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#Post#: 369--------------------------------------------------
Local Improvement Network
By: Admin Date: December 21, 2021, 11:35 am
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LOCAL IMPROVEMENT NETWORKS
(Betterfy)
How to Achieve Goals
HTML http://funday.createaforum.com/improve/achieve-goals/?message=428
Better Meetings
HTML http://funday.createaforum.com/improve/achieve-goals/?message=429
Local Improvement
HTML http://funday.createaforum.com/improve/achieve-goals/?message=430
Effective Communicating
HTML http://funday.createaforum.com/improve/achieve-goals/?message=431
Moral Improvement (Step 10 for Individuals & Groups)
HTML http://funday.createaforum.com/improve/achieve-goals/?message=432
Unanimity (Unanimous Rule, or Consensus)
HTML http://funday.createaforum.com/improve/achieve-goals/?message=433
IDM Consensus Examples
1-
HTML http://funday.createaforum.com/improve/achieve-goals/?message=436
2-
HTML http://funday.createaforum.com/improve/achieve-goals/?message=437
3-
HTML http://funday.createaforum.com/improve/achieve-goals/?message=438
Better News Media
HTML http://funday.createaforum.com/improve/achieve-goals/?message=434
Better Science (Scientific Method)
HTML http://funday.createaforum.com/improve/achieve-goals/?message=435
#Post#: 428--------------------------------------------------
Re: Achieve Goals
By: Admin Date: May 22, 2022, 6:37 am
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Better Planning Procedure
Achieving Goals
- For effective planning we have to determine what our true
goals are. That will tell us what direction to go with our
lives. If we don't know our true goals, we don't know what
direction to go in and we can't achieve our goals.
__#1. Ideal Day Exercise
- Write down every essential thing that would happen in your
ideal routine day that doesn't already happen: where you'd be -
what area/s, state, country, or climate; what your most
important possessions would be; who'd be with you; what main
things you'd be doing from the time you get up till you go back
to bed; and who you'd do them with, or with what kind,s of
person,s.
__#2. True Goals
- These essential elements of your ideal day are your true
goals. To be sure a goal is your true goal, ask yourself if
you'd be happy if you attained that goal right now. If it
wouldn't make you happy, rethink your true goal by referring to
your ideal day and ask again if the new target or goal would
really make you happy. If that doesn't work, write a list of 20
things you like and see if you think any of those things would
make you happy. Select all that would seem to make you happy as
your true goal,s.
__#3. Flow-Chart Calendar
- To build a path to your true goal, decide on a series of
steps, which are subgoals, by asking about each goal or subgoal
what needs to be done first in order to achieve the goal or
subgoal. The answer must be a doable action and each answer will
be a preceding step.
- Write the goal at the bottom of a page and write each
preceding step above the goal or above the subsequent step.
Check to make sure each step is in chronological order.
- When the flowchart is complete, assign reasonable dates to
each step, or subgoal, at the beginning of each line, to make
your calendar.
__#4. Problems Solutions List
- For each step that you don't know how to accomplish, write an
explanation of your problem on a Problems Solutions List. For
each problem on the list ask people with experience for possible
solutions. Or participate in an Idea Party, such as at
HTML http://wishcraft.com/wishcraft_ch7.pdf
, and ask participants
for possible solutions. Write down all the suggestions on a
separate page, the Suggestions List, then pick your favorites
and add those as solutions on your Problems Solutions List. If a
solution doesn't work out, go back to the Suggestions List for
other possible solutions.
- For emotional problems complain privately or throw a safe
tantrum to help overcome fears etc. Also, ask a buddy to
accompany you in uncomfortable situations.
__#5. Morale Support
Ask someone to be your reminder. Give the person a list of your
plans for the week & decide together what days & times you need
calls as reminders on important plans. You may be that person's
reminder too. The reminder may also accompany you for certain
actions that you're nervous about doing alone.
#Post#: 429--------------------------------------------------
Better Meetings
By: Admin Date: May 22, 2022, 6:39 am
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IDM: INTEGRATIVE DECISION MAKING
IDM is the method that should be used in all formal meetings.
IDM is a simplified form of Sociocracy, which is scientifically
developed consensus. See end for advantages of IDM over other
decision making methods.
Following are suggested guidelines for Meetings.
MINIMALIST FORMAT
This is a version of the basic IDM process for beginners for
each meeting proposal.
1. _Proposer: read proposal. _Members: say OK or state concerns.
2a. _Recorder: [If all say OK] record decision.
2b. _Proposer: [If anyone states a concern] modify & restate
proposal based on comments. _Members: say OK or state more
concerns.
3. Return to step 2a or 2b or postpone decision to a later time.
FULL FORMAT: MEETING PREPARATION & AGENDA
Before each meeting the clerk [or E.O.] should contact group
members to decide on an agreed place, date and time to meet and
to ask for any proposals for group action. The clerk should
write all proposals on a meeting agenda. If there is no approved
clerk or reporter for the group, make their election the first
proposal on the agenda.
MEETING FORMAT
At the meeting, the Clerk reads the meeting format. The Reporter
records and reports on decisions & announcements.
A. Opening Round:
-a- Give everyone a copy of the proposed agenda and this meeting
format and ask everyone to read along silently.
-b- Decide together what time the meeting should end and
announce it.
-c- Decide together when and where future meetings should be
held.
-d- Read the minutes of the previous meeting & ask for
corrections.
-e- Everyone take turns saying briefly what and how you've been
doing.
-f- Anyone who has announcements may make them now.
-g- Ask if anyone greatly wants to change the agenda order or
add a proposal.
-h- Clerk read the final agenda.
For action proposals goto B;
for election proposals, goto C;
when there are no more proposals, goto D.
B. Decision-Making Process
1-State the action proposal, including:
who made the proposal,
what the proposed action is,
who is to supervise the action,
when it should be completed,
and what the clear, measurable aim of the action is.
2-Everyone who wants to, make quick comments on the proposal.
3-The proposer should then amend the proposal, if needed, based
on members' comments.
4-Anyone who still has objections to the proposal, state your
objections and reasons, while the Clerk writes them down on a
blackboard or flipchart etc without immediate discussion.
5-When all objections are written, everyone may suggest how to
modify the proposal to remove all objections.
6-Clerk should amend the proposal based on suggestions and ask
everyone for consent; if anyone does not yet consent, go back to
step 4, or get group consent to put the proposal on the agenda
of a specified later meeting.
7-Otherwise, if all consent, record the decision and go back to
h.
C. Election Process
1-State the job description and term of office for the elected
position.
2-When the job description and term are decided, someone should
give out ballots & everyone fill them out, writing Your Name and
Your Nominee, then hand them back.
3-Everyone say why you made your nomination.
4-Anyone may change your vote after hearing others' reasons.
5-Clerk should propose a nominee based on members' comments.
6-Everyone say if you consent to the clerk's proposal and the
nominee should answer last.
7-If anyone does not consent, go back to step 5.
8-When election is finished, record the decision and go back to
h.
D. Closing Round: Evaluation
-Everyone may answer these and similar questions to evaluate
this meeting and group progress on current action projects:
How is use of meeting time?
Did the Clerk provide equal time and power to all members?
Could the decision-making have been more efficient?
Did everyone arrive prepared?
What issues should be on the next meeting agenda?
Are group-consented tasks being done on time?
Does the group have clear goals and is it making clear, detailed
plans to reach the goals?
ADVANTAGES of INTEGRATIVE DECISION MAKING
Greater effectiveness and enjoyment in the group or organization
More creativity and better problem solving throughout the
organization
Faster adaptation
Higher quality products and services
Higher staff commitment to and identification with the
organization
Less sick leave
Better safety record
More awareness of costs
Improved client orientation
Much less burnout
More program self-discipline
Better leadership among peers
Better organizational continuity when many volunteers are
present
Better fund raising
Fewer and better meetings
CHAPTER ORGANIZERS
Anyone who wants to organize a local chapter of LIN should:
-1. agree with LINC's concern for local and world peace and
justice
-2. recruit up to six other local people who share the concern
and have time to meet once or twice a month to act as a LIN core
group
CORE GROUPS
-3. commit to these effective action guidelines [from
www.empowermentzone.com/eff_act.txt]
-4. identify potential adversary groups & plan to publicize the
LIN group in a way to avoid offending anyone, so as to build a
broad base of support
-5. publicize the group purpose as soon as possible
-6. get a congenial phone contact person for the group
-7. choose at least a temporary name for the group; it can be
Local Improvement Network, or anything non-offensive
-8. meet regularly, using consensus: integrative decision making
[IDM] and elect one member to represent your group at monthly
LINC meetings by teleconference or email etc - and make sure
your rep contacts LINC soon
[See the following webpage for IDM Meeting Guidelines]
-9. form a press committee to handle press releases
-10. use role playing to prepare for public relations events as
described at www.empowermentzone.com/eff_act.txt
-11. when a member proposes a local improvement project for the
group that most members are not interested in, request that the
proposer form another LIN group and the group should help
recruit new members for that group, up to 7 in all
-12. form a LIN Reconciliation group & ask adversary groups to
elect reps to join it to help resolve differences
TEACH YOUNG PEOPLE
LINC suggests that each LIN promote the following to Young
People:
1. Knowing their Rights and Responsibilities
2. Non-coercion & IDM, i.e. integrative decision making
3. Alternative education, instead of coercive education
brainwashing
4. Alternative healthcare, instead of supporting greedy big
business drug companies et al
5. Running for public office to increase responsible leadership
6. Forming or joining coops for better lifestyles and jobs.
Good Day! Lloyd Kinder - LINC Founder
© 2006 All Rights Reserved.
#Post#: 430--------------------------------------------------
Local Improvement
By: Admin Date: May 22, 2022, 6:43 am
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Start a LIN Chapter
WELCOME to Local Improvement Networks Center, or LINC. LINC
is a U.S. monthly meeting of representatives of Local
Improvement Networks and related groups. Each LIN [Local
Improvement Network] is autonomous and self-organizing, but has
access to LINC for help, facilitation etc.
CONTACT US
If you have a LIN or IDM testimonial, or If you want to organize
a local LIN, please email us at LKINDR@yahoo.com and tell us
where you are.
IMMEDIATE & LONG-TERM BENEFITS
- for individuals or groups who start or join a Local
Improvement Network - include making the basic activities of
your home, community, workplace, or group more productive, more
fun, less boring and more empowering for all members.
MISSION & GOAL
Our mission is to improve all aspects of society for the
betterment of all. Our goal is to help young people, aged 10 to
25, learn healthier thinking and behavior via Step Ten & IDM and
to learn cooperative community living. Step Ten is
self-improvement exercise.
MEANS
Our means may change as we learn more from each other and
outside, but initially our primary means of improvement include
non-domineering consensus integrative decision making [IDM],
self-examination and correction methods [Step Ten], nonviolent
communication [NVC] and creative arts.
See the following pages for help with improving groups,
meetings, activities, relations etc.
Enjoy this site. Good Day! Lloyd Kinder - LINC Founder
LINC or Local Improvement Networks Center
[www.freewebs.com/lin4] says:
START A LOCAL IMPROVEMENT NETWORK [L.I.N.]!
These are suggestions for how anyone can help start a local LIN
chapter.
.1. PARTNERS - Ask one to three people to help you start a Local
Improvement Network meeting to help local young people learn
good habits for better living.
