The birth of a research community here on The World Cafe Online Community - The World Cafe Community2024-03-19T05:13:19Zhttp://www.theworldcafecommunity.org/forum/topics/the-birth-of-a-research?groupUrl=worldcafefieldingresearchgroup&commentId=3306069%3AComment%3A23768&groupId=3306069%3AGroup%3A3161&feed=yes&xn_auth=noMy work is founded on Luhmann…tag:www.theworldcafecommunity.org,2010-05-30:3306069:Comment:241622010-05-30T23:32:03.307ZJohn Inmanhttp://www.theworldcafecommunity.org/profile/JohnInman
My work is founded on Luhmann. Why is it important to my work? the elements of a social systems are the conversations which are autopoetic. Fits within my framework nicely. Yet he is extremely difficult to read. He specifically wrote it to be difficult and he succeeded. I tend to like clear and direct language. Sociologists, particularly those from the German tradition are a challenge to read. I think that there must be a belief that to be a sociologist one must be obscure.
My work is founded on Luhmann. Why is it important to my work? the elements of a social systems are the conversations which are autopoetic. Fits within my framework nicely. Yet he is extremely difficult to read. He specifically wrote it to be difficult and he succeeded. I tend to like clear and direct language. Sociologists, particularly those from the German tradition are a challenge to read. I think that there must be a belief that to be a sociologist one must be obscure. "Luhmann is daunting to say t…tag:www.theworldcafecommunity.org,2010-05-29:3306069:Comment:241012010-05-29T15:40:10.012ZTodd Ramage Wolfhttp://www.theworldcafecommunity.org/profile/ToddRamageWolf
"Luhmann is daunting to say the least." - Pretty funny statement considering Luhmann's work was built around autopoiesis ... the process of reproduction from elements previously filtered from an over-complex environment ... How do we create a zone of reduced complexity that promotes a continuous self-creating system of the selection and rejection of ideas while addressing the process dilemma of disintegration/continuation? What is meaningful? Who decides what is meaningful? What is significant?…
"Luhmann is daunting to say the least." - Pretty funny statement considering Luhmann's work was built around autopoiesis ... the process of reproduction from elements previously filtered from an over-complex environment ... How do we create a zone of reduced complexity that promotes a continuous self-creating system of the selection and rejection of ideas while addressing the process dilemma of disintegration/continuation? What is meaningful? Who decides what is meaningful? What is significant? What is relevant? Persistently persevere the pe…tag:www.theworldcafecommunity.org,2010-05-29:3306069:Comment:240982010-05-29T15:15:32.614ZTodd Ramage Wolfhttp://www.theworldcafecommunity.org/profile/ToddRamageWolf
Persistently persevere the perplexity by simplifying the complexity ... a thousand pictures a word can inspire... a thousand perceptions a word will require ... if one doesn't work than the next may be nearer to painting that picture that makes things much clearer.
Persistently persevere the perplexity by simplifying the complexity ... a thousand pictures a word can inspire... a thousand perceptions a word will require ... if one doesn't work than the next may be nearer to painting that picture that makes things much clearer. Persistently persevere the pe…tag:www.theworldcafecommunity.org,2010-05-29:3306069:Comment:240972010-05-29T15:15:16.536ZTodd Ramage Wolfhttp://www.theworldcafecommunity.org/profile/ToddRamageWolf
Persistently persevere the perplexity by simplifying the complexity ... a thousand pictures a word can inspire... a thousand perceptions a word will require ... if one doesn't work than the next may be nearer to painting that picture that makes things much clearer.
Persistently persevere the perplexity by simplifying the complexity ... a thousand pictures a word can inspire... a thousand perceptions a word will require ... if one doesn't work than the next may be nearer to painting that picture that makes things much clearer. Thank you Ria. Luhmann is dau…tag:www.theworldcafecommunity.org,2010-05-29:3306069:Comment:240962010-05-29T14:59:28.677ZJohn Inmanhttp://www.theworldcafecommunity.org/profile/JohnInman
Thank you Ria. Luhmann is daunting to say the least. I think that I finally have enough research of his sources to reread and better understand his work. Yes I think we are on the verge of something. Very exciting. A passion for this research does not need to be situated in an educational institution. I appreciate your voice!<br />
<br />
John
Thank you Ria. Luhmann is daunting to say the least. I think that I finally have enough research of his sources to reread and better understand his work. Yes I think we are on the verge of something. Very exciting. A passion for this research does not need to be situated in an educational institution. I appreciate your voice!<br />
<br />
John I love the last bit very much…tag:www.theworldcafecommunity.org,2010-05-29:3306069:Comment:240822010-05-29T12:42:02.092ZRia Baeckhttp://www.theworldcafecommunity.org/profile/RiaBaeck
I love the last bit very much: "It might even transform into something beyond a tool or even a community of practice--something that translates the notion of collective intelligence onto a whole new plane."<br />
<br />
Imagine when we had a kind of Maestro Conference, with special attention to all the principles of TWC? It could be useful for so many, many conversations...<br />
<br />
Wondering if Amy is in conversation with the Maestro juys around this...
