Collaborative Intelligence in Larger Systems: A Thousand Suns

mary — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:05:14 +0000

A Thousand Suns tells the story of the Gamo Highlands of the African Rift Valley and the unique worldview held by the people of the region. This isolated area has remained remarkably intact both biologically and culturally. It is one of the most densely populated rural regions of Africa yet its people have been farming sustainably for 10,000 years. Shot in Ethiopia, New York and Kenya, the film explores the modern world’s untenable sense of separation from and superiority over nature and how the interconnected worldview of the Gamo people is fundamental in achieving long-term sustainability, both in the region and beyond.

Collaborative Intelligence, Connection & Dyfunctionality

Stephen — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 22:42:51 +0000

Biologist Lynn Margulis comments that ‘independence is a political concept, not a biological concept. Everywhere life displays itself as complex, tangled, messy webs of relationships.’ In natural systems disconnection and isolation usually represent dysfunction. The simplest definition of cancer is abnormal or uncontrolled cell division where some part of the body ignores the shared interests of the rest of the body. The isolation has become a manifestation and cause of dysfunction.

Isolation has become a major issue in our society – the well-informed organization provides its employees a sense of belonging. From there, deeper levels of collaboration can emerge. As Luke Naismith states in his blog ‘Knowledge Futures‘:

One particular point from today was that two of the main things that people want out of work is validation and to feel like they belong. Validation in the sense that the work outputs that they perform are acknowledged and the ideas that they have for improvement are given a hearing. Sense of belonging as people at work want to feel part of a team and community.

It’s almost as if we have been trained to perceive interdependence as some sort of ‘weakness.’ Maybe some day we will evolve to the extent that there will be a holiday to celebrate ‘interdependence’ rather than ‘independence’. The holiday could be a public acknowledgement (and celebration) of how interdependent we really are.

Getting Clever Together » Interdependence

Collaborative Intelligence in Larger Systems: A Thousand Suns

Collaborative Intelligence, Connection & Dyfunctionality