Towards a global managerial intelligence

Towards a global managerial intelligence

After the current systemic crisis arising from the fading of the European social model [Declaration of Philadelphia, 1944] and the neoliberal model [Washington Consensus of the 90s], and around various key indicators for the future such as innovation, entrepreneurship, competitiveness and responsibility, a new business model seems to be progressively drawn. Three main factors frame the actual context for the emergence of a new alternative: first of all, the expansion of a digital and informal society in a cyberspace freed from the three traditional units of time, space and human physical presence. Secondly, the increasing needs of organisations for global security strategies, insurance guarantees and social responsibility policies. And finally the standardization of governance and management systems trough best practices and consensus based on international norms, ethical behaviour and financial and extra-financial accountability. In order to face these challenges new forms of education and a global managerial intelligence should be promote.

Understanding the Context

Hi Andres, I have to admit I am a bit lost in reading you above- maybe there are things that are obvious or that I don´t know about? So I´m breaking down my cloud of incompehension into questions for you :slight_smile:

  1. Can you give me a concrete example where you could see the developments above played out? Maybe one you have come across in your research? Or maybe you see them in  some of the stories described in Edgeryders? I feel it´s a bit abstract…

2 You mention the increasing “needs” of organisations for global security strategies, insurance guarantees and social responsibility policies. How do you recognise these “needs”, by whom are they percieved as needs and how is this manifested? Can you give some concrete examples?

Thanks!

Nadia

ISO 2600

Well thanks for reacting to my mission report.

Concerning the examples for a new emergent economy played in the cyberspace: is quite clear that in the last 15 year we have seen the emergence of multiple actors as: ebay, google, platforms and online brokers among other. This has been done for all type of services and products which challenge the traditional economy. But this is in fact a very large subject and will really recommend some articles about the subject for example:

http://search.conduit.com/Results.aspx?q=cyberspace%20and%20new%20economies&hl=fr&SearchSource=49&SelfSearch=1&SearchType=&ctid=CT3008653&octid=CT3008653

For the second question the best is to refer to the ISO 26000 :  which includes:

Transparency

An organization should disclose, in a clear, accurate manner and to a reasonable and sufficient degree, the policies, decisions, and activities for which it is responsible, including known and likely impacts.

Ethical behavior

An organization’s behavior should be based on the ethics of honesty, equity, and integrity.

Respect for Stakeholder Interests

In addition to owners, members, and customers or constituents, other individuals or groups may also have rights, claims, or specific interests that should be taken into account.

Respect for the Rule of Law

An organization is to comply with all applicable laws and regulations. It informs those within the organization of their obligation to observe and to implement measures.

Respect for International Norms of Behavior

An organization respects international norms of behavior while adhering to the principle of respect for the rule of law. An organization should not stay silent in response to or benefit from wrongful acts.

Respect for Human Rights

An organization respects and fosters rights set out in the International Bill of Human Rights. This includes situations where human rights are not protected.

ISO 26000 then applies those principles to seven “core subjects” that describe socially responsible areas of activity or focus.

Source: http://www.triplepundit.com/2011/03/iso-26000-definition-social-responsibility/

I’d never heard of ISO26000

That’s absolutely fabulous.

Really, really interesting. Reading now!

V>

What exactly is the blueprint of evolution? Let’s align!

Andres, this is really interesting. Wow, I’m excited. I see that you have an intuitive awareness that there is a global intelligence.

Oh YES, there is!

This is my current understanding (and that of many wise men).

The blueprint of evolution is indelibly stamped on the brain, we need only know how to read it in order to design our institutions and lifestyles to conform to the demands of evolution. A global intelligence exists, and it is empowering human evolution. When scholars and scientists begin to consider the possibility that the human race is evolving, and that evolution is progressing toward a specific goal, they will overwhelm the media with their new insights and conjectures. The light at the end of the tunnel will then flood their institutes and laboratories, and this will have a deep impact on our lifestyles, governments will be invited by citizens to align their policies along these lines.

Therefore, what we need to do, if we want to grow harmoniously, is ALIGN WITH IT, align with the global intelligence, align with this force.

It is imperative that humanity crosses the barrier where it aligns on its psychic and mental forces.

