Subject: On the role of semantics in transpartisan dialog
Date: Tue, Apr 1, 2014
Msg: 100899
Good morning, happy April (!)
Yes ? that?s the big dream ? maybe led by starry-eyed (and hopefully not naïve) idealists, who would love to see a network/circle/conversation of "the broadest possible spectrum of American politics and governance within a kind of universal civility alliance.?
Regarding this hope, I?ve been looking at some specific issues that I personally feel are critical ? but which usually don?t get an explicit mention in guidelines for civility (if you know where this is discussed, please show me) ? having to do with the mysteries of semantic interpretation.
Putting it simply ? ?people often don?t understand each other very well? ? and it seems clear that very often our political leaders go out of their way to intentionally misunderstand one another, so as to justify their accusations.
WHAT DO WORDS MEAN?
We humans use ?words? to communicate ? words to describe and characterize issues, words to characterize human differences, words to form judgments ? and ?what words mean? is a complicated and vexed subject.
Words have to be interpreted ? and most of us interpret what words mean through our own ?private dictionaries?. So ? if I assign some high-intensity meaning to some word ? and presume that my definition is *the* definition ? I then might feel very justified in attacking you, because you used that word in a way that has high negative charge for me.
The real skill here ? is learning to hear what the other person intended to say ? according to *their* dictionary ? not according to our own.
This is a major skill, and not all that well understood.
For me, the first step is actually listening to the other person, and doing my best to understand their intention, without imposing *my* dictionary on *their* words. Not always so easy ? and it gets harder when the conversations are moving faster, on more controversial subjects, with less time for reflection and consideration. Start moving too fast ? something will explode.
This is why I think that ?bandwidth? is critically important.
BANDWIDTH
People have tons of things to say, and complex and detailed points of view on complicated issues. But we might have only a couple of minutes and a couple of sentences to make our point. Being persuasive and diplomatic at the same time is not easy ? and might be impossible when time constraints are tight.
But that seems to be our reality: hundreds of interdependent complex issues coming at us all at the same time.
This is one reason I have become persuaded that any hope for a successful transpartisan politics in today?s world absolutely requires strong and articulate computer support. We just can?t do this stuff ? at the required level of detail, in the allotted time slots ? without explosions and accusations and ?demonizing?.
This is a bandwidth issue. We need more bandwidth. We need a workable and ?simple? solution to this problem. If we want to ?be heard? ? we need a big space to put our ideas ? and an efficient space to make our big complex/wordy ideas simple and effective.
In the meantime ? yes, to the degree possible, let?s be ?civil?. ?Can?t we all get along??
But as we proceed ? let?s master some of these issues ? rather than hoping that by some magic they will disappear. Learn to listen ? yes, that?s critically important in ?understanding the other?. Be respectful. As Joan Blades said, ?hold the tension?. But let?s develop the channel capacity to take on everything coming at us without drowning in an information tsunami, or resorting to an insular self-righteousness to protect our small and low-bandwidth way of thinking about things?.
Bruce Schuman
NETWORK NATION: http://networknation.net
SHARED PURPOSE: http://sharedpurpose.net
INTERSPIRIT: http://interspirit.net
(805) 966-9515, PO Box 23346, Santa Barbara CA 93101
From: List for transpartisan leaders and innovators [mailto:TRANSPARTISAN@LISTS.THATAWAY.ORG] On Behalf Of Jacob Hess Sent: Friday, March 28, 2014 1:34 PM To: TRANSPARTISAN@LISTS.THATAWAY.ORG Subject: Re: [TRANSPARTISAN] An Integral Transpartisan Alliance - Action Proposal
Interesting stuff, Bruce...I love your enthusiasm. And what a perfect preface to our April conversation theme as Mark Gerzon articulated ("Clarifying Transpartisan") - as well as looking towards our July endpoint ("Taking Action").
No question "big forces are converging right now" (not all ennobling) - and that huge possibilities are before us as a society. As a social conservative member of this group, I especially appreciate that you're proposing engaging "the broadest possible spectrum of American politics and governance within a kind of universal civility alliance." I believe there is a hunger in many conservative groups for this kind of conversation, this kind of engagement - this kind of unity.
