Conversation Archives

“Markets are conversations”.

While on a long run yesterday along the Thames (yes we have one here too) I got thinking about the Cluetrain and that core thesis.

Yes, and… “Humanity is conversation”.

Conversation is a human thing. We can’t help but have it, with others, and with ourselves. Whether we have it or not it keeps happening all around us.

If flows like water, sometimes fast sometimes slow. Sometimes it eddies and looks like there’s no place to go. It can’t be stopped, for long, and it can’t be forced, for long. It just flows, whether we’re part of it or not.

Conversation is what ‘separates’ us from other living organisms. At least, our own technology of conversation does. It started with language, and after the awkward evolution of mass media, has blossomed with the adoption of the web.

But really, if we look a little deeper we can see conversation is what life is all about. Our bodies are bundles of conversation among physical processes. Our environment is an extraordinarily rich and dynamic web of conversations. Everything is conversation.

And so, in a way, I am really a set of conversations, a participant in many more, and an observer of ‘others’. But really, it’s all just conversation flowing.

Sometimes it’s nice to sit on the shore and watch it go. Sometimes it’s nice to get naked and dive in. Whatever I do, and however it happens, it’s nice to know it’s all a part of this great conversation we we call humanity.

*** SESSION WIKI NOW LIVE ***
Those who know me know that this is a persistent theme with me – and now provoked by @josephdee – maybe it’s time to take this into a more focused conversation with a few more folks.

Premise:

The way of the world is borked.
The web (among other things) is shifting the way we organize resources, ourselves and create new things (W)
From that (in part) is emerging a new mode of organizing where the organization itself (not just the product) is peer produced (PP0).
Design is the essential process of intentionally creating things (D)
‘Un-borking’ our world means creating our future through W+PPO+D.

The conversation I’d like to have:

is this premise (or something close to it) something that we really buy into?
if so, what does it mean to put it in practice ourselves?
how do we weave it into the practices of others?
what are we (each individually and collectively) doing about it?

So I ask, what do you think about the premise, the conversation, and do you want to participate in this conversation (or maybe you are already having it)?

A couple of us have floated the idea of having a conversation at MaRS the morning of Dec. 11th. If you are interested – comment below or ping me directly.

*** Some other things that have come up in subsequent conversations around this – not sure yet how it will fit into the conversation but keep firing away.

The role of mindset is fundamental
‘Spiritual’ development and the question of “what am I” has a potentially significant role
My past work around ‘The Great Remix’ may lend to this too

Tag: Conversation

The convo I’d like to have: w + ppo + d >> our future