I see it a lot at Edgeryders, it stands out in front of the eyes, if you read between the lines, you will feel that new values are being carried and highlighted by the participants. Why is that? Because these participants listen to the little voice inside them, the one voice that whispers them what is good for their lives. Many participants say that they follow their dreams (see Pedro Prieto-Martin’s story); or one day, they suddently started crying and realized that their old lifestyle was not for them anymore (see Neal Gorenflo’s story); or they changed their paths (see Bridget McKenzie’s story); or they scratch their heads to find solutions to end war conflicts, they have a plan (see Tiago Dias Miranda’s story); or they adopted new ways, etc. It is all over the place, consistent in almost all the mission reports. Hey! Even an economist is talking about forgiveness’ and ‘divination’ (ref Alberto Cottica). My jaw almost fall off when I read his stories. It gives me chills on the forearms, and not you?

Something is definitely happening! The testimonies are there to prove it.

However, there are people who reached an even higher level, they crossed higher barriers of the mind, where few men have marched before.

I recently joined the Institute for Consciousness Research, because I know that there is a global intelligence empowering evolution. I feel it in my whole body mind and soul. I know that research has to be undertaken, and that the first step is laying a foundation based on documentary evidence of information gathering (just like Edgeryders is doing here).

Looking forward to meet you in person Andres! Good intuition work! Please keep thinking! I’ll be glad to have more chats with you.

Survive without falling into a state of worthless existence

I put my ‘Paolo Coelho’ hat (as Alberto Cottica might say), or my mystic hat, to ponder the question whether the social and political systemsare in accordance with the physical and biological needs of human beings. Little attention has so far been given to the fact that there must be a collective instinct governing the social and political behavior of the species, as there is in every other form of gregarious life.

I am glad that Andres raised this question.

The various systems of government current today are all based on arbitrary theories and doctrines, or imitations of ancient models, without any sanction from nature and without any established connection between the instinctual requirement and the pattern in force. Whether it is democracy, dictatorship, monarchy, oligarchy or any other form of government, it is in no case the outcome of exhaustive study and experimentation on the part of an impartial, wise body of intellectuals. On the contrary, what we now have is a streaming broth of dynastic rule, arbitrary systems, vested interests, individual opinions, doctrines of revolutionaries, and concepts of politicians based entirely on the conclusions of the intellect, without any relevance of the cannons of nature or the laws of the global intelligence.

Proof is provided by the current politically chaotic situation. Democraties, dictatorships, oligarchies, military rules, etc., are all grappling with each other like a noisy group of wrestlers. Had the various forms of government been in accordance with the instinctual model or universal law, the puppt dance (which was beautifully described by Vinay Gupta. Ref “Fighting the Muppetocracy”), would not then be an unedifying feature of life today.

The insipid drama of forced laughter, sardonic smiles, jack in-the-box appearances before the media, behind-the-back intrigues, and other embellishments of the black art of politics (how often have I talked about the Shadow of Leadership?), which is now an inseparable ingredient of the political structure, would not be there to regale a disenchanted public now satiated with such performances.

We (humanity) have blundered in attaching excessive importance to the physical wants of man as compared to his spiritual needs. Our aims have been to surround mankind with every comfort, every facility, and every luxury we could think of or devise, leaving the soul out of count. And this effort continues to this hour. The human mind, imbued with the idea that success, high position, ease and comfort, abundance and affluence are the summum bonum of life with no higher aim, burrowing like an earthworm deep into the soil of ambition, greed, and lust for power. By no means can a mind set solely on this course if one becomes possessed with the idea that success and abundance are the only means by which one can win the battle of life.

It is not necessary to dwell more closely on the darker side.

This is what the Edgeryders are whispering gently to our ears.

The plan of nature is to evolve the brain in order to embellish the mind, and to confer a supersensory channel of perception on the race. I know what that plan of nature is, because I experience it in my body. I feel the force of re-birth. In Indian wisdom, the deity ruling human evolution is know as the Goddess Kundalini. It is a feminine power. (And by the way, we currently live in a patriarcal society. There is not even a gender equity between men and women. I read it will be reached some time, in approximately 150 years.)

Since the two aims collide, disaster threatnes the existing order to open way for nature’s benevolent plan to materialize. This is exactly what our system is on the verge of: disaster.

What the Internet is doing, is that it has changed our perception of ourselves. We no longer perceive that we are a separate self, we perceive that we are all connected to each other with social media links. However, there exists invisible links that connect us to everything, that we are not aware of yet, there exists a global intelligence. Internet is helping us to become more aware of its existence.

Science is irresistibly coming to the conclusion that the observed phenomena of the physical world cannot be separated from the observer.

