Harrison, et al. -- Whitehead + God + Open Space = Open Theism -- one of the great debates of our time:
http://godisopen.com/what-is-open-theism/ Enjoy! > On Oct 4, 2015, at 11:59 AM, Harrison Owen via OSList > <[email protected]> wrote: > > “Everything is moving.” .... Michael -- I remember that moment very well. > And Dan, I’m not sure the context, etc, would help very much. But just for > the record the odd phrase popped out at one of the International Symposia on > Organization Transformation which happened to be taking place at a small > college south of Seattle. I have no idea why Ralph said what he did, and I’m > not sure Ralph did either. But then again a lot of marvelous stuff seems to > burst out with no obvious logic train. Indeed it may be that the lack of > logic train enables the thought? > > Whatever the genesis, the phrase wandered about my head for some time, quite > unattached, and it also happened that I was working my way slowly through one > of the masterpieces of 20th century western philosophy when a fuzzy > connection began to form. The work was that of Alfred North Whitehead, and > the title: “Process and Reality.” I’ve been through the book probably 4-5 > times, and I am frank to confess that I don’t think I really understand it. > But then again I’ve heard a number of people with much greater credentials, > tenure, etc – say the same thing. But I did get that it had something to do > with, “Everything is moving.” And the more I thought and read, the more I > felt that the good philosopher had made a small mistake on his title. It > shouldn’t be “Process and Reality,” but rather “Process is Reality.” > > Now, Anna Caroline we come to “structure,” or perhaps I should say the > fallacy of Structure? Yes I know – we’ve all been taught that structure is > the precursor, the “determinator” of everything. My face looks as it does > because of my bone structure. My life proceeds the way it does because of my > social structure. My business works as it does because of the organizational > structure. And of course, meetings happen the way they do because of meeting > structure, which apparently is the prime domain of “facilitators.” And even > if we hadn’t been “taught” all this, the primacy of structure would appear to > be blatantly obvious – as plain as the nose on your face. > > Unfortunately, it does seem to turn out that sometimes the blatantly obvious > is not necessarily so. For example just looking at things it is pretty clear > that the world is flat, or at the least bumpy flat. And any fool can see that > we are the center of it all – Sun, moon, and stars whiz around us. But when > we think about it, as we have been doing for the last 500-600 years, the > obvious isn’t so obvious. > > It is reasonable to ask what would start to make us think differently – to > the point that we begin to question the obvious, and even come to see things > in a different way? Taking a leap, I will suggest that it all begins with the > perception of anomaly. Things just don’t make sense. Our eyes tell us one > thing... but???? And then we start making up stories to explain the > apparently unexplainable. We imagine different ways of looking at things so > that the nonsensical makes sense. Some of those stories get pretty strange, > but if they actually work – that is to say, help us to see in new and useful > ways – that’s great! > > There is, of course, a proper term for the activity I have been describing. > It is called Theory Building. And for whatever it is worth, “theory” comes > from the Greek “theorein” – to see. In a word, theories are ways of looking > at things – likely stories you might say. > > Now, at long last (too long?) we come to the odd story I was starting to > tell, to the effect that Structure is only a figment of our imagination, a > flash frame of a moment gone by. Interesting, and helpful under some > circumstances... but always partial and in a sense illusory. What’s “really” > happening is all flow. Everything is moving – That’s Ralph’s story, and I > guess it is mine too. > > So how did I get to such a weird condition? It was all about anomaly – more > particularly, the anomaly of Open Space. Everything that I had ever learned > told me that it could not work. Unfortunately it did (work) – and not just > once, but every time, hundreds of thousands of times. Something was > definitely weird. It seemed to me that I had to re-consider all those things > I thought I had learned, beginning with the basics... such things as > Structure. > > Common sense would say that Open Space works because we somehow created a > structure that enabled it to work. That’s the way things get done, or so I > had been taught. But that’s not the way things happened in Open Space. > Structure emerged along the way and only momentarily. Worse yet it > (structure) seemed to have little to do with the obvious power, connections, > creativity.... all of which created structures, and passed them by. And > actually it always seemed to me that the “structures” I “saw” existed only > because I wanted to see them – or perhaps that I “should” see them. But they > were only momentary wisps, figments – never to be mistaken for what was > really going on. Or so I’ve been thinking. > > Harrison > > > > > > > From: OSList [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of > Michael Herman via OSList > Sent: Saturday, October 03, 2015 6:31 PM > To: JL Walker; World wide Open Space Technology email list > Subject: Re: [OSList] The Tyranny of Structurelessness > > you remind me, harrison, of one