So excited to see where this leads!
--Jacob
On Thu, Mar 27, 2014 at 9:49 AM, Bruce Schuman wrote:
Hi Rich, thanks for the comment. I took a close look at your article and some of your other links.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2014/03/26/shark-tank-for-social-good-m ichigans-innovative-plan-to-end-poverty/3/
I thought I would go through it and identify what looks to me like ?transpartisan themes?. I like the idea of being explicit about what is new and innovative ? maybe I?m following your insights on ?the power of simple and clear definition? from your article at http://www.ssireview.org/blog/entry/the_power_of_a_simple_and_inclusive_defi nition
Meanwhile, global abject poverty has actually been reduced by half over the last twenty years; countries like China and India with top-down, centralized governments allowed for bottom-up, free market innovation that moved millions of people out of poverty.
America needs to learn from this global trend by getting beyond dualistic thinking that pits capitalism against the poor. Instead, we must combine the best of capitalism?s innovation, ownership, and financial reward with the best of the social sector?s compassion?and that?s exactly what Michigan is doing.
?Get beyond dualistic thinking? ? or maybe ?simplistic dualistic thinking? ? and ?combine the best? ? of various constructive influences. This takes real creative imagination, and its emergence can be hard to predict. This is one reason we need real ?co-creativity? ? we need the real stakeholders in the room ? in a cooperative/creative/mutually respectful spirit ? exploring innovative new approaches.
HOLDING THE TENSION: MUTUAL RESPECT AND AN OPEN HEART
In her introduction posted here on Monday, Joan Blades described this approach as she sees it in Living Room Conversations:
I have seen the dysfunction of partisan behaviors and believe we must and can do better. I have seen the good will, intelligence and power of citizens. It is time to rebuild respectful civil discourse while embracing our core shared values. Adversarial solutions will not suffice, to create the solutions to the big challenges we face this century. We must learn to engage in collaborative problem solving - holding the tension of our differences while working together with respect and an open heart I believe we will create solutions that are better than any group alone could devise.
I like this phrase: ?holding the tension of our differences while working together with respect and an open heart.?
The way I see it, that?s the key to empowering social change. This energy ? ?holding the tension while working together with an open heart? ? is the driving energy and power-source for transformative social revolution and the birth of cultural renaissance. We have to learn to do this at scale ? ?all over the place?. This might be the core message of the transpartisan revolution. This is the primary skill for cutting-edge transpartisan social-change activists.
HOLISTIC AND INTEGRAL ? LIBERATE THE CREATIVE POWER OF COMMUNITY
One small point ? is that this inclusive mutually-respectful approach ? is inherently ?holistic and integral?. It ?combines the best? of elements brought into the conversation by the participants. And this inclusive approach makes a co-creative and transpartisan conversation inherently unpredictable. It is raw creativity itself ? emerging from the constructive relationships in the circle. Another point ? is that this approach helps overcome ?cognitive bandwidth? limitations. Nobody can hold all this simultaneous complexity in their heads at the same time. But a group ?holding the tension of our differences while working together with respect and an open heart? CAN hold this complexity ? because each person is holding their part with integrity. This is why we need community ? and probably what the Berkana Institute means when they say ?Whatever the problem, community is the answer? ? http://berkana.org
In this sense, I think we are following Don Beck?s call to ?connect ALL the dots? ? and Leonardo da Vinci?s injunction to ?Learn how to see.? Listen with an open heart, hear with respect, build a bridge, understand ?the other? ? what are they bringing, how does our proposed solution work for them ? as well as for us ? and for all other stakeholders in the field -- ?
Michigan, it turns out, is full of civic-minded social entrepreneurs who have been waiting a lifetime to share their ideas. In fact, so many participants asked for coaching on their business ideas that Michigan Corps had to hold a solid week of half-hour coaching clinics to meet demand.