Edgeryders participants, via an Internet platform, are showing to the Council of Europe government organisation that they are focusing on other aims than attaching excessive importance to the physical wants. They talk about creating, sharing, learning, foregiving, etc, I described how it is possible to achieve a new physical state of consciousness, that occurs after the body undergoes a huge transformation in order to physically support higher states of consciousness.

Only the global intelligence has the operational software necessary to bring us to use our full capacity. A mind filled with this global intelligence will create harmony, unity, cooperation, understanding, and will become a vortex, a channel through which universal awareness can flow into this physical world.

What we can observe, at Edgeryders, is that these qualities and skills are being learned by youth, because these young people are tapping into the global intelligence, through their intuition and creativity. What the experimental Edgeryders project is showing us is that governments can learn to consciously manage the collective intelligence, by aligning their policies and projects on the laws of nature.

The crux of the matter is not only whether the human species will survive (the crazy ecological destruction we have done, or the nuclear age threat), but even more whether it can survive without falling into a state of worthless existence. Every human being is a helpless victim to a ceaseless inner deterioration situation on account of the pernicious political and social system. The world situation has assumed an urgency that no sensible human being can ignore any longer.

Thank you Andres for this mission report. I believe this is my most important comment. It sums up everything I said on this platform.

Bring on the war stories

I am extremely wary of statements like the one you report, Andres. There seems to be a lot of wishful thinking packed in: that “cyberspace” frees us from time, space and presence; that organisations need social responsibility policies (not what I see, though sometimes they can be imposed on organizations - ditto Apple/Foxconn); that we have now solid standards for ethical behavior and accountability (in my country, the need for financial accountability policies has led to 23 suicides this year. If this is not an ethical dilemma for the Prime Minister to negotiate, I don’t know what it is). If you have read some Edgeryders mission reports, you will have noticed that there is not a lot of trust in organisations - be they institutions or companies. In particular, most people are extremely distrustful of corporations, seen as the agents that brought the present crisis down on the rest of us. These guys will have to do more than pay lip service to ethical management if they want any credibility back.

But I could be wrong. Ultimately, it is down to the data, including the “war stories” of experiences lived out. So what’s yours? Have you tried to manage a company? Did your values clash with bottom line requirements? What decisions did you make? Let me remind you that Edgeryders is all about what we do. Words are cheap: actions are valuable.

My war story

Andres is 21 years old, if my memory is correct,

Internet is only a tool, but the human beings who use it are capable to align in the direction of a global intelligence, because we are physically equipped to do so. I read global intelligence as coming from another source than emanating from humans, but with which humans are connected.

The Occam’s razor is a principle urging one to select among competing hypotheses that which offers the simplest explanation of the effect. The simplest assumptions are considered most likely. Occam’s razor can be useful to demonstrate our ignorance about the material world. Such ignorance currently governs our entire society's systems, including businesses and governments.

My own war story, which nobody picked up so far, except participant Michel Filippi, by shining some light upon me, via his mission report ‘Des hommes et de notre civilisation’, is that I am taking concrete actions regarding a newly discovered physical consciousness state than ‘fell’ upon me two years ago. And since I am stuck with it - this is an irreversible and premanent process, that is felt throughout the body by sensations perceptible at any time of day, day after day, year after year -, I took the necessary means and actions to a better understand what it is, and what it leads to (myself, and the rest of the species).

From what I understand so far, it is a comprehensive global intelligence that directs and empowers human evolution.

What I did so far:

- It took me a year to balance the newly acquired energy operating in my body.

- It took me another year to learn about what is is.

- I met the philosopher Michel Filippi in November 2011, thanks to the Edgeryders project. He helped me define a model of human being. He still continues to support me, by discussions and chats, and by constantly feeding me with information and papers to read.

- Early March 2012, I joined the Institute for Consciousness Research http://www.icrcanada.org.

- I now manage their communications, I edit their Twitter account @ICRCanada, http://www.twitter.com/icrcanada (I write all the tweets.)

- With a business in Los Angeles (Evoska), I am now participating in the creation of an open database, a collaborative project with Iain Carstairs, a blogger specialised on the brain and consciousness, from United Kingdom. The preliminary project was announced by Iain on February 27th http://iaincarstairs.wordpress.com/2012/02/27/the-search-for-mystical-experience

  • ICR is very close to the Anonymous and Occupy movements. Members of our team are actively engaged in these spheres.