morning news session years ago, somewhere, > probably OT... where ralph copleman walked to the center of the circle and > announced, all serious and mischievous at the same time, "it's all moving!" > > then put the stick down and went back to his seat. > > > -- > > Michael Herman > Michael Herman Associates > http://MichaelHerman.com > http://OpenSpaceWorld.org > > > On Sat, Oct 3, 2015 at 1:47 PM, JL Walker via OSList > <[email protected]> wrote: > I was thinking that maybe the antidote to the eventual tyranny of > structurelessness is to open space, again and again, until true democracy can > emerge. > > Juan Luis > > De: OSList [mailto:[email protected]] En nombre de Rosa > Zubizarreta via OSList > Enviado el: sábado, 03 de octubre de 2015 12:19 > Para: Daniel Mezick; World wide Open Space Technology email list > Asunto: Re: [OSList] The Tyranny of Structurelessness > > Hi Daniel, > > Yes, this is a key piece... I see it as very similar in some ways to what Ken > Wilber wrote later, > about the "shadow side of the green meme". (Each meme has its own shadow, as > well as its own gift...) > > So, I love "green". I love circles, I love non-hierarchy, etc. > And, part of the "shadow side of the green meme" is how ideologically > anti-structure it can become... > to the point where some people may not even agree that OST does, in fact, > offer a very simple and effective structure. > > By way contrast, think of a situation where group of people (who don't know > about OST, and/or, who are having a power struggle around "which process to > use", and/or.... ) might easily spending a whole weekend arguing about "how > to self-organize ourselves"... with a great deal more pain and frustration > and a great deal less value. > > whereas, instead, IF someone knows about OST, and, a clear invitation has > been extended, and, there is enough trust/suspension of disbelief so that > participants are willing to enter into that format, > > then, we end up with a very simple and elegant structure that allows people > to self-organize beautifully.... > > at least that's how i see it! :-) > > with all best wishes, > > Rosa > > > > Rosa Zubizarreta > Developing Participatory and Co-intelligent Leadership > Author of From Conflict to Creative Collaboration > > For more resources and learning opportunities, visit > www.DiaPraxis.com > > On Sat, Oct 3, 2015 at 9:26 AM, Daniel Mezick via OSList > <[email protected]> wrote: > THE TYRANNY of STRUCTURELESSNESS > by Jo Freeman aka Joreen > > I find this essay extremely interesting. I hope you do, too. > > > > Here is a pertinent quote, from the essay: > "...the idea of "structurelessness" does not prevent the formation of > informal structures, only formal ones." > > > Circa 1970. Context: the women's movement. Quick summary of the main points: > from the essay... > > During the years in which the women's liberation movement has been taking > shape, a great emphasis has been placed on what are called leaderless, > structureless groups as the main -- if not sole -- organizational form of the > movement. > The idea of "structurelessness," however, has moved from a healthy counter to > those tendencies, to becoming a goddess in its own right. > Contrary to what we would like to believe, there is no such thing as a > structureless group. > This means that to strive for a structureless group is as useful, and as > deceptive, as to aim at an "objective" news story, "value-free" social > science, or a "free" economy. A "laissez faire" group is about as realistic > as a "laissez faire" society; the idea becomes a smokescreen for the strong > or the lucky to establish unquestioned hegemony over others. > This hegemony can be so easily established because the idea of > "structurelessness" does not prevent the formation of informal structures, > only formal ones. > For everyone to have the opportunity to be involved in a given group and to > participate in its activities, the structure must be explicit, not implicit. > It is this informal structure, particularly in Unstructured groups, which > forms the basis for elites. > > > Just in case you have not yet encountered the full text of this essay, here > it is: > > THE TYRANNY of STRUCTURELESSNESS > by Jo Freeman aka Joreen > http://www.jofreeman.com/joreen/tyranny.htm > > > > Regards, > Daniel > http://www.OpenSpaceAgility.com/about > http://www.DanielMezick.com > 203 915 7248 > > _______________________________________________ > OSList mailing list > To post send emails to [email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] > To subscribe or manage your subscription click below: > http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org > Past archives can be viewed here: > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] > > > _______________________________________________ > OSList mailing list > To post send emails to [email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] > To subscribe or manage your subscription click below: > http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org > Past archives can be viewed here: > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] > > _______________________________________________ > OSList mailing list > To post send emails to [email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] > To subscribe or manage your subscription click below: > http://lists.openspacetech.org/listinfo.cgi/oslist-openspacetech.org > Past archives can be viewed here: > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]
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