.2. MEETING PLACE - With or without partners, find a weekly
meeting place by asking local churches, schools, hospitals,
libraries etc for a room for a 12 Step AA-Alanon meeting. [AA is
for recovering alcoholics. Alanon is for family and friends of
addicts.] Ask if they require a fee or take donations.
.3. AA, ALANON PARTNERS - Attend AA, NA and Alanon open meetings
and ask a member of each to join or assist your group. Contacts
are in many phone books and on the internet.
.4. SPEAKERS - Invite different members of AA, NA, Alanon and
other 12 Step groups to come to the meeting each week to speak
for 10 to 20 minutes about Step 10.
.5. PUBLICIZE MEETING - Give meeting announcements to local
newspapers, radio stations, local websites, churches, saying:
Step Ten Meeting for young people and friends to learn good
practices for better living.
.6. MEETING FORMAT - A different member at each meeting can read
as follows.
_Let's open the meeting. Are there refreshments and literature?
Where are restrooms?
_Our starting and closing times are ....
_Let's everyone take turns saying our first names.
_Pass around a container for donations for meeting expenses.
_Pass around sign-in list for members' first names, phone #s and
emails.
_Pass around Step Ten leaflets for everyone.
_Does anyone want a members' contact list. If so, pass around
another sheet for each person wanting one.
_Announcement: the day and time of the next business meeting &
LIN meeting and other group events & phone # of contact person
..
_Announcement: the LIN forum is at
www.yahoogroups.com/group/lin4. Members are asked to share
personal stories etc on the forum.
_2 volunteers read your favorite paragraphs from Step 10 below.
_Guest speaker speak about Step 10 or the 12 Steps.
_Everyone take turns commenting. Anyone may pass.
_Let's close now and clean up and put things back in order.
.7. BUSINESS MEETING FORMAT
This is for improving Step 10 meetings. See IDM Integrative
Decision Making, page 4.
.8. LIN MEETING TOPICS
The Step 10 meeting regular members may be LIN members. If there
are more than 7 LIN members, they should form 2 groups that meet
separately. Meet after the business meeting or the Step 10
meeting and use IDM [see page 4].
_Ask all Step 10 members to invite more people to attend the
Step 10 meetings and to help members start new meetings.
_Teach young members public speaking, creative arts and
leadership.
_Encourage young members to investigate corruption in society
and to promote Step 10 self-correction methods to reduce it.
_Teach young members cooperative community and business.
.9. LIN IN ORGANIZATIONS
Members of existing organizations may start a LIN group to help
the organization to improve, using the above guidelines.
.10. LINC REPRESENTATIVES
Each LIN group is asked to associate with LINC, the LIN Center,
by electing one member to be your group's representative to
LINC. LINC has a monthly meeting for the representatives via
email or teleconference for the purpose of improving LINC's
effectiveness and usefulness to LIN groups. Join LINC for free:
contact LKINDR@yahoo.com and tell us where your group is, or
will be.
LINC's NAME
For any successful cause, it's important to start by building a
broad base of support without alienating or threatening anyone.
That's the reason we choose the name Local Improvement Network.
It's a name that few could oppose.
Good Day. Lloyd Kinder, Founder of LINC
#Post#: 431--------------------------------------------------
Effective Communicating
By: Admin Date: May 22, 2022, 6:52 am
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Better Communicating
SENSITIVITY DIALOG [Thomas Gordon: Parent Effectiveness
Training]
- This is from
HTML http://www.freewebs.com/codaplus.
- Love would cure much of the world's suffering. Love means
respect and respect means being sensitive to others' concerns
and feelings. This requires meaningful dialog, but it doesn't
mean solving others' problems. Respectful dialog usually helps
others start their own problem solving.
- Passive listening is one way to communicate respect. When
someone expresses emotional disturbance, we can use body
language to show that we're listening attentively, or we can
also say things like, uh-huh, I see, really?, wow, oh, etc.
- Active listening is a simple way to show and build our own
sensitivity and practice respectful dialog. It is used when
someone expresses, verbally or nonverbally, a negative emotion
of fear, anger, sadness etc. Passive and active listening can
also be used together.
- Active Listening involves paraphrasing what the other person
expressed and avoiding roadblocks to communication. Active
Listening helps build understanding. Effective Sharing is
similar, but expresses our own feelings to others.
EXAMPLES OF ACTIVE LISTENING
- Someone's upset with me for doing something in an undesirable
way.
I'm sorry. Are you upset with me for doing something wrong?
- Someone is bored, lonely and sad with no one to play with.
Are you bored or sad because there's no one to play with?
- Someone is worried because another person has not arrived.
Are you worried that something may have happened to him or her?
- Someone says: I can't figure out what to do about this messed
up paperwork.
Are you puzzled about how to get all that paperwork organized?
ROADBLOCKS TO COMMUNICATION [Gordon]
- Roadblocks to communicating with someone are roadblocks only
when that person has an emotional problem. When the person
doesn't have a problem, the same kinds of communication are less
likely to be roadblocks.
Some of the Roadblocks are: criticizing, blaming, name-calling,
questioning, reasoning, advising and commanding.
- When a kid is frustrated because another kid won't play what
he or she wants, you can say by Active Listening: Are you sad
[or "frustrated," if old enough to understand] because
[someone's name] won't play your game? Or in a different case:
You seem sad because [someone's name] doesn't want to play your
game with you.
- The formula for this kind of effective dialog is: paraphrasing
the person's Feeling + What it's about. This is called Active
Listening and it can be in the form of a question or a comment.
Active Listening as a question is different from the questioning
that becomes a Roadblock. Questioning that doesn't follow the
Active Listening formula is a likely Roadblock. That is if it
doesn't ask the person's feeling or what it's about.
- Roadblock question examples would be: [advice] Why don't you
find something else to play with? [distraction] Do you want to
hear a funny story? [criticism] Who died and made you King?
- Active Listening shows sensitivity, while Roadblocks show
insensitivity. Most of the time it takes only one Active
Listening response to "solve" a kid's problem. That's because
their problem is mainly fear, which is due to lack of affection.
And Active Listening shows sensitivity, which shows affection,
respect, love, or caring.
- Much of the time adults aren't in the mood to be sensitive to
someone else. We're in a hurry to get something done and don't
want to be interrupted. Having grown up fairly insensitive, we
don't appreciate the value of sensitivity to others. To be
responsible as adults is to be sensitive to ourselves and
others, but it takes practice.
- Adults [and kids] can have practice sessions pretending to
have problems and using Active Listening for them.
MALE & FEMALE CULTURE [Deborah Tannen ...]
- It is said that male and female cultures tend to differ quite
a lot, though some members of each sex have traits of the other.
The male culture is said to have been occupied largely with
hunting in ancient times. The female culture is said to have
been involved with gathering food or gardening and with home
life.
- Effective hunting required that males be quiet and stealthy
and suppress emotions so as not to scare prey off. The home life
of females benefited from talk and emotional sensitivity. The
frequent talk of women helped to keep away predators and pests.
Their emotional sensitivity helped women better care for the
kids and adults of the group.
- Males learned to cooperate through hierarchy and competition,
with the most experienced being dominant. Females learned to
cooperate through sensitive talk and equality, but with some
subtle hierarchy based on experience.
- Male hunting abilities seem to have led them to learn war
against other tribes, and to learn domination. The traits of
ancient times seem to remain largely in effect in modern time,
but are in great need of modification.
- It is responsible for everyone now to learn emotional
sensitivity and try to understand each other's differences. It
is responsible for guardians to be sensitive to the conscious
and subconscious feelings of dependents. Parent Effectiveness
Training and Moral Inventory greatly help to develop such
sensitivity.
#Post#: 432--------------------------------------------------
Individual or Group Self-Examination & Self-Correction
By: Admin Date: May 22, 2022, 6:57 am
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Self-Examination & Self-Correction
One of the best cures for negative emotions. Try the exercise in
Section I to see if it helps you.
There are 4 Sections on this page:
I. Overview; II. Blueprints; III. Family Bill of Rights &
Duties; IV. Bible Quotes.
SECTION I - OVERVIEW - First, TRY THIS EXERCISE!
.People often have negative emotions, but most don't know how to
deal with them well. Such emotions lead people to do many things
they later regret. Try this exercise for one or more weeks and
see if it helps you.
.Most negative emotions involve fear and fear is based on false
ideas. So the exercise is to list one or more serious negative
emotion you've had, the reason for each one, what fear is
involved, what falsehood is behind the fear and then see if you
can decide what
truth is. Such truth can be life-changing.
.If you develop the habit of doing the exercise in the following
Part 2 most of the times you experience a negative emotion, it
would probably make such emotions very short-lived and
eventually they wouldn't bother you much at all. My webpage
discusses this in more detail:
HTML http://freewebs.com/codaplus.
.
THEN TRY SELF-EXAMINATION & SELF-CORRECTION!
.The 12 Step program is a spiritual discipline, based on sound
religious traditions, that heals people of emotional maladies
and renews their spirits. Steps 4 through 10 are the heart of
the program, but Step 10 sums up all of these steps. Step 10
says in effect: We frequently take personal inventory of
ourselves privately and, when we do wrong, we promptly make
proper amends.
.
Part 1. Commit to meeting with one or more others weekly or
monthly to discuss Step 10. [Appropriate, brief AA and Alanon
literature and Bible quotes can be read, including AA's Step 10
below].
.
Part 2. Privately make a list of your major wrong-doings: Wrongs
are triggered by negative emotions, which involve fear, which is
based on false ideas. Do this sample exercise for each
wrong-doing:
-My wrong-doing: ......e.g. damaged someone's property
-who I wronged: .........e.g. ??
-my emotion: ..............e.g. anger
-reason for emotion: ....e.g. this person made fun of my
behavior
-what fear I had: .........e.g. fear of being inferior
-what falsehood: .........e.g. thinking I can be worthless
-what's true: ...............e.g. nothing I do can make me
worthless
-what's proper amends: e.g. apologizing and fixing, replacing,
or paying for the damaged property
.
Part 3. Share your list with someone you trust and ask God to
remove your fears and false ideas.
.
Part 4. When you feel ready to stop committing each kind of
wrong, make amends to anyone you wronged. If you think you
improperly hurt anyone's feelings, apologize to them. If you
took something or damaged something belonging to someone, return
or replace it or pay for the damage and apologize. Making direct
amends may sometimes seriously hurt someone unfairly. In such
cases find ways to make indirect amends, such as anonymously.
.
Part 5. When you've done the first 4 parts properly, did it
renew your spirit? Anyway, you may then start working with your
group to help carry this message to others, so they can also
learn this healing discipline.
---
SECTION II - BLUEPRINTS
Step Ten: Self-Correction for a Better Life - from AA's 12 & 12
book etc
www.cyberrecovery.net/12steps10.html
www.therecoverygroup.org/wts/2004/2004-10q2.html
Step 10. "Continued to take personal inventory and when we were
wrong promptly admitted it."
.The first nine steps for a better life include admitting we
need help, believing that a higher power can help us, praying
for help, writing a private personal inventory of our good and
bad deeds and habits, telling our inventory to a person we
trust, preparing for change, asking our higher power to remove
bad habits, making a list of those we've harmed and making
amends if appropriate without doing further harm. Step 10 is a
combination of these steps. With Step 10 we begin to learn how
to live happy, joyous and free, no matter what is happening in
our lives. And we learn to do so on a daily basis. The acid test
is: can we stay sober-minded, keep in emotional balance, and
live to good purpose under all conditions?
