Thanks to Alan Kazlev and other friends,who seemed to have saved me from an impending cyber-death. See here for details. Happy festivities to all who have supported the work of the P2P Foundation in the past year. As readers will have noticed, it has now become a truly collective endeavour.
Date archives "December 2006"
The true P2P (r)evolution may not happen in Europe and America
Just some random thoughts, as I’m returning from a lecturing trip in Europe, which I combined with reading a remarkable book by Lawrence Taub, The Spiritual Imperative, Sex, Caste and the Last Age. Some other things that prompted my thoughts below, was an incredible lecture by Menno Van Doorn (Sogeti) on the rapid growth of… Continue reading
Can economies of independence and diversity replace economies of place and scale?
We continue our discovery of Jeff Vail’s stimulating ideas. In this blog entry on anti-economies, he first outlines the assumptions of neoclassical economy: Economy of place is the concept that some things are more efficiently done in certain places. Economy of scale is the concept that it is more efficient to do lots of one… Continue reading
How is the energy issue related to P2P political change?
Here’s a very interesting answer to the above question, in an essay by Jeff Vail called Energy, Society and Hierarchy, worth reading in full. It really drives home the importance of choosing distributed energy forms. Excerpt: “A quick review of economic relationships will demonstrate the central role of energy choices in an economy. Control over… Continue reading
Is it necessary to design against homophyli and the logic of affinity?
We have recently updated the P2P Encyclopedia entry on Protocollary Power,which indicates how power is now hidden/exhibited in the design and architecture of social software, where it can constrain the freedom of individual agents. Related to this is a blog entry which discusses homophyli, defined as the phenomenon where we associate with like individuals because… Continue reading
How are hierarchy and ownership related: a theory of rhizomatic power
I just discovered this new book, A Theory of Power, by intelligence analyst Jeff Vail. It may be an important contribution to a P2P theory of change: Excerpt One, the relationship between hierarchy and ownership The abstract notion of ownership serves as the single, greatest perpetuator of hierarchy. When one steps back and examines the… Continue reading
Charles Leadbeater urges P2P-inspired public policy for innovation
Very well written summary on some necessary reforms to jumpstart mass innovation, which appeared as a column in the Financial Times. Here’s just a summary of the 3 key proposals, but the whole article is well worth reading. Excerpts: “Britain is no longer a society of mass industrial production. Instead it should aspire to be… Continue reading
The Upside Of Down: The Emerging Economics of The Commons
I recently came across this New Scientist (subscription) interview with Thomas Homer-Dixon. In the interview, Homer-Dixon talks about his book The Upside of Down: Catastrophe, creativity and the renewal of civilization. He mentions his ideas for replacing the the perpetual growth/economics of scarcity model with something that is more sustainable. Here’s an excerpt: Isn’t there… Continue reading
Zealots and the Wikipedia process
Alan Kazlev reports on his experience when faced with a Wilber zealot who aims to delete critical material. This is a regular and resurfacing issue on the Wikipedia, when faced with committed minorities who want to hijack material for their own ends. They may have more energy and experience than the lone individual, but as… Continue reading
P2P Book of the Week, Exerpt 4: All the World a Stage: The Emerging Attention Economy…, by Michael H. Goldhaber
Our fourth and final excerpt from this P2P Book of the Week, preceded by an introduction and excerpts from Chapter 1 and Chapter 2. Please see Mr. Goldhaber’s blog for more info and to download the complete chapters. All the World a Stage Michael H. Goldhaber Chapter 3 How Attention Works: Paying It Means Reshaping… Continue reading
Understanding Knowledge as a Commons: From Theory to Practice (MIT Press)
David Bollier beat me to it with this post. He’s one of the authors, so he deserves the honor. My copy of this important new book just arrived. Bollier writes: Two leading scholars on the commons, Charlotte Hess and Elinor Ostrom, have just published a great anthology of essays, Understanding Knowledge as a Commons: From… Continue reading
P2P Book of the Week, Exerpt 3: All the World a Stage: The Emerging Attention Economy…, by Michael H. Goldhaber
Our third excerpt from this book of the week, preceded by an introduction and excerpts from Chapter 1. All the World a Stage Michael H. Goldhaber Chapter 2 (Excerpts) Feudalism’s Growth, Success and Consequent Fall “I love the gay Eastertide, which brings forth leaves and flowers;….. But also I love to see, amidst the meadows,… Continue reading
P2P Book of the Week, Exerpt 2: All the World a Stage: The Emerging Attention Economy…, by Michael H. Goldhaber
Our Book of the Week selection continues from Mr. Goldhaber’s introduction, previously posted. To download the complete chapters, please go to his blog. The Attention Economy, Chapter One: May I Have Your Attention, Please… “The one constant of human life is change†— a cliché, no doubt, but worth recalling. Changes such as earthquakes and… Continue reading
P2P theory and the Dunbar number
Tonight i was in Amsterdam watching Michel give his P2P talk at deWaag in Amsterdam. While i have seen this lecture quite a few times, something happened tonight that struck me as not completely ringing true. Michel lays down a developmental model that we all start as tribal societies working together in groups until we… Continue reading
Does the virtual replace the physical? No, BUT …
Kenneth Rufo of the Ghost in the Wire blog has an interesting commentary on Danah Boyd’s thesis that the virtual only complements ‘real life’, and does not replace it. I recommend reading this insightful critique of false dichotomies in full, but here is the key citation of what it is about: Now Danah is a… Continue reading
Why non-alienated peer production is better
The following are citations from a discussion on the Oekonux (Linux economy) mailing list, where Stefan Merten responds to some questions I had posed. Question 1: In general, why would for-benefit peer production be better than for-profit market production? Michael Bauwens wrote: – what makes you sure that pure modes of doubly free software are… Continue reading