Structure
Many years ago, when I studied to be a preacher-man, I learned how to write a strong sermon. The best sermons have three parts: an opening, an exegesis, and a closing. Put together, these three elements create a dramatic arc which the congregation can latch onto and follow. Nearly all of my lectures and public talks – as can be seen on my other blog – are presented in three parts. It seems to work well, whether the subject matter is biblical or technical. All these years of breaking everything into threes may have affected the way I think. It’s become difficult for me to think outside of this ‘rule of threes’.
Just as in my earlier book, The Playful World, Share This Book is structurally broken into thirds. In the first third I want to cover the sharing of culture – that is, all the ways we have become expert in the sharing of various forms of media: songs, videos, links, thoughts, and so on. This will not be presented as something new, but as the foundation for what follows: the sharing of knowledge. When the sharing of culture becomes directed and specific to a domain – whether that might be Star Wars or mental health or French cooking – it transcends the contributions of any single individual, and can create a condition of group intelligence, or ‘hyperintelligence’.
Once hyperintelligence emerges, anything is possible. For example, community of self-professed geeks might take on Scientology (ANONYMOUS). When applied to the achievement of a goal, hyperintelligence translates into hyperempowerment: individuals punch far above their weight. That is a new thing, something which destabilizes every institution in the 21st century.
Three sections: culture, knowledge and power. It’s a sermon, of sorts, designed to illuminate those who hear it. With your help.
Tags: hyperempowerment, hyperintelligence, sermon, Share This Book, sharing, Star Wars, structure, The Playful World
This entry was posted on Sunday, January 10th, 2010 at 11:08 am and is filed under Book, Meta, Share This Book, Share This Course, hyperconnectivity, hyperempowerment, hyperintelligence. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
January 10th, 2010 at 2:36 pm
allow me to share the worst part about living in paradise:
I brought no laptop. Which means I have to duck into very overpriced internet cafes to deliver any sort of message. (2 baht a minute adds up fast, particularly on my budget.)
I will say one thing about sharing knowledge – it’s a constant of my existence here. Even with only three weeks on this island, I am far more “experienced” about the place than anyone stepping of the boat, and I am called upon to share my knowledge constantly – and its a thrill to point people in the right direction. I can’t even say that I get anything “tangible” from it – other than more friends and more people to share with.
But that in itself is power. Recently, I hooked up a girl who’d lost a mobile with someone I felt (given minor past experiences) to be a reputable seller of electronics and mobiles. Both thanked me profusely when the transaction was completed, as if I’d actually “done something.” The girl bought me breakfast. The seller said he’d step up the search on finding me a laptop that I could rent cheaply. Influence is being gained, albeit on a small level.
We do this kinda stuff all the time in the real world – simple steps really, but they create our reputation. Mine is currently “the guy who knows” and my mobile rings with the voices of strangers who have heard about me already from someone else. Odd feeling, that. But no different from my real life, I suppose….
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January 10th, 2010 at 8:23 pm
You studied to be a priest?
Fascinating.
There was a time in my life that would have lowered you in my eyes … now it just makes you all the cooler.
My parents’ priest practically offered me a job after I gave my father’s eulogy. I guess he was impressed by my eloquence or something (nothing new there … it’s just something I do.) At any rate, I know nothing at all of priestcraft in general nor the theory behind the sermon in specific but I hardly think that matters. The best preaching comes from the heart and speaks directly to the heart. Let’s make that our aim and our target.
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mpesce Reply:
January 11th, 2010 at 9:56 am
@psychegram, a priest? Not precisely. My religious tendencies were of a rather more evangelical/Pentecostal flavour.
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January 12th, 2010 at 8:49 am
@mpesce, I admire your speaking abilities. Especially liked Becoming Transhuman, very thought provoking. Link to Part 1 (Three Parts total)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4291550723579995591&ei=3ZhLS4WqNo2YqAPY8P3IDg&q=becoming+transhuman&hl=en#
I admire Stewart Brand, editor of the Whole Earth catalog for being someone who was a connector. His special talent seemed to be in bringing together people from totally different walks of life and uniting them for a common purpose. Something that is becoming more and more possible and important in our hyperconnected world.
I’ve been connecting people through a Free School I’ve recently helped to start up and I enjoy the broad range of topics we are free to explore (Slow Food, DIY, Tea, guitar-maiking so far and tonight, Kirtan chanting). For one night we are able to follow one topic to much greater depth often with the help of a leader, who varies from class to class.
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ctucker Reply:
January 14th, 2010 at 1:36 am
@Memetheme, Check out Persinger’s “ON THE POSSIBILITY OF DIRECTLY ACCESSING EVERY HUMAN BRAIN BY ELECTROMAGNETIC INDUCTION OF FUNDAMENTAL ALGORITHMS,” and his continued research. Judging from the conversation I had at the cafe this morning though, the Kings of this world have decided to go with the sick beats of Lady Gaga in their entrainment mission.
/me contemplates the forces of Gaga and HAARP combined.
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psychegram Reply:
January 14th, 2010 at 3:40 pm
@ctucker, *boggle* Yeah, Lady Gaga broadcasting on HAARP-FM really is a terrifying thought. Terrifyingly true.
Doesn’t matter though. This year will see all that coming down, methinks.
Say, aren’t we supposed to be writing a book or something?
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mpesce Reply:
January 14th, 2010 at 4:05 pm
@psychegram, sigh. Yes, we are supposed to be writing a book. Or something. In the meantime, perhaps you’d care to post?
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psychegram Reply:
January 14th, 2010 at 6:50 pm
@mpesce, OK.
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January 16th, 2010 at 10:47 am
Share This Course! » Blog Archive » Who needs to read the book? says:[...] as the structure of the book began to reveal itself to us, with the first third of it to cover the sharing of [...]