.
.In Step 10 we "Continue to watch for selfishness, dishonesty,
resentment, and fear. When these crop up, we ask God at once to
remove them. We discuss them with someone immediately and make
amends quickly if we have harmed anyone. Then we resolutely turn
our thoughts to someone we can help. Love and tolerance of
others is our code." (AABB pg. 84).
.Let's break that down as follows.
1. We see our mistakes (selfishness, dishonesty, resentment and
fear)
2. We discuss them with someone we trust soon, or when ready.
3. We make amends quickly if we have harmed anyone.
4. We turn our thoughts to someone we can help.
.
A continuous look at our assets and liabilities, and a real
desire to learn and grow by this means, are necessities for us.
We .. have learned this the hard way. More experienced people,
of course, in all times and places have practiced unsparing
self-survey and criticism. For the wise have always known that
no one can make much of life until self-searching becomes a
regular habit, until able to admit and accept what find, and
until patiently and persistently try to correct what is wrong.
_When a drunk has a terrific hangover because he drank heavily
yesterday, he cannot live well today. But there is another kind
of hangover which we all experience. That is the emotional
hangover, the direct result of yesterday's and sometimes today's
excesses of negative emotion--anger, fear, jealousy, and the
like. If we would live serenely today and tomorrow, we certainly
need to eliminate these hangovers. This doesn't mean we need to
wander morbidly around in the past. It requires an admission and
correction of errors now. Our inventory enables us to settle
with the past. When this is done, we are really able to leave it
behind us. When our inventory is carefully taken, and we have
made peace with ourselves, the conviction follows that
tomorrow's challenges can be met as they come.
_Although all inventories are alike in principle, the time
factor does distinguish one from another. There's the spot check
inventory, taken at any time of the day, whenever we find
ourselves getting tangled up. There's the one we take at day's
end, when we review the happenings of the hours just past. Here
we cast up a balance sheet, crediting ourselves with things well
done, and chalking up debits where due. Then there are those
occasions when alone, or in the company of our sponsor or
spiritual adviser, we make a careful review of our progress
since the last time. Many .. go in for annual or semiannual
house cleanings. Many of us also like the experience of an
occasional retreat from the outside world where we can quiet
down for an undisturbed day or so of self-overhaul and
meditation.
_Aren't these practices joy-killers as well as time-consumers?
Must we spend most of our waking hours drearily rehashing our
sins of omission or commission? Well, hardly. The emphasis on
inventory is heavy only because a great many of us have never
really acquired the habit of accurate self-appraisal. Once this
healthy practice has become grooved, it will be so interesting
and profitable that the time it takes won't be missed. For these
minutes and sometimes hours spent in self-examination are bound
to make all the other hours of our day better and happier. And
at length our inventories become a regular part of everyday
living, rather than something unusual or set apart.
.
_Before we ask what a spot-check inventory is, let's look at the
kind of setting in which such an inventory can do its work.
_It is a spiritual axiom that every time we are disturbed, no
matter what the cause, there is something wrong with us. If
somebody hurts us and we are sore, we are in the wrong also. But
are there no exceptions to this rule? What about "justifiable"
anger? If somebody cheats us, aren't we entitled to be mad?
Can't we be properly angry with self-righteous folk? For us ..
these are dangerous exceptions. We have found that justified
anger ought to be left to those better qualified to handle it.
_Few people have been more victimized by resentments than have
we. It mattered little whether our resentments were justified or
not. A burst of temper could spoil a day, and a well-nursed
grudge could make us miserably ineffective. Nor were we ever
skillful in separating justified from unjustified anger. As we
saw it, our wrath was always justified. Anger, that occasional
luxury of more balanced people, could keep us on an emotional
jag indefinitely. These emotional "dry benders" often led
straight to personal disaster. Other kinds of
disturbances--jealousy, envy, self-pity, or hurt pride--did the
same thing.
_A spot-check inventory taken in the midst of such disturbances
can be of very great help in quieting stormy emotions. Today's
spot check finds its chief application to situations which arise
in each day's march. The consideration of long-standing
difficulties had better be postponed, when possible, to times
deliberately set aside for it. The quick inventory is aimed at
our daily ups and downs, especially those where people or new
events throw us off balance and tempt us to make mistakes.
_In all these situations we need self-restraint, honest analysis
of what is involved, a willingness to admit when the fault is
ours, and an equal willingness to forgive when the fault is
elsewhere. We need not be discouraged when we fall into the
error of our old ways, for these disciplines are not easy. We
shall look for progress, not for perfection.
_Our first objective will be the development of self restraint.
This carries a top priority rating. When we speak or act hastily
or rashly, the ability to be fair-minded and tolerant evaporates
on the spot. One unkind tirade or one willful snap judgment can
ruin our relation with another person for a whole day, or maybe
a whole year. Nothing pays off like restraint of tongue and pen.
We must avoid quick-tempered criticism and furious, power-driven
argument. The same goes for sulking or silent scorn. These are
emotional booby traps baited with pride and vengefulness. Our
first job is to sidestep the traps. When we are tempted by the
bait, we should train ourselves to step back and think. For we
can neither think nor act to good purpose until the habit of
self-restraint has become automatic.
_Disagreeable or unexpected problems are not the only ones that
call for self-control. We must be quite as careful when we begin
to achieve some measure of importance and material success. For
no people have ever loved personal triumphs more than we have
loved them. When temporary good fortune came our way, we
indulged ourselves in fantasies of still greater victories over
people and circumstances. Thus blinded by prideful self
confidence, we were apt to play the big shot. Of course, people
turned away from us, bored or hurt.
_Now that we're winning back the esteem of our friends and
business associates, we find that we still need to exercise
special vigilance. As an insurance against "big-shot-ism" we can
often check ourselves by remembering that we are where we are
today only by the grace of God and that any success we may be
having is far more God's success than ours.
_Finally, we begin to see that all people, including ourselves,
are to some extent emotionally ill as well as frequently wrong,
and then we approach true tolerance and see what real love for
our fellows actually means. It will become more and more evident
as we go forward that it is pointless to become angry, or to get
hurt by people who, like us, are suffering from the pains of
growing up.
_Such a radical change in our outlook will take time, maybe a
lot of time. Not many people can truthfully assert that they
love everybody. Most of us must admit that we have loved but a
few; that we have been quite indifferent to the many so long as
none of them gave us trouble; and as for the remainder--well, we
have really disliked or hated them. Although these attitudes are
common enough, we find we need something much better in order to
keep our balance. We can't stand it if we hate deeply. The idea
that we can be possessively loving of a few, can ignore the
many, and can continue to fear or hate anybody, has to be
abandoned, if only a little at a time.
_We can try to stop making unreasonable demands upon those we
love. We can show kindness where we had shown none. With those
we dislike we can begin to practice justice and courtesy,
perhaps going out of our way to understand and help them.
_Whenever we fail any of these people, we can promptly admit
it--to ourselves always, and to them also, when the admission
would be helpful. Courtesy, kindness, justice, and love are the
keynotes by which we may come into harmony with practically
anybody. When in doubt we can always pause, saying, "Not my
will, but Thine, be done." And we can often ask ourselves, "Am I
doing to others as I would have them do to me--today?"
.
_When evening comes, perhaps just before going to sleep, many of
us draw up a balance sheet for the day. This is a good place to
remember that inventory-taking is not always done in red ink.
It's a poor day indeed when we haven't done something right. As
a matter of fact, the waking hours are usually well filled with
things that are constructive. Good intentions, good thoughts,
and good acts are there for us to see. Even when we have tried
hard and failed, we may chalk that up as one of the greatest
credits of all. Under these conditions, the pains of failure are
converted into assets. Out of them we receive the stimulation we
need to go forward. Someone once remarked that pain was the
touchstone of all spiritual progress. How heartily we can agree,
for we know that the pains of had to come before sobriety, and
emotional turmoil before serenity.
_As we glance down the debit side of the day's ledger, we should
carefully examine our motives in each thought or act that
appears to be wrong. In most cases our motives won't be hard to
see and understand. When prideful, angry, jealous, anxious, or
fearful, we acted accordingly, and that was that. Here we need
only recognize that we did act or think badly, try to visualize
how we might have done better, and resolve with God's help to
carry these lessons over into tomorrow, making, of course, any
amends still neglected.
_But in other instances only the closest scrutiny will reveal
what our true motives were. There are cases where our ancient
enemy, rationalization, has stepped in and has justified conduct
which was really wrong. The temptation here is to imagine that
we had good motives and reasons when we really didn't.
_We "constructively criticized" someone who needed it, when our
real motive was to win a useless argument. Or, the person
concerned not being present, we thought we were helping others
to understand him-her, when in actuality our true motive was to
feel superior by pulling him-her down. We sometimes hurt those
we love because they need to be "taught a lesson," when we
really want to punish. We were depressed and complained we felt
bad, when in fact we were mainly asking for sympathy and
attention. This odd trait of mind and emotion, this perverse
wish to hide a bad motive underneath a good one, permeates human
affairs from top to bottom. This subtle and elusive kind of
self-righteousness can underlie the smallest act or thought.
Learning daily to spot, admit, and correct these flaws is the
essence of character-building and good living. An honest regret
for harms done, a genuine gratitude for blessings received, and
a willingness to try for better things tomorrow will be the
permanent assets we shall seek.
_Having so considered our day, not omitting to take due note of
things well done, and having searched our hearts with neither
fear nor favor, we can truly thank God for the blessings we have
received and sleep in good conscience.
.
_"We have ceased fighting anything or anyone.. For by this time
sanity will have returned. We will seldom be interested in . If
tempted, we recoil from it as from a hot flame. We react sanely
and normally, and we will find that this has happened
automatically. We will see that our new attitude has been given
us without any thought or effort on out part. It just comes.
That is the miracle of it. We are not fighting it, neither are
we avoiding temptation. We feel as though we had been placed in
a position of neutrality---safe and protected. We have not even
sworn off. Instead, the problem has been removed. It does not
exist for us. We are neither cocky nor are we afraid. That is
our experience. That is how we react so long as we are in fit
spiritual condition. (AABB pg. 85)
---
SECTION III - FAMILY BILL OF RIGHTS AND DUTIES
_Duty to learn what is right and wrong.
_Right to make mistakes, and Duty to apologize and make amends
for them, as soon as possible.
_Right to feel good or bad, and Duty to find and correct false
ideas that cause bad feelings.
_Right and Duty to make family decisions by mutual consent as
far as possible, to help each other to achieve worthy goals and
to share ideas and concerns for this.
_Right and Duty to help protect each other from harm.
_Right as an adult to say and do anything that causes no one
harm, and Duty to allow others the same right.
_Right to have a family by mutual consent, and Duty to show
family members love and respect and to teach the kids moral
responsibility and optimum knowledge for healthy living.
---
SECTION IV - BIBLE QUOTES
Biblical Support for These Steps
4) made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
-Mat 7:3-5 Jesus said ,Why worry about a speck in the eye of a
brother when you have chaff in your own? First get rid of the
chaff then you can see clearly enough to help your brother.
-John 8:32 And you shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall
make you free. -2 Tim 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of
fear, but of power and love and of a sound mind.
5) admitted to God, ourselves and another human being the exact
nature of our wrongs.
