Holotopia

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Seeing things whole

We have proposed a new approach to knowledge, or technically a paradigm. We'll refer to it here by its pseudonym holoscope, which points to its distinguishing characteristic—that it allows us to combine disparate pieces of information together, and show a theme or an issue from all sides; see it as a whole.

Science gave us new ways to look at the world, and our vision expanded beyond bounds. The telescope and the microscope enabled us to see the things that were too distant or too small to be seen by the naked eye. At the same time, science had the tendency to keep us focused on things that were either too distant or too small to be relevant – compared to all those big and important things that now demand our attention. The holoscope is conceived as way to look at the world that helps us see each thing or theme as a whole – from all sides; and in correct proportions.

Perspective-S.jpg Every theme has a visible and a subtle side. The holoscope illuminates what has remained hidden, to show an issue in correct shape and proportions—and how it may need to be handled.

Our collection of stories

Just as the journalists do, we too tell real-life people and situation stories to bring abstract ideas down to earth and make them clear. We also use stories to convey core ideas of leading thinkers, to make it possible to 'step into their shoes', 'see through their eyeglasses'. This technique helps us to "stand on the shoulders of giants", as Newton did in his day, and "see further". The following taste bits will help us introduce holotopia itself. (* Pls. bear with me; we may scratch them later, or achieve the same effect in some other way; but for now this is my best shot at making things clear. *)

The Noah story

Noah, Dino's 10-yr old son, here appears in the role of a stakeholder. Dino's generation will soon be on the way out; Noah's generation is on the way in. What kind of world, what options, are we leaving them? <p>Noah: "Why can't I just live?"

Dino wants to help Noah not give up on understanding the world. Noah's question is profound. Instead of explaining it, we recommend to take a moment and reflect about what it really means.

Dino: "While our distant ancestors were living on trees, that was of course fully possible. They only needed to stretch a hand and pick up a banana. It is no longer possible in the complex world we've created."

Noah: "But that is not true! We only need to stretch a hand and pick whatever we want—from a supermarket shelf!"

The Aurelio Peccei story

Aurelio Peccei—the founding president and the motor power behind The Club of Rome—also appears here in an iconic role. The Club of Rome was an effort to federate insights about our civilization's condition, and its future prospects. What do we really need to know about our situation? What do we really need to do?

Based on a decade of research of this international think tank, Peccei gave us the following conclusion:

Peccei-Future.jpeg We let this be a roadsign on a civilizational crossroads. Most of us are "just living". Some of us are understanding that "just living" is leading us to a dead end—and beginning to panic.

We offer it here to Noah. We are living in a precarious moment where "just living" is no longer possible. And where knowledge, where our capability to understand the world and orient ourselves in it, will have a completely different function than it had before—and still does!

Peccei as an icon stands for the forgotten history of the environmental movement. The fact that we cannot just engineer "solutions" to our "problems"—such as the climate change. We must "change course". Read our Aurelio Peccei story to see what this really meant—that it's "a great cultural revival" we need to aim for! But how?

The Margaret Mead story</p>

<p><center>The Margaret Mead story</p> <p>Margaret Mead.</p> <p>Margaret Mead appears here in the role of an icon of the Holotopia project itself. Her familiar dictum points to the holotopia's very core mission:

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.

The 'small print'—her explanation (based on research in cultural anthropology, where she was a leader) what exactly distinguishes "a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens" that is capable of making a difference—is even more relevant, because it points to the strategic and tactical decisions that define the Holotopia project. Contemplate the Margaret Mead story to see how.</p>

Mead.jpg

Holotopia as a vision

<p> A complete model (or technically a prototype) of the holoscope having been described on our website Holoscope.org, and explained in a variety of ways on Dino's blog Holoscope.info, we here describe a proof of concept application, which is in development. We present it as an answer to the question "What difference could this new approach to knowledge make?" </p> <p>Supposed that you had in your hand a flashlight, which you could use to illuminate any theme or issue. What would you point it at?</p> <p>We here use the holoscope to 'illuminate the way'. Our aim is not to predict the future, but to show a possible future. And to begin to follow a course by which this future can be reached.</p> <p>The holotopia is more desirable future than the common utopias. Yet it is fully realizable. We already own all the knowledge needed for its fulfillment.</p> Modernity.jpg By depicting our society as a bus, and the way we handle knowledge as a pair of candle headlights, the holoscope renders the nature of our condition in a nutshell.