What Michel Filippi did, on his side:

  • On April 4th, he presented his ‘Game of Man’ (Jeu de l’Homme), about models of human beings, including my model, the ‘Luminous Man’ based on my Kundalini experience, and that of others (ref ‘Des hommes et de notre civilisation’) to a round table entitled ‘Vulnérabilité d’une société confortable’, organised by MDCR (Métamorphose Culturelle par la Démocratie Réelle), in Lyon, France. (more info about that round table http://t.co/9XmeN4Nq).

School project

Hi, I’m in fact 32.

Here is a project I’m working on with some friends, just like to share even if is not ready yet! were are creating a different type of school.

Contexte :

Le changement  de l’environnement actuel que nous constatons est le résultat de la mutation constante des individus, des organisations et de la société. Dans le passé l’espèce humaine a été confrontée à des situations douloureuses dues à l’incompréhension, à l’exclusion, et à l’oppression provoquée par l’exercice abusif du pouvoir. Néanmoins, il est possible de résister au formatage et de façonner sa propre existence en modelant des réalités enrichies.

De nouveaux niveaux de  conscience semblent être à l’origine d’une évolution des mentalités. La création de nouveaux discours apporte une perception nouvelle des effets de la réalité et mène vers une dynamique de changement et de renouvellement. Cette évolution permet à l’homme de s’analyser et donc de poser un regard critique sur son fonctionnement et sur  les éléments déterminant la survie ou la remise en cause d’un système quelconque (crise financière actuelle par exemple). Ce sont ces circonstances qui permettent l’apparition de nouveaux schémas.

Ce phénomène engendre des conséquences qui doivent être analysées en tenant compte de la responsabilité de chaque individu comme acteur dans le processus de mutation. Nous assistons à une évolution substantielle des innovations technologiques.  La technologie a un effet exponentiel dans la création de nouvelles tendances.  Elle nous fournit une rangée d’outils qui réduisent le temps et l’espace en nous aidant à créer de nouvelles réalités plus rapidement.  En conséquence, les résultats apparaissent plus tôt, nous menant cependant toujours dans directions différentes et parfois inconnues.  Si notre création est utile dans un sens positif, avec l’effet exponentiel de la technologie nous construirons de meilleures réalités, autrement nous pouvons aussi provoquer des effets non désirés.

Nous constatons par exemple que si bien nos technologies et notre environnement changent de plus en plus rapidement nos réflexes, nos habitudes et nos cultures risquent de se trouver de plus en plus décalés par rapport à cette réalité en mouvement. Les effets potentiellement dévastateurs du décalage culturel (ou social) entre choc technologique et réponse rationnelle sont bien connus: voir par exemple la réduction du taux de fertilité après la chute de la mortalité enfantine. Le décalage aura causé une “explosion” démographique.

De plus, les découvertes scientifiques des derniers siècles ont bouleversé notre model mental de la réalité: Copernic, Galilée, Newton, Darwin, Einstein, Hawkins, etc. Les inventions ont révolutionné notre mobilité, notre communication, la quantité d’information à notre disposition. La question se pose donc si nous sommes suffisamment équipés, culturellement et moralement, pour face à une réalité qui évolue plus rapidement que nos meurs. Quels sont les points fixes, les repères, qui vont nous permettre de nous orienter ; amour et Paix?

Si un nouveau monde était à inventer face à une panne de civilisation, comme pourrions-nous  réinventer le tout à partir de nos savoirs hyperspécialisés d’aujourd’hui ?

Le terme central est plateforme. Il permet de rendre compte de l’éclatement des savoirs, diagnostic général que nous avons posé et contre lequel nous voulons œuvrer.

Une plateforme est un endroit intégré régi par un langage qui organise un savoir. L’économiste est sur sa plateforme économie, le philosophe sur la sienne. Le diagnostic que nous portons est celui de la difficulté à aménager des liens entre les plateformes. Notre projet est de faciliter ce lien.

Le futur est déjà là mais d’une façon inégale. Comment aujourd’hui, imagine-t-on demain ? Peut-être en passant par une prospective participative et intuitive qui prendra en compte utopies et dystopies sans trop se faire peur ni trop rêver en agrégeant des savoirs en tension vers un devenir.

La mission  de notre groupe

Créer un cercle de réflexion et de partage d’idées centré sur les défis du futur. Préparer les prochaines générations à savoir vivre le changement, le comprendre, d’y participer et de ne pas le subir.  Nous apporterons des outils originaux pour une pratique de l’existence  afin d’apprendre à vivre heureux tous les jours.