-Mat 3:2 saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at
hand. -Jam 5:16a Therefore confess your sins one to another and
pray for each other that you may be healed. -Pro 27:17 Just as
iron sharpens iron, people sharpen people.
6) were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of
character. -Jn 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily,
verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot
see the kingdom of God. -Rom 12:1 I plead with you dear brothers
to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living sacrifice, Holy
- The kind He can accept. -Rom 12:2 Be not conformed to this
world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
7) Humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings. -Mat 23:12 For
whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles
himself will be exalted. -Mat 6:12 And forgive us our debts, as
we forgive our debtors. -1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He
is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins, and purify us
from all unrighteousness. -Rom 8:1 There is therefore now no
condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. -Ps 103:12 As far
as the east is from the west, [so] far hath he removed our
transgressions from us.
8 ) made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing
to make amends to them all. -Luk 6:31 And as you would like and
desire that others would do to you, do so to them. -Is 1:18
Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.
9) Made direct amends to such people whenever possible, except
when to do so would injure them or others. -Mat 5:23-24 If you
are offering your gift at the altar and suddenly remember a
friend has something against you, go and be reconciled to that
person.
10) continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong,
promptly admitted it. -1 Cor 10:12 If you think you are standing
firm, be careful you don't fall.
#Post#: 433--------------------------------------------------
Unanimous Rule
By: Admin Date: May 22, 2022, 7:12 am
---------------------------------------------------------
UNANIMITY
For those who are interested, the following presents Biblical
support for Unanimous Rule, instead of majority rule. The
explanations given are excellent.
THE BIBLICAL METHOD OF GOVERNMENT
by G. H. Lang, Unity Chapel, Bristol 1900 AD - Paraphrased by L.
Kinder
www.neve-family.com/books/lang/Unanimity.html
MAJORITY OR UNANIMITY?
- The question is whether the Word of God sanctions the practice
of making church decisions by a majority vote of the members
present, or whether it teaches and exhorts us to defer each
decision until one undivided mind and judgment is arrived at.
- My answer is the latter.
- Considering that the Church represents before the world the
kingdom of the Lord Jesus, so that worldly men judge of Him
according to that which they see in us, it is manifestly of the
utmost importance that, before carrying out any proposed action,
we should make as sure as can possibly be that the course
proposed is a right and proper one, and well pleasing unto Him
whose will we seek to do.
- Experience has abundantly shown that the minority is
frequently in the right and the majority in the wrong.
- Rather than making known to the Church His wishes by this
majority rule plan of voting, the Lord has rather promised to
reveal His will by and through the bringing of His people to
unanimous judgment.
- Considering the vast importance of the doings of His people,
it would have been very strange had He left no more sure method
of learning His will and receiving His directions than this very
uncertain plan of acting according to the view of the majority.
- We are often so very carnally- and so little
spiritually-minded, that divine things are but slowly
apprehended by us.
- This is obviously a good reason for more carefully going over
in our minds any matter of group action.
- It is to guard against the mistakes inevitably arising from
this too frequent haste that the Lord wishes us, I believe, to
defer our decision and continue our conference until unanimity
is reached.
LEADING TO DISSENSION
- It seems clear that a method which is as likely to lead to a
wrong decision as to a right one cannot be a divine method, and
ought not to be followed by those possessing the divine nature,
and capable of having the mind of Christ (2 Pet. 1:4, 1 Cor.
2:16), in whose workings mistakes are unknown.
- Majority rule is eminently likely to lead to dissension, both
secret and public, a truth with which any who have had much
experience on the subject must be sadly familiar.
- Can anything be more likely to stir up contention and cause
disaffection than that a section of the church should have their
wishes and, possibly their sincere convictions, rejected, simply
because a larger section of the church, with no other advantage,
has different opinions?
- A method at all likely to cause disagreement and possibly open
division cannot be of God, who is "not a God of confusion, but
of peace," (1 Cor. 14:33).
- But when nothing is done till one judgment is come to all,
everyone is pleased with that which is done and discord and
disunion are averted, while concord and union are strengthened,
bringing spiritual blessing to the whole community.
- It will doubtless be agreed that, seeing that we pray, "Lead
us not into temptation," a method which tends to so lead us
cannot be of God, who delivers us from the Evil One.
TEMPTATION TO BAD CONDUCT
- But given a member possessed of an ardent and honest
conviction that the plan he or she proposes is right and good,
does not majority rule present very obvious and severe
temptations to bad conduct?
- One has every inducement to "pack" the meeting, by secretly
urging those who think alike to be present in force, rather than
leaving it to the Lord to bring together those who it is known
to Him are qualified to deal with the particular matter to be
discussed.
- One is tempted by vehemence in argument to gain other
adherents to one's own view, rather than by patient reflection
to submit one's judgment to the Lord.
- In the eagerness to gain a majority of votes one is more
likely to be anxious to persuade others, than to be willing to
be persuaded by others.
- A method that stirs up such temptations, in order to obtain a
majority of members, cannot be of the Lord.
- Such temptation to "pack" a meeting is absolutely banished by
the necessity for entire accord, while the desire to give up
private views, if needful, to arrive at the mind of the Lord, as
the only possible means of reaching unanimous judgment, is very
much increased.
- The one method appears likely to lead me to press forward my
views, the other to lead me to carefully wait upon the Lord for
His views.
BODY OF CHRIST
- In Romans 14:4-5, 1 Cor. 12:12-27, Ephesians 4:11-16, and
other scriptures, the Church is compared to the human body.
- Of this spiritual body each believer is individually a member,
while the Lord Jesus is the head of the whole body.
- The more this analogy is prayerfully studied, the more it will
be seen to be the most perfect comparison the divine wisdom of
God has presented to us to illustrate the working of the Church.
- Very little thought is required to see two things concerning
the human body: (a) it is not the members that plan, will and
control the body, whose functions are vested solely in the head,
it being the duty and beauty of the members to recognise and
respond to the impulses and directions of the head: (b) any lack
of harmony in the members in doing the will of the head
indicates a measure of disease in those members where the
failure is found, as, for instance, if one arm or hand fails to
co-operate with the other for completing a desired piece of
handiwork, the member has become more or less independent of the
head.
- When this condition occurs, the proper course is to try
patiently such means as will restore the undisputed control of
the head.
- When it is found in the church that there is a divergence of
opinion upon a matter connected with the church, the proper plan
is to wait prayerfully for the whole body to be again brought
under the control of the Lord into united action.
- For a church to depart from unanimity and to act according to
the desire of a majority only of the believers in its membership
is as if the affairs and actions of a man's body should be
decided upon by the impulses of a certain number of the members
thereof.
ONENESS AS TESTIMONY
- By the failure to act in complete unity, the church ceases to
give one of the most effective forms of testimony to the world
that is possible.
- In John 17:20-21, the Lord Jesus, in speaking to the Father,
says, "Neither for these only do I pray, but for them also who
shall believe on Me through their word; that they may all be one
even as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may
be one in us: that the world may believe that You did send Me.
And the glory which You have given Me I have given unto them;
that they may be one, even as we are one; I in them and You in
Me, that they may be perfected into one; that the world may know
that You did send Me, and loved them, even as You loved Me."
- Without attempting an exhaustive exposition of this passage,
it is sufficient for us to notice three things:
(a) The Lord's desire for all His people to be perfected into
one;
(b) The pattern of that oneness to be the oneness of the Father
and the Son;
(c) The object of this oneness to be the testimony thereby given
to the world.
- With regard to (a) the prayer of our Lord was in effect that
the Holy Spirit might be sent into everyone who should believe
on His name, so that by the Spirit of God indwelling, we might
all be united into one in God; so that (b), the pattern of our
unity should be the oneness of the Father and the Son, who are,
not only one in Person, but also in action; in all their doings
there is the most perfect harmonious unity: and it would be
sheer blasphemy, in fact it would logically involve the most
absolute atheism, to suppose the doings of the Godhead to be
regulated by the decision of any two of the Persons thereof, the
one Person being either opposed to the view of the two, or
merely submitting to being outvoted.
- As to our last point (c) it is to be observed that believers
are to manifest a corporate union publicly, for the world is to
see it. The object the Lord desires to attain is that the world
may know and believe that He was sent by the Father, and that
the believer is a sharer in the love of the Father to the Son.
- Why He chose this method I shall hope to next show, but for
the moment what I strenuously emphasize is that the deliberate
departing from oneness of action by adopting the practice of
majority voting is undeniably not even attempting to attain such
united working as is set forth in these words of the Lord Jesus,
and cannot, therefore, result in that testimony which He taught
oneness alone could give.
- I submit it as an invariably true principle for the guidance
of the children of God, that any course of action which tends to
mar, even partially, their testimony before the world, is not a
line of conduct which is of the Father, but rather of the world.
HOW IS UNANIMITY POSSIBLE?
- There arises a question; namely, how is it possible for unity
of judgment and action to be attained?
- In divine things the question of "How?" is of comparatively
small importance.
- It is for us to at least endeavor to obey the revealed will of
the Lord, and to seek after unanimity; and we may leave to God
the question of how it is possible for Him to bring to one mind
many persons of different types of character, of different
habits of thought, having varying ways of looking at the same
subject and sometimes opposite ways of doing the same thing.
- I freely concede the point that humanly speaking unanimity is
not possible.
- To bring together scores, and perhaps hundreds, of mere men
and women and expect them to come to one unanimous decision upon
questions of perplexing and delicate nature is to look for more
than fallen human nature is capable of.
- Because each human spirit is a separate individuality
possessed of the power and tendency of acting independently of
every other being, therefore it is true, "many men, many minds."
- But, as we have seen, the glorious and all-important fact
concerning the children of God is that in place of being any
longer entirely dissevered spiritually from every other
creature, we are all indwelt by one and the same Spirit, the
Spirit of Christ; and when this fact is clearly recognized and
acted upon, the humanly impossible is seen to be divinely
possible.
INDWELLING SPIRIT
- The human body is composed of many various substances, and the
several members--hands, ears, eyes, etc--vary vastly in form and
use, and yet these manifest differences do not hinder the whole
body working together, because each part is under the personal
influence of the one spirit inhabiting the body.
- So it is true the members of the body of Christ differ
greatly, but because we are every one indwelt by the one Spirit,
the co-operation of all members is possible, and should be
sought after.
- It may be that with this, as with other Christlike graces,
full and eternal harmony will only be attained when the last
trace of the rebellious carnal spirit shall have been removed at
the coming of the Lord; but, on the other hand, with this, as
with other fruit of the Spirit, we should aim at perfection and
"give diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit" (Eph. 4:3) and
then a unanimity can be reached which will astonish us, just as
time back should have been astonished had we been told that
love, joy and peace could be ours to the degree they now are
through the Spirit.
- Here I state why I believe the Lord chose this oneness of mind
and working as His testimony to the world.
- It was that through the fact of His people acting upon a
principle and in a manner that the world has never found
continuously possible, it might be made apparent that a divine
power was at work among them, that the Spirit of God, not the
spirit of the world, controlled them all.
- And, therefore, it is that I say the testimony is utterly
ruined by the plan of a majority vote settling matters, for this
is the very method which worldly men uniformly adopt as the only
practicable plan known to them; and I doubt not it was from them
that this, like numerous other evil practices, was borrowed and
adopted by the Church, in days when, by the toleration of evil
doctrine and doing, she had so grieved the Holy Spirit as to
forfeit His unifying and directing help.