I love the last bit very much: "It might even transform into something beyond a tool or even a community of practice--something that translates the notion of collective intelligence onto a whole new plane."<br />
<br />
Imagine when we had a kind of Maestro Conference, with special attention to all the principles of TWC? It could be useful for so many, many conversations...<br />
<br />
Wondering if Amy is in conversation with the Maestro juys around this... Hello John,
(just send an ema…tag:www.theworldcafecommunity.org,2010-05-29:3306069:Comment:240812010-05-29T12:34:24.092ZRia Baeckhttp://www.theworldcafecommunity.org/profile/RiaBaeck
Hello John,<br />
(just send an email about others who are interested in academic research around all this...)<br />
<br />
I love the "TWC as a autopoetic social system in the Luhmann sense", although I have never found the courage to read him (as one of my teachers would say that it is quite difficult to read)... Please keep me informed, because I have the sense that something is emerging, ready to be born... but we have to connect the dots first...<br />
<br />
The funny thing is that I am not doing a PhD, not connected…
Hello John,<br />
(just send an email about others who are interested in academic research around all this...)<br />
<br />
I love the "TWC as a autopoetic social system in the Luhmann sense", although I have never found the courage to read him (as one of my teachers would say that it is quite difficult to read)... Please keep me informed, because I have the sense that something is emerging, ready to be born... but we have to connect the dots first...<br />
<br />
The funny thing is that I am not doing a PhD, not connected to a research institute or university, I'm just interested in all this - and the field is in need of it! "Researching social transform…tag:www.theworldcafecommunity.org,2010-05-24:3306069:Comment:237682010-05-24T15:38:13.797ZTodd Ramage Wolfhttp://www.theworldcafecommunity.org/profile/ToddRamageWolf
"Researching social transformation through inter-generational dialogue using TWC in a living systems framework." – John Inman<br />
<br />
Reading your comment, I couldn’t help but think of the allegory of Plato’s Cave* as a metaphor for social transformation through inter-generational dialogue using TWC in a living systems framework.<br />
*Allegory of the Cave -“Plato imagines a group of people who have lived chained in a cave all of their lives, facing a blank wall. The people watch shadows projected on the…
"Researching social transformation through inter-generational dialogue using TWC in a living systems framework." – John Inman<br />
<br />
Reading your comment, I couldn’t help but think of the allegory of Plato’s Cave* as a metaphor for social transformation through inter-generational dialogue using TWC in a living systems framework.<br />
*Allegory of the Cave -“Plato imagines a group of people who have lived chained in a cave all of their lives, facing a blank wall. The people watch shadows projected on the wall by things passing in front of a fire behind them, and begin to ascribe forms to these shadows. According to Plato, the shadows are as close as the prisoners get to seeing reality. He then explains how the philosopher is like a prisoner who is freed from the cave and comes to understand that the shadows on the wall are not constitutive of reality at all, as he can perceive the true form of reality rather than the mere shadows seen by the prisoners.”<br />
<br />
A little background information - I’ve spent a great deal of my life in the construction industry (a microcosm of community), a conscious path choice I made because of my notion that the construction industry would offer me the most diverse environment to explore and express my diverse interests. I’ve dealt with every type of person, in every type of conceived category, in every type of situation and have been situational aware of the experience and its relevance and significance to my fascination with and interest in the dynamics of community interactions. The past few years have not been kind to the construction industry. Economic conditions being what they are, I made the conscious choice to step back from the helter skelter for a while and take the time to make some sense of my life experience, contemplate its relevance, and discover its significance in respect to the concept of community. Study, thought, and conversations shared were the impetus for recalling this allegory … Prometheus giving fire back to mankind (a metaphor for my life in purpose and consequences) … which in turn catalyzed the facilitation of this experience, which is new, revealing, and never disappointing:<br />
<br />
People are sitting together at night in a quiet and secluded spot around a fire; everyone’s face a neutral grey; each identified only by their silhouettes, the sounds of their voices, and their contributions to the conversation of reflective, contemplated and expressed:<br />
<br />
thoughts about childhood: asking each other about childhood neighborhoods –relationships (father, mother, sisters, brothers, sisters, friends and associations - games, treats, chores, books, songs, television, movies – home life, school days … ~<br />
<br />
thoughts about history: thinking about important changes in your past - major events remembered - technological advances – consequences intended and unintended; philosophy, science, sociology, psychology ... ~<br />
<br />
thoughts about today: the best of times and worst of times - what is difficult, hard – what is important, relevant, significant - what is fun - changes you would like to see in your life and things you wouldn’t do any differently - problems of the world today - your needs, wants and desires … ~<br />
