14G/ LIL & LOL - Building for Humans without Bull-Dozing their Humanism
Life is Global - Living is Local LIL & LOL - Building for Humans without Bull-Dozing their Humanism
Session Convener: Jeff Orgle
Notes-taker(s):
Tags / links to resources / technology discussed, related to this session:
Discussion notes, key understandings, outstanding questions, observations, and, if appropriate to this discussion: action items, next steps:
Life is Global - Living is Local
The first place I was exposed to traffic roundabouts was in a city far from where I live. While the idea of a roundabout made some sense, where I came from, we stopped for such interchange of intentions. Roundabouts were new, challenging, not at all stopping like we did, and therefore a bit hard to simply accept, especially considering the risk space of physical harm. Roundabouts are now somewhat common in my town of St. Louis, and becoming more so.
St. Louis has more stop signs than any city in the US I hear. We are deeply invested in the idea and influence of Stop signs. And...we ourselves have developed a compensatory practice/system in order to ease the friction known as the "St. Louis Stop". Urban Dictionary has this; "St.Louis stop - an action where you come up to a stop sign look both ways but never actually make a complete stop." It is a rolling stop which is breaking the law... "You Roll It, We Write It" say the signs around town...and you will know it is not just a threat. I think St. Louis is learning to exist with roundabouts and relaxing and breathing easier as they appear. As it goes, good ideas find their way.
Now let's ponder a locale that has manufactured "Stop" signs for other locales since the birth of stop signs. How do they feel about roundabouts displacing "Stop" signs at intersections? What would change for the people who are making less of those signs? What rituals would change on those streets? How ancient are those rituals and what value is therein? Think of destinations that are prized for their stasis in time. The old fashion feel. Classic archeology. The paths up to cave drawings. Would displacement by smoother, faster procedures help them...or not? Would St. Louis lose its St. Louis Stop tourism draw - if there were such a thing? Could it begin to change everything - more than anyone needed - or wanted?!
Designing For Humans without Displacing (Bull-Dozing) their Humanism.
As we move to care for our world in our IIW community, we are diligent to consider how to raise all peoples in the range of reach and reach as full a constellation of people as can be cared for by the designs and concepts IIW generates.
Ideally IIW and global spec design is to include all. IIW reaches for that range of functional outcomes by creating "Use Cases". To my sense, Use Cases are highly specific and granular estimations of people living their lives which are very localized to an area, usually, and by some amount of definition, the realms they reside in. Sometimes a local life is far flung into other places with other cultural values, rituals and practices via travel. Sometimes we are in a locale designed for other manners of living and we will need to find our way in THOSE local systems of traditions. These things might be traffic law, cultural deference, currency, language and maybe even attire. Wherever we go, there we are. As we travel by choice or force, living is re-localized more or less.
How can design deliver a managed structure with the value-added quality of self-contouring fit and finish to the environment it will curate? As water fills a vessel to embrace its nature from the inside, can design do that? What portion of a Technocratic Oath-like foundation is that basis? That design/code will be the water. The communities and their nature will be the vessel which will hold such intentions, more or less so.
It has been very apparent that the ability to grasp the "Life is Global" portion of the mission causes immeasurable contemplation and consideration and also is impacted by limited heads and experiences in the room. While we call for more voices, more diversity and more breadth of community at large, at our best we can only gain an approximation of what the people involved in these local lives alongside these systems will experience. Hopefully what IIW generates is aligned with respect of regional/cultural/ethnic way of being. Because Living Is Local, not Global. I would refer to this as what I call Real People Really Being People.
How is it that this is going to be so difficult? While not resigning the effort towards this somewhat ethereal goal of considering and designing for all, it seems we must recognize that we will likely never, ever, have all the different voices and ethnicities in the room. It is an unwieldy order. A convention of representatives of phenomenally granular range at a world size round-table may do it. That's a lot of chairs in the room! OK, then what might the "chairs" look like? Online voting, telecom, dunno?! How many would that be? A stadium of 100,000 global, regional, community level representatives? Is that enough? Sort of what I heard in a movie once - we may find out "we need a bigger boat!" The world will not fit in a boat yet it is the boat we are in. And some don't like oceans and/or water one bit. People are different. Governments are different. Geographies are different. Solutions recognizing that will be different.
"Be Like Water My Friend(s)." - Bruce Lee
How can this be managed more granularly such that we design for a basis that can be amoebic and adaptable and sensitive to the locales the design finds its way into. Maybe we can code to Be Like Water.
As our community moves forward, the idea of a recognizable harmonic of respectful tech design intention may be able to set a tone for those myriad spaces. Harmonics travel through space like water. Sound follows the characteristics of water and vice versa, as they are both fluids. They are both therefore dynamic. Can we create a harmonic code/design philosophy/delivery mechanism that can arrive into a locale as easily as a tribal drum immerses and wraps around the hills and valleys and open spaces of the "locale" that people live in?
As we reach to deliver curating intention, those harmonics which contain respectful values and concepts may be forwarded to the town elders, town square discussions or legislative processes, however ideas and structures are entreéd, considered and welcomed, or rejected in part or total, by the locales of our world. Those things that have been working may not need or even welcome rebuilding and re-jiggering of social aspects. Yet a portion of the design/idea may enhance the considered space and therefore the design/idea is welcomed.
Can there be a framework wherein the delivered structure may be set in place in portions and then receive a later, respectful/gentle inlay of those things which find appreciation in value scaffolding as the community finds benefit in the initial guidance and arc of healthful influence from respectful design? Can that be appended and amended to allow for the next perceived design value steps to be onboarded when wanted or needed? Can we consider not landing a fully inclusive set of services amounting to a contract of adhesion - all or none, all at once as the only option without bulldozing everything in its trajectory arc and implications wake...?
For example, can a current locale's currency of reputation find a relatively regionally accessible design node of a sort which will convert that into a more globally fluid and usable value framework? Could this node be at the locale's point of connection to a bigger faster world while expressing guardianship of forcing or foisting non-essential relationship/identity factors? If so, a community's current tradition and culture, which may have its own handle on the idea of attributing value(s) to an identity, can be left as is. Later a gateway to allow touch to the global systems to expresses governorship of data/value exchange may be put in place until more connection is wanted or needed.
More on this @ IIW.35! As the Cars said let's "Shake It Up!"
'From the JeffO thought Kitchen'
'How to make a Globally Respectful, Non-allergenic Secret Sauce Recipe as possible?'
Recipe: A + AD = U (Altruism + Agnostic Demeanor = Unassailable Intention)
Allows for best chance to announce intention which would signal respect of locales. Eases the idea of offering/interjecting awareness and options which may alleviate locally identified challenges being experienced by those locales.
The "Unassailable" matters in the sense that the effort will be seen as doing the best that can be done because Altruism is a selfless and respectful thing to signal. Agnostic Demeanor (tonality) insists the effort is going forth without preference or limitation as to the recipient(s) of the benefits therefore displaying openly, and holding high, unbiased intention as a core operation and value.
Onboarding > Arriving in Locales of the world and demonstrating uniform consideration of respectful awareness by the efforts to assist/improve/rescue.
Informing of Opportunity for Wellness / Betterment
Greasing the pan of receptiveness: A + (C)I = I (Awareness + Intrigue = Information (a call to know more)
"A story is data with a soul." – (roughly) Brené Brown
Ask to hear stories of challenge. Find an A + I = I story framework and invest the story in the locale's space of concern or betterment wants.
See image(s) for these notes in the IIWXXXIV Book of Proceedings here:
