Summary:
Real science is often like this: it starts with simple questions;
insights often begin as fuzzy pictures or vague verbal descriptions;
and deep intuitions are communicated offhandedly, using metaphor and analogy.
Excerpt from the book *Talking nets: an oral history of neural networks* by Jim Anderson & Ed Rosenfeld.
:: The convergence factor - an introduction
(unlimited possibilities + emerging structure) x synergy* = afterchaos
* synergy = convergence of people, ideas, goals, attitudes, communal qualities heading towards an implosive nuclei that sucks in all energy and radiates outwardly.
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overview
More than 7 years ago -- when I set out on this adventure I had initial questions concerning the network economic opportunities. I was a lone rider looking for objective confirmations through the acquired knowledge of many others.
Luckily, these questions had ground and became insights which were constantly kept under my macroscope. Were there general indications of the trends I was anticipating?
element 1 = interest
Something struck you. You weren't looking for it. Predisposed and open. Passive state. Capacity to be impressed by the unknown.
ex: while taking a picture of a lake when viewing the snapshot a beautiful bird crossed the sky.
element 2 = curiosity
Active state. Reactive to stimulation.
Driven to verify validity of the initial impression.
ex: awed at the sight of the beautiful bird on snapshot, never seen one
like this, want to know what it is.
element 3 = positive threading
Multiple possibilities are at hand. Shuffling through. Determination mode. Identification of possible sources. In process.
ex: go to the library to find books on birds
element 4 = rejection of poor feedback
Narrowing plus elimination: localisation, situation, context, specifics,
nominative qualities.
ex: the lake is located at "x"; it was season "y"; elimination of z% of
bird books to consult.
element 5 = receptor
Large intellectual sweeping mode. Huge amount of information available. Research is narrowed. Bits of confirmation.
ex: after initial % of elimination, the % of books to consult reverses from being "narrowed" to infinitely "detailed".
element 6 = perceptor
Vagueness. Distant similitudes are found. Generalization process. Appeal of identifying and superposing layers of incidental knowledge.
ex: identification of the "family" root of the bird in snapshot
element 7 = knowledge is all
The pinpointed quest has generated a multi-source and a new and broad knowledge base: historical, scientific, cultural, spiritual.
ex: the desire to identify the bird has generated knowledge on birds in the "x" lake region in "y" season.
element 8 = layers of competence
Structuring of knowledge acquisition. From ignorance to confirmation. Competency in holding/generating a mental picture that makes sense. The questions are streamlined. Observations are more subtle.
ex: the bird lineage has been identified - just looking to find the
"picture" in one of the books.
element 9 = high resolution vision
Solid memory. Aimed. Focussed. Piecing it together. Knowing exactly what to look for. Return on your initial research investment. Charged and highly expectants of results.
ex: the reference image of the bird is the snapshot. After exhausting all available books - it dawns that there's no picture of such a bird - thus until proven otherwise - this is a discovery of something new.
element 10 = communication+exchange+collaboration
Deep intuition of breakthrough. Assumptions are plausible. Change of focus: from hard facts research to research of peers. Audacious. Need to connect to others experiencing similar phenomenas. Find others who having gone through the same systematic research, own a *picture* of something nobody has yet documented.
ex: from one to one to many, discovering a whole network of people who have had similar experiences. The excitement of discovering the group surpasses personal discovery.
This is the introductory article to a series of others developing each of the convergence factor element. Stay tuned.
Originally published in [network + economy] ezine - September 1999