Nous chercherons à faire émerger des nouveaux niveaux de  conscience individuelle et collective qui permettront la création de discours améliorés en formant des réalités personnelles et institutionnelles plus enrichies. Nous formerons des visionnaires capables de contribuer à modifier de façon directe ou indirecte les nouveaux schémas qui se désignent. Nous démontrerons que lorsque l’on change une partie d’un tout, si infime soit-elle, on en modifie toute une structure. En le faisant, nous contribuerons mutuellement à notre propre évolution et celle des autres.

Où, quand, comment, avec quoi ?

Le terrain de jeu : toute l’existence

Le bon moment : l’instant présent, ici-maintenant

L’énergie pour le faire : l’authenticité de l’inconscient

Les outils pour le faire :   attentions, intuition et précision

Enseignements :

  1. ECUTO: Evolution de la conscience dans compréhension et transformation des organisations
  2. L’Art de la Stratégie : penser autrement : ‘Réussir’  par l’absence d’‘échec’
  3. L’Ecole du Clown Invisible                  
  4. L’enseignement de la non-souffrance : la pratique de l’Ego-responsabilité
  5. L’entraînement du Calme Mental : pacifier l’Esprit, développer la Vision Pénétrante
  6. La Formation Contrôle Management           
  7. La Maîtrise du Langage Courant : Applications de la Sémantique Générale
  8. Les Ateliers Prospectifs, nés d’une conviction: le discours apocalyptique, le discours du désastre, n’est pas seulement énervant,  il est faux.  Nous ne vivons pas un désastre, mais une mutation.
  9. Réduire les situations de conflit et de dégât des entreprises
  10. Réflexion sur  l'Identité Universelle: l'internationalisation et le métissage des cultures, des traditions et des religions.
  11. SuBréalisme : saisir la rélaité en faisant appel à l’intuition, la raison et le rêve

Very similar paths, same direction

Oh My! Sorry about the 21. Ce texte est absolument incroyable. Et j’avais bien saisi ta pensee. We’re having very similar thoughts, we’re walking in the same direction, but in our own unique way. You made my day!

:slight_smile:

Yes it is!

Who can we participate

Absolutely, love and peace are the landmarks for setting a new civilisation!

How can we participate to this great project?

So, if I understand correctly, you are making models of future projections of possibilities for mankind?

I have one model underway about a Luminous Man.

I want to go to the school of visionaries… Please count me in.

:slight_smile:

I agree !

:slight_smile:

I agree !

Super approche !

Je travaille à un projet en milieu scolaire visant également à responsabiliser l’élève en le faisant participer activement à son éducation par le biais d’outils de communication modernes.

J’aimerais beaucoup discuter avec vous de ces onze enseignements.

Avec grand plaisir

Nous avons une réunion bienôt je serai ravi d’échange avec vous.

andres.dvl@gmail.com

Andres

Définition de visionnaire dans le dictionnaire

J’ai lu, Andres, que tu as communiqué avec Nirgal, qui semble des plus emballés par ton projet.

Depuis que j’ai lu à propos du projet de former des visionnaires, j’avoue que ça m’est resté pris dans un coin de la tête et cette idée ne me quitte plus, comme lorsqu’on fredonne l’air d’une chanson et qu’on n’arrive plus à s’en débarasser. Je serais ravie d’échanger avec toi aussi. Je brûle de curiosité!

Je suis allée voir, pour en avoir le coeur net, la définition de “visionnaire” dans le dictionnaire.

Qui a suffisamment d’influence pour que ses idées soient reprises dans le futur.”

Remplacer “visionnaire” par “lobbyiste”?

La seconde définition me fait sourire, surtout à cause de la parenthèse’: (Désuet) Qui a, qui croit avoir des visions, des révélations. Un moine visionnaire.

Cette définition semble faire abstraction de la conscience, comme si elle n’existait plus de nos jours. Il y a encore de ce type de visionnaires, dans presque tous les domaines. Considérons par exemple J. K. Rolling, qui a eu une vision du personnage Harry Potter. Elle a révolutionné le monde de l’édition des livres pour enfants. Pas besoin d’être moine pour avoir des visions…

La troisième définition est encore plus cocasse et comporte plus de parenthèses: (désuet) (figuré) Qui a des idées folles, des imaginations extravagantes.

Nous sommes tous visionnaires en puissance

Je pense que chaque personne a des visions, des révélations, des idées folles et des imaginations extravagantes. Or elles sont très souvent limitées par l’environnement de la personne, ses connaissances et ses croyances.

