[Pattern-language] Fwd: Patterns of Civic Ignorance: An Anti-Pattern Language

Sun Aug 16 02:15:26 PDT 2015

Greetings from Denmark... Here is some of an exchange that I had with Tom
Atlee. Tom has been involved in co-intelligence for (I'm guessing) 25
years...

Tomorrow is the World Machines (
http://designforsharing.com/workshop-on-making-world-machines/) workshop
and I see the "anti-patterns" as relevant...

— Doug

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Tom Atlee <cii at igc.org>
Date: Sun, Aug 9, 2015 at 4:54 PM
Subject: Re: [Pattern-language] Patterns of Civic Ignorance: An
Anti-Pattern Language
To: Doug Schuler <douglas at publicsphereproject.org>

Hi Doug,

Feel free to send my note to your pattern language list (accompanied by
your original note, of course).

I see from your focus on patterns for/from “the dark side” that we actually
did have a somewhat different center of gravity.  I’m less focused on what
is “bad” (as in undesirable or damaging) than on what is “collectively
stupid” (as in groups’, communities’, and societies' inability to
understand and deal well with what’s really there in and around them,
especially when it changes or challenges existing understandings or
capacities).  These two foci overlap a lot, but are not the same thing,
thus the several points of dissonance between our two pattern catalogs.

Framing these things as “bad” is probably what alerted me to their
progressive perspective.  I see in your paper that you and the team
explicitly framed these as things to be resisted.  From a co-intelligence
perspective, resistance is only one - and not necessarily the most potent -
response to something “bad”.  Other responses include transcending it (such
as creating alternative institutions), learning from it (or using it to
educate others, especially about systemic causes), sensing its larger role
and value (as in its relationship to persistent larger systems, and the
needs it serves or purports to serve), using it creatively, co-opting or
productively “moving with" its energy (“Aikido’ing” it), partnering with
allies involved with it (as in classic nonviolence campaigns a la Gene
Sharp, or the alliance between the American Conservative Union and the ACLU
to fight the Patriot Act), dialogue (especially choice-creating) with its
stakeholders, Trojan Horses (things those using the “bad” anti-pattern will
adopt that will corrode their effectiveness and/or their badness, such as
participatory processes and diversity efforts adopted by businesses to
enhance their competitiveness in the global marketplace), etc., as well as
assisting the victims (which can be done strategically as exemplified by
the Black Panthers and Food Not Bombs)  The framework of “resistance"
(which I am familiar with from my progressive and draft resistance activist
background) can, if it is held as the central mode, limit our sense of
strategic and tactical possibilities, as well as shut us off from the
fullness of life that includes The Other.

But I like the idea of developing anti-pattern languages to better
understand the design elements and interrelationships that help
bad/co-stupid/dysfunctional systems persist.  The nature and density of the
connections between the patterns become as important as the patterns
themselves, for that purpose.

I appreciate the attempt, stated in the paper, of not writing the patterns
as if they were bad.  I think you had mixed success with that
:-)…

I like your “network of links between anti-patterns” graphic.  It is
beautiful.  I was so sad when http://reliableprosperity.net removed their
similar graphic and replaced it with the linear hierarchical “blossom”
model on their home page.  I suppose more people value the oversimplified
presentation….

Your thoughts on PL development as a pedagogical approach are quite
interesting, even though that is not my usual frame of reference.

What an adventure!  I “should” be doing all sorts of other things (which I
shall now return to), but I seem to have energy for this, too.