The five insights

<p>The holotopia vision is made concrete in terms of specific five insights. The idea is to show that when a core theme of interest is illuminated by the light of available knowledge—we see it in a completely new light; and in a similar way as we might see the way this theme was handled in the Middle Ages. By doing this, we give a positive answer to the question posited in the Holoscope.org's opening paragraphs:

Think about the world at the twilight of the Middle Ages and the dawn of the Renaissance: devastating religious wars, terrifying epidemics… Think of the scholastics pondering about the angels dancing on a needlepoint; and Galilei in house arrest, whispering “and yet it moves” into his beard. Observe that the problems of the epoch were not resolved by focusing on those problems, but by a slow and steady development of an entirely new approach to knowledge. Several centuries of comprehensive evolution followed. Could a similar advent be in store for us today?

</p> FiveInsights.JPG The holotopia vision is made concrete in terms of five insights. <p>Here is how the five insights complete the holotopia vision.</p>

  • The Convenience Paradox insight is about the pursuit of happiness. And about our general culture, and our values. The Renaissance empowered our ancestors to not relinquish happiness to the hereafter. Can you imagine a similar revolution today?
  • The Power Structure insight is about innovation, and about the ways in which our capability to create and induce change is directed. A timely experiment—when our best efforts resulted in problems rather than solutions. The Industrial Revolution made the human work incomparably more effective and efficient. Is it indeed true that a revolution of a similar scale is still just around the corner?
  • The Collective Mind insight is about communication. Some historians attributed the Enlightenment largely to Gutenberg's invention of the printing press, and the revolution of knowledge that ensued. Now we have a new technology—and a new revolution is about to take place!
  • The Socialized Reality insight is about the foundation on which the truth and the meaning are developed in our society; or about the epistemology. Wasn't that the reason why Galilei was in house arrest—his claim that when the human reason contradicts the Scriptures, it may be legitimate to give the former the benefit of our doubt! Could a similar advent be in store for us today?
  • The Narrow Frame insight is about "the scientific worldview"; and more generally about the way in which we look at the world and explore the world, in order to comprehend it. We take off our 'eyeglasses', and we look at them. Could they be distorting our worldview, in some uncanny way?

You will have no difficulty noticing how these five insights weave together an affirmative answer to the question we posed above: The upper three show how an equivalent of the Renaissance, the Industrial Revolution and the Communication Revolution may still happen to us; the bottom two show that an Enlightenment-like change is ready to happen for fundamental reasons—and by bringing about a new way to think and to comprehend the world, make those three other changes possible.</p>

Holotopia as a strategy

<p>While each of the five insights is spectacular in its own right, even more illuminating are their relationships. By exploring them, in the light of further suitable points of reference, we understand that we cannot meaningfully respond to any of them, without responding to them all. </p> <p>An even larger, overarching insight results, which naturally leads to the strategy that the holotopia is pointing to by its very name:

Comprehensive change can be easy, even when much smaller and obviously necessary changes may be impossible.

</p>


Making things whole

<p>We were able to federate the five insights even further. Each of the five larger-than-life opportunities to improve our condition, which the five insights are pointing to, can be fulfilled by following this simple rule of thumb: Instead of seeing the world in the light of our narrowly conceived self-interest, and trusting that "the free competition" or "the invisible hand" of the market will turn our self-serving acts into the greatest common good (which is so markedly Middle Ages, isn't it?)—we see ourselves and what we do as parts in a larger whole or wholes; and act in ways that make all those larger wholes more whole.</p> <p>Hence this formula (Vibeke didn't like it, but hey—nobody's reading this yet, so let's have it here as Dino's private joke and foible):

But seek ye first the systemic wholeness,
in all matters and on all levels of detail; 
and all these things shall be added unto you.

</p>

Holotopia as a project

H side.png <p>Remember the Renaissance: Isn't it the art, of Leonardo and of Michelangelo, that we tend to remember most? Holotopia is an art project; with a similar ambition. What would art need to be like, in this age, to be able to play a similarly transformative role? It is to that timely question that we want to most humbly contribute.</p> <p>The mission of Holotopia as a prototype or project is to develop whatever is needed for "changing course" – and reaching the holotopia. </p>

The box

Box1.jpg <p> Holotopia's box is a ritual object designed for 'initiation' to holotopia, a way to help us 'unbox' our conception of the world and see, think and behave differently; change course inwardly, by embracing a new value.</p>


The virtual space

<p>Imagine the holotopia as a new continent. This continent doesn't need to be physically isolated, not any more. On the contrary. It can grow in our midst. The point is, however, to have physical and virtual spaces.</p> <p>The key is the holotopia virtual space which includes physical spaces, with suitable affordances and group dynamics by which the holotopia vision can be realized.</p> <p>The point here is to provide the right kind of affordances, the right 'furniture' – for the new kind of interaction to take place.</p> <p>And yet the most important achievement here is this new dynamic – we create cultural forms and norms... Art has been moving in this direction anyway. The modern art liberated itself in form from the traditional arts. Art was, aptly, a rebellion. And the next step? Of course – it's re-creation...!</p>