- Seeing it is one of the functions and rights of the Spirit to
control the whole body, for us as a Church to arbitrarily say He
shall express His will through a section only of the members of
the body here present is to assume the office of dictating to
Him whom it is our duty and wisdom to obey, and to thus prevent
Him from fully doing that which He would graciously do for our
blessing, namely, lead to unanimity; and also we forfeit that
certainty of knowing what is His will which an undivided
judgment alone can give; for while it is certain what is the
desire of my spirit if my whole body works to one end, it would
be by no means so certain were some only of my members to seek
that end, and the rest to oppose.
OLD TESTAMENT TESTIMONY
- It is to be noted that the whole burden of Scripture testimony
is on the side of unanimity.
- This is more clearly seen by observing two very remarkable
lines of thought: first, that unanimity is in the Word of God
associated with spiritual prosperity; and, on the other hand, a
divided judgment with lack of spirituality.
- For instance, Israel in the wilderness were in a state of
unbelief at the time the spies went up to search out the land,
and ten of the twelve selected men reflected the condition of
the people, dissuading the nation from going forward, and the
two only, Joshua and Caleb, persuading them to do so.
- This was a very striking instance of the minority having the
mind of the Lord, but of their being hopelessly outvoted; and by
acting on the view of the majority the whole people made a fatal
error.
- Again, how sad was the state of the kingdom, while some of the
people followed Saul, and a smaller company helped David; but
how significant the statement, (1 Chr. 12:38,40) that "there was
joy in Israel" when "all Israel were of one heart to make David
king."
- Once more, what a time of spiritual prosperity was inaugurated
when David proposed to once again seek the Lord and worship
before the ark of the Lord; "and all the assembly said they
would do so, for the thing was right in the eyes of all the
people." (1 Chr. 13:1-4)
- On the other hand, how miserable was the condition of affairs
when most of the people worshiped Baal, while 7,000 followed
Jehovah (1 Kings 19:20); but what a revival of godliness in
Judah is indicated by the words, connected with the proposal to
return to the keeping of the passover feast, "the thing was
right in the eyes of the king and of all the congregation," (2
Chr. 30:4).
- Yet again, what a startling contrast is seen between the
rapidly increasing prosperity of the people during the undivided
allegiance of the twelve tribes to David and Solomon, as
compared with the surely downward course after the division
under Rehoboam.
- And how terrible was the condition of Israel when it could be
written (1 Kings 16:21) "Then were the people of Israel divided
into two parts; half of the people followed Tibni, the son of
Ginath, to make him king: and half followed Omri. But the people
that followed Omri prevailed against the people that followed
Tibni": as compared with the comparative prosperity of Judah and
Benjamin in their unbroken submission to the rule of the godly
Asa.
NEW TESTAMENT TESTIMONY
- I am aware that it may be said that these examples from the
Old Testament have no very direct bearing upon the government of
a Christian Church; but they were "written for our admonition,"
and the remarkable frequency with which unanimity and prosperity
are connected in these and similar instances, gives an emphatic
Scriptural testimony in favor of undivided action by the people
of God; and the lesson is yet more impressive when it is seen
that the New Testament follows upon the same side, and sets
before us under the new covenant, the same precept and example
as was set before the earthly people of God.
- Take, for example, such exhortations as the following.
- Rom. 15:5, 6: "Now the God of patience and of comfort grant
you to be of the same mind one with another according to Christ
Jesus: that with one accord ye may with one mouth glorify the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."
- 1 Cor. 1:10: "Now I beseech you, brethren, through the name of
our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and
that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfected
together in the same mind, and in the same judgment."
- 2 Cor. 13:11: "Be perfected, be comforted, be of the same
mind; live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with
you."
- Galatians: The direct object of this epistle was to bring the
Church to oneness of mind upon the question discussed; to exhort
them to all walk by the Spirit, and thus to avoid the "strife,
factions and divisions," spoken of as being of the flesh, (Gal.
5:20).
- Ephesians 4:3-16: "Giving diligence to keep the unity of the
Spirit in the bond of peace."
- The "unity of the Spirit," is that unity which is manifested
by the Spirit through united action on the part of the body; and
therefore in this passage the apostle at once proceeds to a
revelation of the inter-working of the whole body in perfect
harmony.
- Philippians 1:27: "Only let your manner of life be worthy of
the gospel of Christ; that, whether I come and see you or be
absent, I may hear of your state, that ye stand fast in one
spirit, with one soul striving for the faith of the gospel."
- Philippians 2:2: "Fulfill my joy, that you be of the same
mind, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind;
doing nothing through faction or through vainglory."
- Philippians 4:2: "I exhort Euodia, and I exhort Syntyche, to
be of the same mind in the Lord."
- Colossians 3:17: When this Church met together to discuss the
work of the Lord they were met with this injunction, "Whatsoever
you do in word or deed do all in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God the Father through Him."
- Now, if a matter had been decided by a majority only, the
members of the minority could not have given thanks for the
doing of that which they had urged should not be done; therefore
the plan of so deciding a matter forces some to take part in
doing things for which they cannot give thanks, and which they
cannot do in the name of the Lord Jesus.
- Can a method which forces unscriptural conduct upon some
members be itself Scriptural; for the only alternative is that
they continue to show their objections by refraining from the
work to which they objected.
- Can this be considered a Scriptural course in the face of the
above quoted exhortation in Phil. 1:27, "with one soul
striving"?
- Or 1 Thessalonians 5:13: "Be at peace among yourselves."
- Earlier I sought to show that dissension is one of the
probable and, indeed, frequent results of majority rule.
- 2 Thessalonians 3:16: "Now the Lord of peace Himself give you
peace at all times in all ways," which must include business
meetings.
- 1 Timothy 6:3, 4; 2 Timothy 2:23; Titus 3:9: In the first
passage certain men, and in the second and third certain
questions are condemned, and the avoidance thereof exhorted,
because they engender strifes; that is, not that every time a
foolish question is discussed it leads to strife, but that there
is a general tendency in such discussion to provoke dissension.
- So it does not require that every time a matter is decided by
a majority vote it should provoke strife; it is sufficient if it
has a tendency that way.
- James 1:5: "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who
gives to all liberally, and upbraids not; and it shall be given
him."
- When a church meets together and some think one course the
best, and some another, it is evident one, or both, of the
parties has not the wisdom of God in the matter.
- This Scripture indicates what should then be done.
- Not the opinion of the majority is to be acted upon, for they
may be wrong in their judgment and, for the same reason, not
that of the minority: but let all wait on God for wisdom, and it
shall be given, in God's time, to those who ask in faith.
- In addition to these passages, exhorting to "peace," to
"oneness of mind," to "all speaking the same thing," to being
"perfected together in the same mind and in the same judgment,"
we have the already commented upon words of the Lord Jesus, from
John 17, and the Scriptural analogy of the body; and also the
example of a church transacting affairs in its corporate
capacity recorded in Acts 15, which we shall now consider.
- As if the Lord foresaw that the precepts and whole tenor of
His Word would not be sufficient to preserve His people from
adopting almost universally the practice of the world in the
matter of making group decisions, He caused to be given a very
full narration of the discussion of an important and intricate
question by the church at Jerusalem, including the apostles, to
whom was specially committed the knowledge of His will, and who
were undoubtedly those most likely to know what method was most
accordant with the mind of the Spirit.
THE APOSTLES' EXAMPLE
- This record is found in Acts 15.
- When closely studied the story gives not only the decision
upon the question actually discussed, but also the principles by
which the judgments of believers were influenced, and, further,
that which directly bears on our subject, the order of
discussion.
- Before the reader goes further I would earnestly ask that the
chapter be carefully read, and then the following remarks may be
better considered.
- To the Gentile church at Antioch there had come from Judea
certain men who taught the brethren that, as circumcision had
from the time of Abraham been the sign of a person belonging to
the visible company of the people of God, they could not be
saved unless they were circumcised.
- Paul and Barnabas dissented from this teaching, and in order
to the obtaining of the opinion of the apostles and the mother
church, the brethren at Antioch deputed Paul and others to
proceed to Jerusalem and there discuss the question; and, we
read, "when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of
the church and the apostles and the elders."
- The order in which the matter proceeded is then shown as
follows.
- "They rehearsed all that God had done with them," evidently
including in their remarks a statement of their having refrained
from teaching Gentile believers that they must be circumcised,
and also laying before the church the facts concerning the
discussion that had gone on at Antioch.
- That they did this is clear from verse 24, where the apostles
display a knowledge of what had transpired at Antioch, which
things they evidently learned in the information of Paul and
Barnabas.
- Thus the matter was laid before the church, and the proposal
to enforce circumcision thrown open for discussion.
- Certain of the Pharisees, not having been yet divested of
their sectarian spirit, rose and urged that it was needful that
Gentile Christians should be circumcised and enjoined to keep
the law of Moses.
- This imposing of the ceremonial Judaic law upon Gentiles had
not been the practice of the early church, as may be seen by the
recorded teaching of the apostles and their speeches on this
occasion; but the addresses of these Pharisees made it clear
that there was a division of judgment upon the question.
- Now, had their method been the more modern plan that we are
discussing, it would have been recorded that they ascertained on
which side of the question there was a majority of members, and
so settled the matter.
- But, as opposed to this, we learn that when this divergence of
view is manifested, the meeting is adjourned, and a fresh
gathering of apostles, elders (v. 6), and the whole multitude of
the disciples (v. 12), constituting the "whole church," (v. 22),
is called together to consider the matter.
- Then we learn that upon the subject being again brought
forward, there was "much disputing" (v. 7), showing that those
wide and opposed differences of opinion which now manifest
themselves were seen then also.
- Here again I remark that had the apostolic method of reaching
a decision been the present one, we should expect to find a
record to that effect; but, on the contrary, the disputing and
speech-making uninterruptedly continued.
- Peter, Barnabas, Paul and James all freely expressed their
thoughts, until we find the significant record (v. 22).
- "Then it seemed good to the apostles and elders with the whole
church," to do certain things.
- This is the essence of the whole question--nothing done until
all differences have disappeared in unanimity; then action
taken.
- So that, with the approval of the whole church, it could be
written to the brethren at Antioch, "it seemed good to us,
having come to one accord," (v. 25).
UNANIMITY AS AUTHORITY OF GOD
- And it is of the most momentous importance that we should
notice that the church thus "being of one accord," (Phil. 2:2),
and having learned to "all speak the same thing," so that there
were "no divisions among them" but that they were "perfected
together in the same mind and in the same judgment," (I Cor.
1:10), they are then able to calmly and confidently claim the
authority of the Lord Himself for their decision, and say, (v.
28), "it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us."
- Thus would our divine Lord impressively set before His people
the method to be followed by the church when considering matters
in a corporate capacity, and teach us that when, by patiently
waiting before Him and focusing upon the particular subject in
hand the light He has given, the church comes to oneness of mind
in their decision, we can then claim His approval of and
authority for that which we do.
- This teaching is the underlying basis of the seemingly
difficult passage, Mat. 18:15-18.
- There the Lord says that if my brother sin against me, and I
cannot by personal influence lead him to repentance, and thus
bury the matter, I am then to take one or two more brethren and
see him with them. It is evident that these brethren would not
agree to help me unless they are convinced that I am in the
right and my brother is the offender; so that there is thus
found a consensus of opinion on the subject.