Coheartedly,
Tom

> On Aug 9, 2015, at 2:13 PM, Doug Schuler <douglas at publicsphereproject.org>
wrote:
>
> Thanks Tom!  Very nice to get the extended feedback.
>
> Can I send your note to our pattern language list? (
http://scn9.scn.org/mailman/listinfo/pattern-language)
>
> I don't have the time to read (and consider) your note in detail at the
moment but it looks GREAT and very much related to our work. Maybe the work
on the next version can / should begin....
>
> I've attached the article that we presented at the PUARL conference in
2013. Unfortunately the publication seems to be stalled at the moment. It
talks about our rationale and the "power of addressing the dark side."
(Also connecting it somewhat to the Liberating Voices work)
>
> Just a note about the history of our project...  A student quite
energetically broke in during a seminar we were having (at Evergreen) and,
after apologizing for the interruption, proclaimed that it was essential
that we develop an anti-pattern language. I disagreed basically because the
Alexandrian concept of the pattern language was to focus on the good.
Basically the other  students agreed with the proposer and  I relented. And
I was happy that I did!
>
> BTW, one of the main reasons for the anti-patterns was to inspect just
how social (and other) dominance, etc. is perpetrated (over and over again)
and how to interrupt those processes or even "run them in reverse."
> http://www.publicsphereproject.org/node/203, Social Dominance Attenuation
>
> Thanks Tom and all of you!
>
> — Doug
>
> PS. I said I wasn't going  to comment on your note specifically but ...
weapons can probably be unintentional?
>
>
> <The Surprising Power Revised.pdf>
>
>> On Aug 9, 2015, at 7:41 AM, Tom Atlee <cii at igc.org> wrote:
>>
>> Dear Helmut (and Doug),
>>
>> Wow!  This is a great idea and a great start.
>>
>> I’m cautious (from a collective intelligence perspective) that some of
these anti-patterns might lead to too great a focus on the effects or
manifestations of societal co-stupidity rather than inspiring attention to
causes.  I think of patterns being design elements - things we want to keep
in mind and put in place if we are designing something.  Anti-patterns are
things we want to manifest if we are designing a life-degrading or
dysfunctional system - or which will manifest a life-degrading or
dysfunctional system if we don’t pay attention to minimizing them in our
designs and activities.
>>
>> So the following comments are from that perspective.  Doug doesn’t
necessarily have the co-stupidy/co-intelligence framing as his central
organizing principle, so my comments may not fit with his own intentions
and needs here.  But his seed crystal anti-patterns have definitely sparked
my own thinking, so I’ll proceed with the preceding caveats in mind...
>>
>> I thought up a couple of dozen co-stupidity anti-patterns after looking
at his list.  I’ll give some commentary on some of his anti-patterns (with
a few of mine tossed in for contrast) and then offer the rest of the
anti-pattern ideas I jotted down this morning, just as a straight list.
>>
>> Focus on Deficiencies is a good anti-pattern, but the description is
framed in terms of elites focusing on the deficiencies of marginalized
people and communities, rather than a generic pattern which would include
progressive activists focusing on the deficiencies of - for example - the
capitalist system without acknowledging its benefits.  The power of this
anti-pattern is, it seems to me, that it highlights what is lost when we
ignore virtues, assets, and possibilities - whoever “we” may be and
whomever or whatever “we” may be considering.
>>
>> Weapons of Mass Distraction is also good, but its name is framed in
intentional terms: i.e., “weapons” are something used to destroy or
threaten. (The description notes that this anti-pattern can be
unintentional, but that contradicts the title).  “Entertainment culture”
or, more generally, “Culture of Distraction” might be more neutral terms
(the latter embraces the former, so is probably better).
>>
>> Sustaining World Hunger, Profit Motivated Health Care, Environmental
Degradation, and Criminalizing Poverty seem to me to be more effects or
manifestations of co-stupidity than causes of it, although a case can be
made that they impact people’s ability to generate collective intelligence.
(Consumerism is a borderline case for this, although I suspect its primary
role in generating co-stupidity is covered by the Culture of Distraction
anti-pattern.)  The four anti-patterns mentioned at the beginning of this
paragraph are also framed from a progressive perspective - they are major
progressive issues which non-progressives may not share - which biases them
and undermines their generic validity.  I feel patterns should be
universally recognized as valid for the purpose for which they are
articulated.
>>
>> Dehumanization, Racism, Xenophobia, and Social Darwinism are specific
manifestations of more generic anti-patterns like Disrespect and Oppression
which cover all such manifestations.  I’d prefer those latter
anti-patterns, so that we don’t overlook Agism, Sexism, Abilitism, and all
the others (the closer we look the more we can see!!!). (Personally I
prefer “Denial of Beingness” as the meta-anti-pattern here, but that would
not be understood by too many people.) This whole realm is interestingly
covered by the Dignity Movement http://www.breakingranks.net.  It would say
the anti-pattern here is Rankism.  It is a powerful - if sadly not widely
grasped - concept. Perhaps we should adopt and promote it as an
anti-pattern.
>>
>> Monopoly is great but I think it unduly draws our attention to
corporate/economic monopolies.  A more generic term which contains more
information would be Unanswerable Concentrated Power, which is fractal and
cross-sector, and embraces Monopoly and much more.  (I am biased towards
