social-systemic change.

Lifestyle

One to infinity

All we know about happiness is in the interval between zero (complete misery) and one ("normal" happiness); but what about the rest?

This conversation is about the humanity's best kept secret: There are realms of thriving and fulfillment, beyond what we've experienced, or know about.

But the opportunity to develop them comes with a challenge—we must develop ways to federate the missing knowledge.

this conversation is placed in the context of convenience paradox insight, where we learn about the immense opportunities to improve our condition through lifestyle and value change; and the collective mind insight, where we learn abut the immense opportunities to improve our communication—and manifest the former.

Could this be a key to answering to Peccei's call to action to "find a way to change course", by "improving human quality?

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