- But if the sinning brother will not listen to these further
remonstrances, I am then to narrate the circumstances to the
church.
- Once more, it is evident that the church will not side with me
unless I am in the right; but if they--the church, not a section
thereof, but "the church," implying the whole church, just as
when we speak of "a city," we mean the whole city--agree with my
view of the case, we have the fact that a body of those indwelt
by the Holy Spirit, and so having the mind of Christ, are of one
judgment in the matter; and that if the offending brother will
not hear and submit to the church, he must be dealt with and
treated as a Gentile and a publican, that is, he must be put out
of church fellowship.
BINDING AND LOOSING
- When the church thus unanimously deals with a case, the Lord
assures us that we may be certain of doing the right thing, and
that "what things soever we shall so bind on earth shall be
bound in heaven," for the simple reason that it is the will of
our Lord in heaven, that, through the Spirit, we have done on
earth.
- So again, Paul, having instructed the Corinthian church to
thus deal with a wicked person (I Cor. 5), upon learning that
the discipline had produced in him the desired repentance,
instructs them (II Cor. 2) to now forgive and receive back the
offender and restore him to the joy of the fellowship of saints;
and having invoked the name of the Lord Jesus for the former
measure, he now claims the authority of the Lord for the latter
course; and thus the one who had been "bound" over to Satan as
an evil-doer for the destruction of the flesh, is now, upon
repentance, "loosed" by the Church from the sentence, that no
advantage may be gained by Satan.
- Thus, in this practical matter also the Lord indicates His
willingness to recognize the decision of a church, if that
decision be unanimous; nor is there one single precept or
example in His Word to indicate or even appear to sanction the
thought that He allows the authority of those of His name to be
attached to the will of a section only of those of His people
who have to decide a question.
- They may, and sometimes do, by that means decide according to
His will; but they have no Scriptural right to claim His
authority and profess to act in His name; such authority being
clearly given to the company of His people, and to them only,
who act unanimously.
DEALING WITH MINOR MATTERS
- Against the application of Acts 15 to the matter in question
it has been urged that the plan there shown is doubtless
advisable and possible in matters of such great importance as
the one then discussed, but that it is neither needful nor
likely that unanimity should be or can be reached in details say
connected with the construction or fitting up of a hall or
schoolroom, most of the church being unacquainted with such
matters.
- But surely this is a very irrational objection, for if the
Lord has undertaken to produce oneness of mind upon important
and intricate questions, why should there be any difficulty in
His doing so upon questions comparatively simple and
unimportant?
- And as to the necessity of these latter things being brought
within the rule, I would ask is it not often over absurdly
trifling matters that personal differences most frequently
arise?
- And ought not these things therefore be dealt with in the way
most likely to produce and preserve peace?
DESPITE HUMAN SHORTCOMINGS
- Beloved brethren, these numerous passages are written, and
this clear example is given, for our guidance, and it is for us
to conform our practice to the Scriptural pattern; nor is there
the least suggestion in the Word of God that any other than this
procedure was followed, whatever the question to be decided by
the church might be.
- It now only remains for me to offer some concluding and
confirmatory remarks.
- I am asked -- Do you really believe this plan possible?
- My reply is that in divine things the question is both
irrelevant and irreverent.
- For the believer in Almighty God there is but one question --
not, Is it possible? but, Is it Scriptural? not, Can it be done?
but, Does God, in His holy Word, bid us do it?
- I have endeavored to show clearly and definitely settle the
latter question, and, I say, it is Scriptural!
- Then it is also possible.
- It was impossible humanly for the man with the withered arm to
stretch it forth.
- He would have done so long since, had he been able.
- But when the Lord bade him do the impossible, it was at once
done; for the question of power rested with Him who gave the
command.
- Thus it is with this question, and all other of His
commandments.
- Moreover, I would point out that the Apostles uniformly
insisted that they were men of like passions with others, (Acts
10:26, 14:15).
- The believers, also, who gathered at that pattern church
meeting had very deeply rooted prejudices, very stubborn human
wills, yea, all those infirmities of mind and spirit, which some
fear must render this plan of church government inoperative in
our days.
- But the thing was not impossible and, therefore, is not now
impossible.
MODERN EXAMPLE
[This was a modern example in 1900, but there has also been the
Quaker example from 1652 to the present time. Quakers began to
adapt the practice of reaching unanimity at an early date.
Sociocracy seems to be the highest development of the practice
to date. - LK]
- Yet, again, as I informed you, there is in this very city of
Bristol a church numbering many hundreds of members, the affairs
of which, since its founding on August 13th, 1832, by the late
George Muller and Henry Craik, have been constantly settled in
this way.
- Further there is the China Inland Mission, the Councils of
which deal with the evangelizing of the vast country of China,
involving the support and control of nearly 750 missionaries and
large numbers of native teachers, and the securing and
disbursing of many thousands of pounds annually, involving also
the solving of problems far more intricate than any that usually
come before home churches, involving further the central
governing not of one but of scores of scattered churches in that
immense empire, and yet the Secretary writes me that since the
founding of the Mission in 1865 the affairs of its great work
have been conducted on the plan proposed by Scripture.
- Thus, dealing with these two cases only, we have in the
aggregate 103 years of modern and satisfactory experience of the
method, simply proving, as might be safely expected, that in the
"keeping of His commandments there is great reward," (Psalm
119:11).
- What reward, it will perhaps be asked.
- Is there not great risk of matters needful to be decided
promptly being delayed, to the injury of the work?
- Let the Secretary of the China Inland Mission answer, and
confirm my remarks under section 1, page 5.
- I asked him, Has any matter which it would have been for the
good of the Lord's work to have had decided promptly, been
delayed to the prejudice of the work by the waiting for
unanimity?
- He replied, No, decidedly not.
- Whenever there has been delay, it has always proved to have
been a wise step, and the necessary guidance has come later on.
- I asked also, Has the experience of this plan shown any
distinct advantages accruing therefrom?
- The reply is, Yes, after-experience has proved that by this
method mistakes have been avoided which might otherwise have
been made.
- And I am further informed that no inconveniences have been
found to arise from the plan.
- Is it not a great gain to avoid mistakes?
- Does not this method wholly cast us upon the Lord, and so, by
our dependence, glorify Him?
- Do we not thus corporately "acknowledge Him in all our ways",
and should we not so secure the fulfillment of the accompanying
promise "He shall direct your paths"? (Prov. 3: 5, 6).
- I am persuaded that by attention to three things all
difficulty in this matter may be removed, and unanimity always
attained, when the Lord deems it desirable.
- The most diligent and careful inquiry in ascertaining that
candidates for church fellowship are (a) scripturally converted
to God through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, so as to be
indwelt by the Holy Spirit, Whose working it is produces
unanimity; and (b) that there is every reason to suppose from
their past life and present conduct that they are really
desirous of knowing and doing the will of God.
- This is by the cultivation of personal communion with God the
Father, through our Lord Jesus Christ, in the power of the Holy
Spirit, by regular meditation upon the Scriptures, so that we
may advance in the knowledge of His will, and by habitual
prayer, wherein we bring all our doing and thinking beneath His
inspection, and have discrepancies and evils shown us, and
whereby we receive grace to do those things which are pleasing
to Him.
- It also involves the due and loving exercise of discipline
against any on whose conduct the Word of God commands
discipline.
- So our corporate life would be lived beneath the eye and under
the control of God; and the Spirit of the Lord would obtain
continually increasing power over us, working in us to will and
do of God's good pleasure, so that we should be one in action in
and through the Spirit, even as the Father and the Son are One
in the communion of the Spirit, and thus would our Lord's desire
and prayer be fulfilled more and more perfectly.
- So would the harmony and love of our church life be secured
and promoted and so should our joint testimony before the world
be unceasing and effective, to the honor and praise of Him to
whom belongs the glory forever.
- For reference sake I subjoin the terms of the motion now under
our consideration, that the God of all grace may give us grace
to do His will for ever is the prayer of Your fellow servant of
Jesus Christ, G. H. LANG, Globe House, Old King Street, Bristol,
August 1900.
- PROPOSED MOTION: "It is unanimously Resolved that in future no
proposal shall be deemed to be carried or be recorded as a
resolution, until the church unanimously consents to the same at
a duly convened church meeting, it being understood that the
absence of any objection to a proposed motion may be taken to
signify its acceptance."
#Post#: 434--------------------------------------------------
Better News Media
By: Admin Date: May 22, 2022, 7:19 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Media for Honest Communication (MHC)
- The world needs better Media.
- People are divided against each other, because they don't know
each others' needs and concerns.
- People of all major groups need to speak and listen to each
other in order to understand and treat each other humanely.
- We need a self-organizing alternative grassroots nonprofit
media, which I refer to here as the GRAM.
- Each segment of society should have reps who will honestly
report each group's major concerns to the GRAM, which would
report directly to the public.
- Some major groups that seem relevant in the U.S. are:
Anti-imperialists
Religious Right
Progressives
Libertarians
Civil Rights Supporters
Alternative Health Users
Environmentalists
Special Interests
Alternative Science Supporters
Foreigners
- MHC is looking for people to be reps for each such group. The
reps report their groups' main concerns and most important info,
which the major media are not reporting.
- MHC will begin operating via the internet.
- Our main uncertainties seem to be re:
1. what are some of the best ways to find good people to be reps
for the major groups? and
2. how could MHC's info be disseminated most thoroughly to the
public?
- Please Reply on the GRAM Blog.
AIM: Promote optimum communication for understanding and harmony
among all groups.
PLAN for creating a better alternative medium:
_a1. Ask on forums for members to be reporters & sources to
report on major concerns of these major groups:
Anti-imperialists, Religious Right, Libertarians, Civil Rights
Folks, Environmentalists, Special Interests, Alternative
Science, Foreign Citizens
- Also ask these major groups to provide reporters
- Explain rationale: to provide a better medium that's nonprofit
that reports each group's main concerns honestly, to promote
greater understanding and harmony among all groups
_a2. Give reporters guidelines
_a3. Get a webpage for the reports
_a4. Have reporters submit reports to the webpage or to me or an
editor
_a5. Organize the reports
_a6. Send the reports to forums, blogs, email subscribers & an
archive
_b7. Teach reporters NVC Sociocracy
_b8. Ask techs to team up to make weekly youtube report videos
_c9. Ask radio & tv stations to broadcast weekly reports
_c10. Ask major groups for donations for their reporters
_c11. Ask for more reporters to do daily reports instead of
weekly
_c12. Ask for pollsters to poll major groups for greater
accuracy
_d13. Promote NVC Sociocracy to all groups via the reports etc
_d14. Plan to prevent major attacks on the medium by opponents
NOTE ON NEED FOR REPORTERS: Honest Reporters Wanted!
- The world needs better Media for Honest Communication.
- MHC, a nonprofit group, will report major news that the major
media ignore.
- It is a new alternative medium different from other
alternatives, because it seeks to inform the public of all major
groups' main concerns and views.
- Our view is that people of all major groups need to speak and
listen to each other in order to understand and treat each other
humanely.
- Initially MHC will report news in the U.S. from these groups:
Anti-imperialists
Religious Right
Libertarians
Civil Rights Supporters
Environmentalists
Special Interests
Alternative Science Supporters
Foreigners
- Can you see the value of an alternative media that seeks to
aid understanding among all groups?