Deux univers s’entrechoquent : la personne profonde et le monde réel, matériel.

Qui gagne ?

Ca dépend des personnes, de leur curiosité, de leur accès à la connaissance, de leur culture, de leur éducation…

Dans notre société cloisonnée, où des frontières physiques et intellectuelles ont été érigées entre les spécialités et les possibilités, l’individu doit trouver une place, adapter sa personne profonde à ces moules et carcans. Certains y parviennent, leur rêves s’adaptent et s’accomodent, d’autres luttent ou sont brisés.

Vu la consommation d’anti-dépresseurs en france, je doute que tant de personnes parviennent à être heureuses dans cette société…

Je rencontre des visionnaires tous les jours. Des artistes, des passionnés, des personnes investies qui partagent, apprennent et innovent en s’éclatant. Ici même, j’ai eu en quelques jours des échanges infiniment enrichissants.

Qui a suffisamment d’influence pour que ses idées soient reprises dans le futur.”

C’est peut-être justement ça le souci. Tout individu a besoin d’influencer son environnement pour se sentir exister. Si ses actions n’entrainent aucune réaction ou des réactions violentes, il ne peut s’épanouir et devra s’adapter ou vivre seul avec ses idées.

J’aimerais beaucoup que la définition devienne ceci :

Un visionnaire est une personne qui a suffisamment d’influence pour que ses idées soient appliquées ou partagées dans le présent.

Pour parvenir à ça, il faut trouver les talents, comprendre les aspirations et surtout aider les enfants à construire leur propre éducation et non pas leur imposer.

shouldn’t “Edgeryders” be edgy?

Dear Alberto,

Thanks for taking the time to reply to my post :).I have observed that you frequently interact with people trying to contribute to the community and advance constructive criticism. I’m sorry for providing insight which seems to be only based in intuition. In fact I really thought that the “Edgeryders” community’s intention was to provide new alternatives and disruptive propositions to enhance the actual vision of what Europe and maybe the world could be like in the future.

I work in academia, therefore I can understand the necessity of having valid sources of information. I felt “Edgeryders” could be a place where I can express some ideas which are not restricted to the formalisms and extreme positivism of scientific research… I took this platform as a place where reason, intuition and emotion can also find adopters and where we all could contribute to “the emergence of NEW paradigms”. I’m aware that the world is not a perfect place but I have chosen to remain positive in my life, fight for love, peace, sharing, and spontaneity among others, and try to find solutions with people who ask themselves the same questions I do.

Hope to talk to you in person one day,

Andres

We are experience-centric

Well, war stories are hardly academic-standard evidence. In my discipline they say “For example” is not a proof.

The problem with voicing opinions, Andres, is that they are not really conducive to policy proposals: and Edgeryders is, after all, a distributed think tank, called upon to formulate policy proposals on the transition of youth. If you ask people “What would you do to ameliorate the European economy?” they tend to come up with stuff like “we should rein in the greed of the corporates” or “more space should be given to creative people and their ideas”, and things like that. Not wrong as such, but they involve taking actions on variables we have no control of. Incentives are lined they way they are; people’s desire for wealth and power cannot be changed by policy makers; and, in a market economy, creativity is only as good as it improves the bottom line.

This is a really difficult bias to get rid of, even when the questions asked are relatively simple. I have noticed this: every time a city administration goes out and asks citizens “what would you do in this square?” it gets answers focused on public spaces: “pedestrianize”, “plant more trees”, “bicycle lanes”, “a civic center” etc. But when the actual urban planning choices are made, economic interests - often of the very same people - kick in: shopkeepers want cars to have easy access to their shops, real estate developers want to build more apartments and offices, home owners want that too because they expect the values of their homes to increase. The citizens’ suggestions turn out to be mostly wishful thinking, and therefore unsustainable.

But there is another way: to ask people “what are you already doing?”. How are you using the square? How are you trying to improve your personal economic situation? This gets rid of the wishful thinking bias: if you are doing something, it means this something is, somewhat sustainable. By aggregating what people are doing in Egderyders, we hope to discover behavior that (1) generates desirable consequences for all (eg sharing assets) and (2) can be enabled by public policy.

So, this is why I have taken up the role of the boring guy who always wants to talk about action and behavior as opposed to pure ideas and desires. I really hope that Edgeryders can disprove the idea that citizen consultation is useless, and herald the rise of the citizen as expert.