From: Ron Goldman <rgoldman@cs.stanford.edu>
Speaking of Buckminster Fuller, check out:
http://www.bfi.org/about_this_website.htm
where the Buckminster Fuller Institute describes one of it's major goals as
being "a search for information that would help individuals easily grasp
the big picture regarding the state of the world and the solutions to our
most pressing problems."
Sounds a lot like what Doug is talking about.
Quoting some more from their web page:
"Most strikingly, however, our search identified an unattended need to
popularize this vital message, improve the way it gets out and facilitate
the exchange of resources among the millions of people committed to
sustainability.
The least talked about crisis of the information age is, perhaps, the lack
of simple and affordable access to an easy to understand presentation of
the big picture trends and solutions affecting humanity's future.
In response to this crisis, BFI is undertaking the development of an
Internet service to meet this big picture presentation need. Our aim is to
redesign the presentation of essential life support data and critical path
options so that they can be conveyed to a broad-based audience.
BFI's new online service will serve a large and expanding global
constituency interested in building a sustainable future by making
available:
1. Visual/graphical presentations that dramatically display,
track, forecast and make easily understood, global resources,
trends and human needs impacting future generations.
2. Tutorials that present the "Big Picture" perspectives and
key principles combined with simple but effective things
individuals can do to act upon humanity's unprecedented
option for success.
3. Interactive communication tools that build community,
foster debate and help generate an informed, connected
and more recognized critical mass of world citizens.
4. A robust database and search engine that links people with
relevant information, projects, individuals, organizations
and tools, and that facilitates the exchange of resources."
Seems like lots of groups are trying to develop better tools to augment
people's ability to comprehend our impact on the world. See also the
Chaordic Alliance:
founded by Dee Hock. One of their 4 goals is the:
"Development of visual and physical models of chaordic organizations so
that people have something to examine, experiment with, and compared to
existing organizations. The models must contain the ethical and spiritual
dimensions generally lacking in current models. In addition, computer
simulations will need to be created to allow people to quickly see how
clarity of purpose and principles allow institutions to self organize,
evolve over decades, and link in new patterns for an enduring constructive
society."
-- Ron --
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2.0.0 : Tue Aug 21 2001 - 18:56:36 PDT