- If so, is there one of these groups that you'd like to report
news for?
- We want to have a team to represent each group.
- Can you assemble a 3 or more person team to cooperatively
report weekly on one of the above groups?
#Post#: 435--------------------------------------------------
Improve Scientific Method
By: Admin Date: May 22, 2022, 7:52 am
---------------------------------------------------------
From
HTML http://qdl.scs-inc.us/?top=7608
ADVANCED 5-STEP SCIENTIFIC METHOD:
-- 1. Observe; 2. Experiment; 3. Replicate; 4. Publish; 5. Use
(for good)
(Scientific Method is a process by which to improve
understanding of reality for humane purposes. Each step can be
performed independently by individuals or groups, or can be
performed cooperatively. The Advanced Scientific Method includes
checking for & removing errors at all 5 stages.)
1. OBSERVE — Make and publish accurate observations of a
subject.
2. EXPERIMENT —
a. Make a hypothesis that may explain the observations.
b. Experiment to test and improve the hypothesis, taking
accurate and relevant measurements, using logic and perhaps
math, and taking relevant, accurate notes of all procedures
involved.
c. Publish the experiment.
3. REPLICATE — Two or more unaffiliated parties independently
replicate the experiment.
4. PUBLISH — Publish the experimental results as a scientific
discovery, if all experiments are successful.
5. USE FOR GOOD — Use the finding humanely as determined by
local unanimous agreement among morally mature people.
-----
COMMON ERRORS THAT UNDERMINE SCIENTIFIC METHOD ARE:
(Re 1:) making inaccurate observations;
(re 2:) making an untestable hypothesis, or misusing logic or
math in the experiment, or recording or publishing a false or
inaccurate record or suppressing it;
(re 3:) failing to replicate an experiment by unaffiliated
parties or failing to debate it properly;
(re 4:) publishing false or misleading statements about
experiments or experimenters; and
(re 5:) using the finding inhumanely or without local unanimous
agreement among morally mature people.
-----
PROPOSED METHOD FOR SCIENTIFIC DISCUSSION
1. Choose a theory & state what is the most crucial statement of
the theory.
2. Other participants then choose to:
a) agree with the statement;
b1) request explanation, or proof;
b2) someone give explanation, or proof;
b3) others choose (a or b); or
c1) propose a modification of the statement
c2) others choose (a or b) for the modified statement.
3. Step 2 is used for all subsidiary statements.
4. The theory is then organized & published.
----------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------
(7/11/13 Version)
(Scientific Method — It is a process by which to improve
understanding of reality for humane purposes. Each step can be
performed independently by individuals or groups, or can be
performed cooperatively.)
5 Steps of Scientific Method:
1. Observe; 2. Experiment; 3. Replicate; 4. Publish; 5. Use
1. Make and publish accurate observations of a subject.
2. Experiment.
a. Make a hypothesis that may explain the observations.
b. Experiment to test and improve the hypothesis, taking
accurate and relevant measurements, using logic and perhaps
math, and taking relevant, accurate notes of all procedures
involved.
c. Publish the experiment.
3. Two or more unaffiliated parties independently replicate the
experiment.
4. Publish the experimental results as a scientific discovery,
if all experiments are successful.
5. Use the finding humanely as determined by local unanimous
agreement.
Common errors that undermine the Scientific Method are:
(Re 1:) making inaccurate observations;
(re 2:) making an untestable hypothesis, or misusing logic or
math in the experiment, or recording or publishing a false or
inaccurate record or suppressing it;
(re 3:) failing to replicate an experiment by unaffiliated
parties or failing to debate it properly;
(re 4:) publishing false or misleading statements about
experiments or experimenters; and
(re 5:) using the finding inhumanely or without local unanimous
agreement.
Proposed Method for Scientific Discussion for Publication
1. Anyone, whom we'll refer to here as P1, invites a second
party, P2, to suggest an important scientific theory to discuss.
2. P2 suggests a theory that P1 accepts.
3. P2 then states the most crucial statement of the theory.
4. P1 then accepts the statement, or requests an explanation or
proof, or proposes a modification of P2's statement.
5. P2 and P1 may continue proposing modifications of each
other's proposed statement until they agree on or table it.
6. As each statement is agreed to, P2's next most important
statement is discussed in the same way (alwasy seeking accuracy,
scope and simplicity). This process repeats until a complete
theory is drafted with both parties agreeing to all of the
statements.
7. The theory is then published from the draft.
(Previous Version) The Scientific Method involves:
choosing a subject matter and making accurate observations of
it;
making a hypothesis that may explain the observations;
testing the hypothesis by experiment, using accurate and
relevant measurements, logic and, if needed, math as well, to
determine if the hypothesis is contradicted; and revising the
hypothesis and the experiment, if contradicted;
making an accurate record of the experiment and the evaluation
and publishing them;
getting 2 or more unaffiliated parties to replicate a successful
experiment;
explaining and publishing the hypothesis as a probable fact and
a scientific discovery, if all experiments are successful; and
using the discovery to humanely increase control over nature for
the purpose of improving the conditions of society and the
biosphere, all as determined by local unanimous adult rule.
Charles Chandler
Baltimore, MD
Re: Improve Scientific Method
I'd like to suggest that we start with some definitions of what
a good theory is supposed to be. I subscribe to the view that
there are three metrics for estimating the "cash value" theory:
Accuracy
The "cash value" of a scientific theory is quite obviously
rooted in the practical utility of being able to predict future
events, insofar as this gives us the ability to arrange things
to our advantage. If it were not for this value, there wouldn't
be any, in any intellectual enterprise.
This does not negate the value of being able to explain things
after the fact (sometimes called "postdiction"). No hypothesis
that can successfully predict future events would fail to
"postdict" past events. And since the existing data are free,
the first test of an hypothesis should always be whether or not
it accurately explains the known data (i.e., would the
hypothesis actually have predicted those data had they not
already existed). If the hypothesis fails at that, any
successful prediction is surely just coincidence.
Scope
This is just a "cash value" multiplier. A single hypothesis that
can accurately explain & predict 10 times more stuff is worth 10
times more, just as a universal wrench is worth more than an
entire toolbox full of standard wrenches (assuming that it
performs as well on each individual bolt).
Simplicity
All other factors being the same, the simpler theory is just
easier to use, so that's the one we'll consider to be "correct."
By using objective metrics such as these, we can get past the
most common problem in pseudo-scientific thinking. A lot of
people seem to think that if they can get people to believe what
they're saying, then it's just as good as any other hypothesis
out there. In other words, they think that hypotheses are social
activities, which don't actually have to be about anything
(except the people who are proposing the hypotheses). People who
think this way will then engage in all kinds of tactics to bring
people around to their way of seeing things. But there isn't any
intrinsic merit to such an enterprise, and with objective
metrics, we can easily see this. The value of science isn't that
somebody won an argument — it's that we became better masters of
our destinies.
Lloyd
St. Louis area
Re: Improve Scientific Method
I revised my opening post above and included accuracy, scope and
simplicity as part of my proposed method of scientific
discussion.
I request that any of you guys propose a scientific theory to
practice discuss with me, using the method described in the
opening post after the description of the Scientific Method.
Along with the theory you want to propose discussing, please
also post the most crucial statement of the theory.
brant
Re: Improve Scientific Method
I disagree with #7.
Control over nature is not part of the scientific method and
really has nothing to do with the end result or goals.
Science is done or should be for knowledge, or for sciences
sake.... Let the discovery guide you to the next step.
Currently science is done for "societies sake right now.... See
Global Warming or vaccines" - And look at the mess its made...
Its politicized...
Personally I think working with nature is more beneficial to
humans than trying to control it....
Charles Chandler
Baltimore, MD
Re: Improve Scientific Method
Brant,
I'll have a hard time arguing against the point that science has
become political, and that this is bad for science, politics,
and society. And if we should err here, it should be on the side
of pure science, just for the sake of increasing our
understanding. Nothing keeps politicians honest, and keeps
technology from destroying the environment and poisoning the
people, like a thorough understanding of the whole thing, and
how we relate to nature. The more we know, the more cautious we
become, and the more immune we are to fads and scams.
But I still agree with the definition of science as being
something that benefits society. The difference is all in the
connotations. Does benefiting society mean raping the
environment for a quick buck (or to get campaign contributions
from big business), or does benefiting society mean coming to
understand how we relate to nature? I think we would all go with
the latter. :) So I think that the definition is a good one, but
perhaps we have to spell out more of what we mean by it.
brant
Re: Improve Scientific Method
The problem is now you have defined the goals of science
depending on whether your doing the right kind of "good", and
who your doing good for..
Which leads us to the reason we are having our discussion in the
first place...
If we were doing science for sciences sake we would have access
to the same funding that the universities have by the virtue of
being able to put together a scientific proposal.
If we were doing science for sciences sake the sun would be
solved because we would have equal time acess to telescopes and
other tools.
We wouldnt have to wait several years for data products that tax
payers paid for.
Instead because science is supposed to benefit society its
turned to false time wasters like global warming or what ever
fraud is big at the moment in the name of "saving the
world(society).
In my view science is a tool. Does a gun benefit society?
Depends on who you ask and whos life is at stake at that moment
in time.
The moment you add "Benefit to society to the equation" you have
colored your notion as to what should be your next step and I
believe that science would actually be more of a benefit to
societ because the "free energy technology or backengineered
UFOs that the controllers of the world hold onto." would be in
use.
To all of a sudden add in a subjective arbitrary qualification
to the definition of science I believe renders science a less
than useful tool, like saying you can only use a hammer to hit
nails that are used for building houses...
Charles Chandler
Baltimore, MD
Re: Improve Scientific Method
@brant:
Well said. OK, I'll go along with that. So then it would be
science just for the sake of understanding. The moral issues can
then be taken up by the philosophers. ;)
Lloyd, what do you think?
Lloyd
St. Louis area
Re: Improve Scientific Method
I'd call scientific method without step 7 incomplete or immature
science, or recreation, or, if it's for evil purposes,
antiscience. I think the only part of nature that should not be
controlled is that which has free will, such as humans, or those
with imminently potential free will, such as fetuses. If all of
nature comes to have free will, then I'd agree that it should
only be collaborated with rather than controlled.
What is currently called science is partly science, partly
recreation and partly antiscience. Antiscience is immoral and
real science needs to be used to help show that antiscience
isn't science, i.e. conventional science that endangers society
is antiscience. Using subliminal manipulation, peer pressure,
ridicule, force, forced taxation, unfair discrimination, or any
other trick is abuse, which is antiscience.
Is there any reason the 7 step scientific method I outlined
above would not be able to reveal which supposed sciences are
actually antiscience? And isn't the failure to identify
antiscience what has allowed conventional science to become
largely antiscience? Sociocracy can likely help improve
scientific method to distinguish between science and
antiscience. Right?
Charles Chandler
Baltimore, MD
Re: Improve Scientific Method
Lloyd said:
Is there any reason the 7 step scientific method I outlined
above would not be able to reveal which supposed sciences are
actually antiscience?
The problem is that we don't have a clear definition of what is
good/bad for society. I think that part of what Brant doesn't
like is that ambiguity — if it's open to interpretation, then a
global warming scam can be considered a benefit to society (in
some sort of rationalized political way), while under no
circumstances could a scam be considered true science.
But I think that there is actually more to it than that.
brant said:
In my view science is a tool. Does a gun benefit society?