this term due to my late father’s study of the subject - my edit/summary of
which is the most referenced article on my website, “Democracy: A Social
Power Analysis” http://co-intelligence.org/CIPol_democSocPwrAnal.html.)
>>
>> Silenced voices, Activist Delegitimization, Media Monopolies are for me
all manifestations of One Voice Dominates, Censorship and/or Conformity
which are more generic (at least for the purposes of a co-stupidity pattern
language).  Of course, pattern languages themselves are often fractal, so
all these articulations can co-exist in this anti-pattern language.
>>
>> Distorted History suggests that there is one accurate history, which I
believe is a very questionable assertion.  Believing that history should be
taught and known from multiple perspectives, I would prefer One-Sided
History as the history-related anti-pattern.  However, that doesn’t
adequately cover the intentional alteration of known facts (rather than
omissions, biased framings, and different emphases, all of which are
virtually inevitable in historical work which, after all, has a perspective
in order to be meaningful).  Intentional alteration of evidenced historic
fact should be covered in Asserted Falsehoods which covers more ground than
merely historic falsehoods. (“Lies” could also be used as the anti-pattern,
although white lies and social lies and unintentional falsehoods could also
fall under that word, which would make its application a bit messy.)
>>
>> Below is my brainstorm of more anti-patterns promoting co-stupidity.
>>
>> It’s all fascinating…
>>
>> Coheartedly,
>> Tom
>>
>> Deviance Punished
>> Winner-take-all Majoritarianism (promotes polarization and other
reductionist dualisms; depowers minorities and exploratory impulses)
>> Wheeling and Dealing
>> Consensus through Compromise (rather than addressing valid concerns,
needs, interests)
>> Vast Wealth Inequality (because it concentrates power which distorts
society’s ability to think well and creatively together)
>> Short-Term Thinking
>> Unacknowledged Bias
>> Self-Censorship
>> Obsequiousness
>> Privatization of the Commons (reduces both motivation for and resources
for collaboration)
>> Irresponsible Privilege (this is in addition to Unacknowledged Privilege)
>> Double Standards
>> Overshoot (this comes from my reading an amazing book by that title by
Wm Catton Jr; Overshoot is both a symptom and a cause of co-stupidity, a
cause because it promotes scarcity and social fragmentation that replace
collaboration and rationality with competitive struggle and short-term
thinking)
>> Exclusively Linear Logic
>> Culture of Debate (as contrasted with dialogue, deliberation,
choice-creating, etc.; reinforces 2-sided logic, polarization, and battle
as opposed to shared learning and creativity)
>> No One Listening
>> Missing Feedback
>> No Implementation
>> No Review
>> Judgment in Place of Discernment
>> Social Fragmentation (Factionalism and Low Social Capital being
sub-anti-patterns)
>> Waste of Diversity
>> Blocked Curiosity
>> Co-creativity Stifled
>> Omitted Context
>> Fixed Ideas (I see this as more general than Fundamentalism)
>>
>>
>>
>>> On Aug 9, 2015, at 1:11 AM, Helmut Leitner <leitner at wikiservice.at>
wrote:
>>>
>>> Deer Tom,
>>>
>>> with respect to the topic of co(llective)(-)stupity,
>>> I want to point to Doug Schuler's work below.
>>> Though named differently it seems to plough
>>> the same ground.
>>>
>>> Best,
>>> Helmut
>>>
>>>
>>> -------- Weitergeleitete Nachricht --------
>>> Betreff:    [Pattern-language] Patterns of Civic Ignorance: An
Anti-Pattern Language
>>> Datum:      Sat, 8 Aug 2015 11:13:54 -0700
>>> Von:        Doug Schuler <douglas at publicsphereproject.org>
>>> An: pattern-language at scn9.scn.org
>>>
>>> I'm not sure what I've said about our "anti-pattern language" but I
thought I'd share it. Our patterns of oppression, exploitation, inequality,
etc. are finally online.
>>>
>>>
>>> What the world doesn't need!
>>>
>>> Patterns of Civic Ignorance: An Anti-Pattern Language (1st draft)
>>>
>>> http://publicsphereproject.org/anti-patterns
>>>
>>>
>>> (Feel free to publicize... )
>>>
>>> Thanks!
>>>
>>>
>>> Douglas Schuler
>>> douglas at publicsphereproject.org
>>> Twitter: @doug_schuler   @GlobalHunt4ci
>>>
>>>
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>> Public Sphere Project
>>>     http://www.publicsphereproject.org/
>>>
>>> Mailing list ~ Collective Intelligence for the Common Good
>>>      http://scn9.scn.org/mailman/listinfo/ci4cg-announce
>>>
>>> Creating the World Citizen Parliament
>>>
http://interactions.acm.org/archive/view/may-june-2013/creating-the-world-citizen-parliament
>>>
>>> Liberating Voices!  A Pattern Language for Communication Revolution
(project)
>>>     http://www.publicsphereproject.org/patterns/lv
>>>
>>> Liberating Voices!  A Pattern Language for Communication Revolution
(book)
>>> http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=11601
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> <Nachrichtenteil als Anhang.txt>
>>
>
> Douglas Schuler
> douglas at publicsphereproject.org
> Twitter: @doug_schuler
>
>
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Public Sphere Project
>      http://www.publicsphereproject.org/
>
> Mailing list ~ Collective Intelligence for the Common Good
>       http://scn9.scn.org/mailman/listinfo/ci4cg-announce
>
> Creating the World Citizen Parliament
>
http://interactions.acm.org/archive/view/may-june-2013/creating-the-world-citizen-parliament
>
> Liberating Voices!  A Pattern Language for Communication Revolution
(project)
>      http://www.publicsphereproject.org/patterns/lv
>
> Liberating Voices!  A Pattern Language for Communication Revolution (book)
>  http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=11601
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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