<br />
thoughts about the future: contributions that would make the world a better place - the major pros and cons of life in every category of identity; being young, maturing, aging and being old; being a student of the world how students and older folks can help one another – what does it all mean … ~<br />
<br />
Just a thought. Given the philosophical tenor…tag:www.theworldcafecommunity.org,2010-05-24:3306069:Comment:237652010-05-24T13:08:36.158ZBen Robertshttp://www.theworldcafecommunity.org/profile/BenjaminRoberts
Given the philosophical tenor of this conversation, I may be my thoughts in the wrong place, but they seemed worth offering up anyhow...<br />
<br />
I had a vision over the weekend, arising out of my nascent efforts at hosting WC using Maestro Conference. While this platform is adequate for the bare bones requirements of TWC in a conference call format, it leaves much to be desired. I thus began an email to Tim Bonnemann, who has been cataloging existing virtual resources for collaborative work (…
Given the philosophical tenor of this conversation, I may be my thoughts in the wrong place, but they seemed worth offering up anyhow...<br />
<br />
I had a vision over the weekend, arising out of my nascent efforts at hosting WC using Maestro Conference. While this platform is adequate for the bare bones requirements of TWC in a conference call format, it leaves much to be desired. I thus began an email to Tim Bonnemann, who has been cataloging existing virtual resources for collaborative work (<a href="http://participatedb.com/" target="_blank">http://participatedb.com/</a>) and also developing his own platform, "<a href="http://zilino.com/" target="_blank">Zilino</a>," with the idea of asking about tools that I could combine with Maestro to improve the virtual WC process. But as I began creating a wish list of capabilities, my thinking shifted.<br />
<br />
Rather than grafting together various software to form a WC "toolkit," why not create a dedicated WC platform? And as I played with this idea, I began to stretch my thinking around the seven core principles and ways to bring them more fully into the virtual arena. "Setting the context," for example, via invitations that went beyond standard email, along with elegant ways to provide additional information about the cafe subject in advance.<br />
<br />
Next, I began seeing ways in which the virtual space, although in many respects an impoverished substitute for the true face to face WC experience, might in some ways elevate that experience as well. The potential for interaction both before and after the cafe is certainly one aspect of this. And the potential to create a pool of participants that are looking for various types of WC opportunities seems perhaps the most exciting. Imagine thousands of people with highly diverse backgrounds ready, on very short notice, to join a cafe. Then imagine them connecting beyond individual cafes to create ongoing meta-cafe conversations, linking one cafe to the next and cross-pollinating with other meta-cafes.<br />
<br />
It is possible that TWC could, in this way, gain an audience orders of magnitude beyond that which it currently touches. It might even transform into something beyond a tool or even a community of practice--something that translates the notion of collective intelligence onto a whole new plane. Ria I would be happy to have…tag:www.theworldcafecommunity.org,2010-05-24:3306069:Comment:237562010-05-24T00:26:27.646ZJohn Inmanhttp://www.theworldcafecommunity.org/profile/JohnInman
Ria I would be happy to have a Skype conversation with you. My call name is wetherhaven.<br />
<br />
Developing young leaders is one path. As well a focus on crossing borders and the opportunities and conflicts at the borderlands is another. Working to create cross community dialogues in 3rd world countries to help facilitate community action and social transformation is another. Positive aging and multi-generational dialogues is another. Creolization as a metaphor for TWC is another. TWC as a autopoetic…
Ria I would be happy to have a Skype conversation with you. My call name is wetherhaven.<br />
<br />
Developing young leaders is one path. As well a focus on crossing borders and the opportunities and conflicts at the borderlands is another. Working to create cross community dialogues in 3rd world countries to help facilitate community action and social transformation is another. Positive aging and multi-generational dialogues is another. Creolization as a metaphor for TWC is another. TWC as a autopoetic social system in the Luhmann sense is another. I am sure that there are more but those are on my radar. They may converge or may be separate projects.<br />
<br />
Right now we have two other PhD's other than Juanita who are in our research community. One is Fred Steier and the other is Bo Gyllenpalm. Both have done extensive research with TWC. Juanita was just notified of two new research communities interested in TWC. We have yet to talk. I have a conversation scheduled this week with one research group. We literally just found out about they 10 days ago. I can keep you apprised. Other than that, we are it as far as we know. I am associated with the Institute of Social Innovation at Fielding Graduate University where I am doing my doctoral work. Fred and Bo are associated with Fielding as well. ISI is also very supportive of our research.<br />
<br />
I will be glad to forward the contact information for the other researchers this week as I find out more about them. I would welcome your participation of course. So there you have it. :-)<br />
<br />
I hope to talk with you soon.<br />
<br />
John