When I imagine visiting some idealized collectively
intelligent community of the future, I come up with something like the
following. This vision is only one of many that are possible -- some of which
would undoubtedly be even more co-intelligent. This particular vision is shaped
by my own perspective and experience (you can tell I love good meetings!). Your
vision would undoubtedly be very different from mine -- and I encourage you to
explore what it would be like. (If you'd like to share it, I'd love to see it.)
But this one is mine, viewed from, perhaps, 40 years
hence:
Physical arrangements and structures. Homes and
offices are arranged to encourage people to interact. There are many porches,
pleasant parks and cafes, and comfortable, easily accessible public meeting
spaces with movable chairs and pillows. There are few fences and locks, and
people don't tend to spend money to be out in the world together; they do it all
the time for free.
Practices and rituals. 80% of the
members of the community participate in at least one (and usually several) of
the hundreds of "open
space" gatherings held each year. Each gathering helps people who are
passionate about some topic self-organize into groups to focus on different
aspects of that topic. At the equinoxes, community meetings are held at which
people share how connections and projects born at the open space gatherings have
helped improve the community. No longer is the community fate decided by experts
and politicians in controlled meetings, while citizens sit at home in front of
TV sets or try to distract or satisfy themselves by
shopping.
Beliefs, reality and values. Community schools
teach that each person, animal and plant has their own unique sense of reality,
which can be a valuable resource for that entity and for the communities of
which it is a part. Everyone learns that together they live in and co-generate
shared realities. The whole education system is based on the idea that it is
good for people to learn as much as they can about these realities and their
roles in them so that they can consciously and collaboratively co-create shared
realities with everyone and everything. Only the older residents remember when
reality was taken for granted -- a fixed state of affairs established by someone
or something else -- and, depending on your perspective, the highest value was
placed on fitting in, rebelling, winning or sacrificing.
The
group story. It took a long time for this community to get where it is.
People are always recounting the significant incidents along the way which
illustrate how everyone played a significant role, and how the story is still
unfolding. Gone are the days when the major topics were sports, soap operas,
movies, and big bad politics, with little shared sense of who citizens were
together.
Relationships and power. Although there are
many occasions when different people lead in areas where they are particularly
competent, we find an ethic of essential peerness and temporary power in this
community. The general view is that power is most effectively held
collaboratively --not to dominate -- and exists only to get desirable things
done, not to maintain status or ego-tripping. Most residents belong to spiritual
groups that stress the kinship of all people, which creates an atmosphere of
respect. Visitors from most other North American communities remark on how
little alienation and power-tripping they find here.
Leadership
and initiative. When children and youth come up with ideas and
possibilities, they are taken seriously. Adults explore with the young people
the strengths and weaknesses of their proposals and, when the originators want
to pursue them, the adults support that, regardless (unless, of course, they are
unduly dangerous). Organizing and networking know-how and resources are made
available to anyone who wants them. In this community, young citizens grow up
assuming that creative initiative is a natural part of individual and collective
life. People don't talk about empowerment here anymore, because that's the
normal state of affairs. No one feels unable to make an impact. (Similarly, they
don't talk about organic food. Since none of it is poisoned, it's just called
food.)
Information and feedback. A system of free,
interlinked forums (both online and face-to-face) allow for ongoing collective
reflection and feedback on virtually every aspect of community life. The primary
role of community governors is to notice problematic situations arising and to
alert and enable those involved to improve matters - which is a total reversal
of the way it used to be! Well-organized on-line records give any citizen ready
access to the understandable facts, ideas and know-how they need to make a
difference. Governance has changed so much that "out-of-touch politicians" and
"uninformed, uninvolved citizens" are just an embarrassing part of the
community's history. Kids have a hard time believing that that's the way it
was.
Collective support for individual co-intelligent
improvement. All community members tithe to a fund that supports them
taking off every seventh year for personal and/or community improvement. Grants
range from extensive funding for formal programs combining spiritual discipline
and community service, to bare necessities provided to individuals for
unstructured personal retreats. There are still some people who think that
material success and productivity are the central concerns of life and that this
tithing fund is a distraction. But there's not many of them.
Resources for the group's intelligence. The community
maintains an active search for other communities around the world who have ideas
or practices they can use to improve their collective intelligence. They send
out several teams each year to share insights and techniques with distant
communities. They don't just sit there trying to figure out all their problems
by themselves or waiting for some Higher Power to straighten things out. They
do, however, work with spiritual allies, with the intelligence of nature or with the responsive fields
of probability, depending on their individual spiritual
proclivities.
The collective field. About 3% of the
people leave each year because they can't tolerate the intense atmosphere of
conscious co-creation. The community has not viewed this as a serious problem,
since they've got an extensive waiting list of talented newcomers hungry for
this kind of culture. Few other communities have this excited sense of shared
magic.