Very hopeful sign. I would bet this is true in many places. The creative energy for transformative social change based on co-creativity has been bubbling up for many years. All these creative hopeful talented people ? are part of our movement. Let?s make a place for them ? and create a pathway to ?assimilate their genius? into a widely shared movement?.
This effort?affectionately called the Michigan Model?showed that it?s possible to harness capitalism to address chronic social problems, thereby laying the groundwork for a model that transforms business and charity. These 10 winners could become pioneers of the future of American business, combining the best our nation?s entrepreneurial innovation with the compassion to do good.
This looks like another very important factor ? this is why it all works, and isn?t a bleeding heart model that will inevitably burn out.
The Michigan model moves beyond partisan debate, failed strategies of the past, and old rhetoric toward real solutions to address poverty. Everyone wins. The community takes on homegrown solutions. Social entrepreneurs get to match their great ideas with expertise and investment. Sponsors gain research and development from competition participants that they can use toward solutions in their industry or target region. Colleges have a new way to teach students that doing good and making money don?t need to be mutually exclusive. And society improves because we?re all working together for good.
Yes. This sounds like the pure elixir. Put it in a bottle, take it everywhere?.
Probably the most amazing part of the competition was its cross-sector nature. Republicans joined with Democrats, Progressives with Conservatives, entrepreneurs with investors, blacks with whites, upstate MI with ?downstaters,? government and business, nonprofits and for-profits, colleges and faith-based groups all joined forces to make the competition work.
?Cross-sector?. This is another master-key for opening up the power of ?holistic and integral? solutions. All those sectors ? so often viewed as separate silos ? within this new framework are seen as valuable creative facets of a single inclusive whole ? the broader ?human community? that we all are. We should be patient, be kind to one another, learn to listen ? as Leonardo said ? ?Learn to see? ? ?Everything is connected to everything else? ? and that includes people ? and all these ?silos?. Yes, there are often very real reasons for keeping things separate, and we don?t need to blur that distinction. But there are sometimes very real reasons for bringing them together. This is something we all have to learn ? and we need our best integral visionaries to explain to us how this works, in ways we find believable/credible. Otherwise, we are likely to remain skeptical and see all of this hopeful creative energy as naïve woo-woo?
What happened in Michigan last year represents a new way to achieve both social impact and a financial return. More importantly, it points to a new way for Americans to really begin to solve social problems, with everyone and every sector playing an important role and working together. As the investment in the Michigan?s Social Entrepreneurship Challenge winners grows and they make a return for their investees as they solve social problems, we can expect nothing less than a much-needed transformation of capitalism. This win-win-win model might accomplish what nothing else has: an end to poverty in America.
Rich Tafel is the Founder of Public Squared, which provided the strategy coaching and training for the Michigan competitions.
I like the ?popcorn beginning to pop? model of social change. The kernels that are ready get there first. They might be anywhere in the pan.
LEADING FROM THE CENTER
But for me ? an important point is: this is not ?leading from the fringe? It?s not like this kind of social change is being driven by fringe groups. The real key to the power ? is that this is ?leading from the center?.
This is the true center of community, that emerges in the spirit suggested by Joan Blades ? ?mutual respect with an open heart?.
Bruce Schuman
NETWORK NATION: http://networknation.net
SHARED PURPOSE: http://sharedpurpose.net
INTERSPIRIT: http://interspirit.net
(805) 966-9515 , PO Box 23346, Santa Barbara CA 93101
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On Wed, Mar 26, 2014 at 3:39 PM, Richard Tafel wrote:
Great stuff Bruce, you've really thought this out. I agree if we don't move to action this list will die out. A good example of transpartisan success is the work in Michigan. Here's my oped in Forbes today. You'll hear the transpartisan themes throughout.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2014/03/26/shark-tank-for-social-good-m ichigans-innovative-plan-to-end-poverty/3/
Thank you, Rich Tafel
www.thepublicsquared.com mobile: 202-365-7764 twitter @richtafel
Skype richtafel
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--
Jacob Z. Hess, Ph.D. Co-founder, All of Life
801-712-1346, jzhess@gmail.com
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