Depends on who you ask and whose life is at stake at that moment
in time.
This is true, but science is the kind of tool that encourages
good use. Recall Alexander Pope's words, "A little learning is a
dangerous thing — drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring,
where shallow draft intoxicates the brain, and drinking largely
sobers us again." So it's not that any science could be used for
good or for bad. It's that the more you know, the more likely
you are to put your knowledge to good use.
Furthermore, if we were to wonder what might benefit society, we
could only answer if we already had a full understanding of
ourselves and the world in which we live. Is anthropomorphic
global warming good or bad (if it is real)? It's presented as
bad, but the Earth is presently still cooler that the Medieval
Optimum (which is now being called just the "Medieval Warm
Period" so it doesn't conflict with the political agenda of
global warming being bad). Only a far more mature science could
answer whether or not the world is actually warming up now, and
if so, if people had anything to do with it, and either way,
whether it is good or bad. So science is not only the tool, but
also the measuring instrument by which we determine its proper
use. You can't have good applications of science until you have
a mature science to apply. Then it will tell you how to do it.
;)
brant
Re: Improve Scientific Method
To use the hammer analogy again. Do you think there is such a
thing as a anti hammer?? How long could you keep a hammer made
out of anti matter stable??
Partly recreation? I hope so... Thats how I come up with some of
my best work..
The part I think you missed is how science is treated like a
religion. Actions are carried out in faith(based on a paper
written by one of the accepted members of the faith) which is
totally anti science. I am always questioning the basic tenants
of science. It takes more time but you never become comfortable
which leads to better discoveries and more pure science...
Is it necessary that science have the human element to it?? I
think that Vulcans would do great science.... Do they do science
for sciences sake or because it benefits them...
Here is something people rarely talk about.. I think that the
information from the Nazi war experiments should be available...
Now who is to determine if its morally wrong and who is to
determine if its good for society.. Which one overrides which
one? Dont they always say in the movies" Dont let his death be
in vain!".
The idea that intelligence breeds goodness is a great idea but
then you have to ask where does evil come from? Because
intelligent people do bad things with science... Is it that too
much knowledge is a bad thing??
I maintain that you have to seperate the philosophy of science
from the actions of science - that is the part where you go this
data fits my model vs the part where you say this is interesting
data that shows this physical principle and it belongs here in
the order of what we know.
Take for example my current investigation into MDI and HMI. They
use the absorption line for neutral iron and nickle for
magnetograms. This supposedly oscillates around a 100-250 mile
center. Based on solar models this is a layed of neutral plasma
dense enough to give accurate helioseismology readings. Based on
physical principles you would have to say there is a nickle/iron
surface there... I am kinda stuck right because nothing obvious
is presenting itself. I have to come up with a more compelling
physical reason than the standard model.
Its more a collection notes right now but I believe the data
locates the physical surface...
HTML http://qdl.scs-inc.us/?top=4741-4760-5079-9484-9454-9840-8919-6961-9927-9914
A benefit to society presupposes you have godlike powers and can
see the future, however you could say that understanding every
physical principle of the universe would be a benefit to society
because you would now have space travel and limitless energy.
Its not necessary to add this into the definition of science
thereby eliminating the chance that someone would use the
definition for nefarious purposes. It is very important to
understand these two different ways of speaking. One is a
physical realization of the other. The less knobs available for
government to turn, they being one of the major funders of
science, the less trouble they can get into....
How come you dont have a spell checker... i'm lazy...
Lloyd
St. Louis area
Re: Improve Scientific Method
Evil is simply making immature decisions that threaten the
well-being of self or others. I think that's about as clear a
definition as we can get. Some studies seem to have found that
about 6% of people in any society are psychopaths, having little
or no conscience, which I take to mean not caring about others'
well-being. Another 12% of people are sociopaths, meaning people
who have conscience but suppress it, often under pressure from
psychopaths. One scientist who studied psychopaths accidentally
found that he had psychopathic personality himself, but the
condition can be minimized or prevented from manifesting.
I did not say that the first 6 steps of my proposed scientific
method are not science. I said they're incomplete or immature if
step 7 is not taken. As it is, psychopaths tend to attain
control of any institution, whether govt, science, religion, or
any other, with sociopaths supporting them. I consider that a
societal disease process or the like. I believe it's necessary
for science to find ways to end such societal disease, or
civilization is likely to be destroyed. Sociocracy is the most
promising means I know of for fixing or healing science and
society, although I've found that it can likely be considerably
improved. Anyway, I believe science is the only method by which
society can be healed or "saved" from "pathocracy", i.e. rule by
psychopaths. And, if step 7 is not made part of an improved
scientific method, there's likely never to be a cure for
pathocracy.
By the way, government in our system is defined as all of the
people. The govt officials are our public servants. Servants are
not defined as rulers. But pathocracy has infected our system
like parasites.
I hope to get a chance to read your answers to the questions
about your iron sun model soon.
Charles Chandler
Baltimore, MD
Re: Improve Scientific Method
brant said:
How come you dont have a spell checker... i'm lazy...
In the "full screen" editor, click the button.
Lloyd said:
Evil is simply making immature decisions that threaten the
well-being of self or others.
I agree — evil stems from incomplete knowledge. For example,
Oppenheimer figured out how to make an atom bomb, but then he
spent the rest of his life regretting it. Had he thought about
the implications of what he was doing before he did it, he would
have told the politicians to go pound sand when they started
talking about weapons of mass destruction. So a little learning
is a dangerous thing — fully consider the social, economic, and
political implications of what you're doing, or taste not the
nuclear physics spring, where shallow draft just might blow you,
me, and everybody else to smithereens, while further drinking
might make you realize that weapons of mass destruction are a
Really Bad Idea. ;)
brant
Re: Improve Scientific Method
I still dont see how step 7 prevents any manner of crazy people
from declaring that are doing it (science) for the good of
society and doing bad things, and having people believe them
because it part of the scientific method....
People in power have a track record of that. If they cant say we
are doing it for the good of society then what do they have to
manipulate the people?
If you are an ethical scientist you will do it for the good of
society... Thats what I do. Nobody has to tell me to do good...
Do you think that a bad guy (immature) will do good just because
thats part of the scientific method?
If you ask me the method should be brief and thorough. Just like
a well tuned hammer...
Lloyd
St. Louis area
Sociocracy to Improve Scientific Method
I wrote this yesterday, but a little rain screwed up internet
reception here, as usual, so I'm delayed.
I was thinking we could maybe apply sociocracy to this dispute
we're having about scientific method. We seem to agree largely
with the first 6 steps that I outlined, so the dispute so far is
only with step 7. The way I've been modifying sociocracy is by
focusing on concerns. I think that gets to the heart of a
dispute quicker than anything. So I like to try to see what all
of the main concerns are on an issue.
Brant's concern seems to be that step 7 would give the govt an
excuse to unfairly or irrationally limit scientific research.
And I guess it's apparent that my concern is that science is
already abused by govt and other power abusers and needs an
additional step at least to help prevent such abuse of science.
Since step 7 is at the end rather than at the beginning, I think
it would already not hamper any scientific research. The
research would be done in the normal way, but it would just not
be deemed complete until step 7 is taken. Who would carry out
step 7? I agree with the concern about scientific and academic
freedom as well as the right of all morally mature people to be
self-governing, while immature people have the right and duty to
learn moral maturity partly by participating in self-government
at their own pace. Of course, no one is fully morally mature, so
that's everyone, but to varying degrees. And moral simply means
respecting everyone's human rights.
Obviously, this won't be an easy matter to settle, but I think
it's necessary to work on it. Does anyone have a proposal for
rewording step 7 that satisfies everyone's main concerns?
Charles Chandler
Baltimore, MD
Re: Improve Scientific Method
To address my point, about bad things coming from incomplete
knowledge (i.e., "a little learning is a dangerous thing"), you
could say something like:
7. integrate the new findings into the larger body of knowledge
accumulating on the topic, and consider the implications for
society.
I think that with "increasing control over nature" as the stated
objective, people would be running out to see what they could do
to wreck the environment the first chance they got, assuming
that they're not done until they're changing nature to suit
their needs. With a full understanding, sometimes you can just
leave nature alone, and let it provide for your needs, the way
it always has. So I'm not sure that we should assume that nature
needs to be changed. But no matter what, it all comes back to
how thoroughly we understand what we're doing. A levy that holds
back flood waters isn't such a bad thing — that's manipulating
nature to suit our purposes. But we have to understand that it's
only going to cause a bigger flood somewhere else, because the
water has to go somewhere. Did we think about that when we built
the levy? So that's my point — we might not have to change
nature, but we do have to consider the long-term implications of
everything that we do.
Lloyd
St. Louis area
Re: Improve Scientific Method
Charles, I read your proposed modification of step 7 and here's
my proposal for rewording it:
7. (previous wording:) using the discovery to increase control
over nature for the purpose of improving the conditions of
society.)
7. (new wording:) using the discovery to humanely increase
control over nature for the purpose of improving the conditions
of society and the biosphere, all as determined by local
unanimous adult rule .
I also modified step 7 of common errors in science accordingly
adding the phrase in bold at the end as follows:
7. misusing scientific findings for the detriment of society (or
the biosphere).
How about that?
Charles Chandler
Baltimore, MD
Re: Improve Scientific Method
Maybe the issue is that we don't have a definition of what is
good for society. So how 'bout:
7. integrate the new findings into the larger body of knowledge
accumulating on the topic, and when a sufficiently complete
understanding has been achieved, apply it to resolving the
conflicts among people and nature.
Lloyd
St. Louis area
Re: Improve Scientific Method
If we believe in human rights, we believe in the right to local
self-government by unanimous rule, e.g. sociocracy.
I want to avoid trying to micromanage science. I think it may be
best to let each local self-governing group handle micromanaging
their science, including how to record and store findings.
7. (new wording:) using the discovery humanely as determined by
local unanimous rule.
Lloyd
St. Louis area
Re: Improve Scientific Method
I've posted a new version of Scientific Method above. I think
it's much better, more succinct etc. Agree?
There are now 5 steps: 1. Observe; 2. Experiment; 3. Replicate;
4. Publish; 5. Use.
Two of the original 7 are now part of step 2.
Lloyd
St. Louis area
Make Discussion More Efficient?
I want to continue this discussion, but I think we could
probably make discussion in general more efficient. Do you guys
agree? So, if yous have ideas how to do that, would you please
discuss them with me on the thread called Improve Scientific
Method? I'll copy this post there.
What are some of the obstacles you can think of to coming to
common understanding or agreement?
not defining terms clearly enough?
not describing data clearly enough?
not citing data accurately?
prejudice?
other?
What might improve discussion?
Lloyd
St. Louis area
Re: Improve Scientific Method
In the opening post I suggested the following method of
discussion. Does anyone have ideas how to improve this proposed
method of discussion?
Proposed Method for Scientific Discussion for Publication
1. Anyone, whom we'll refer to here as P1, invites a second
party, P2, to suggest an important scientific theory to discuss.
2. P2 suggests a theory that P1 accepts.
3. P2 then states the most crucial statement of the theory.
4. P1 then accepts the statement, or requests an explanation or
proof, or proposes a modification of P2's statement.
5. P2 and P1 may continue proposing modifications of each
other's proposed statement until they agree on or table it.
6. As each statement is agreed to, P2's next most important
statement is discussed in the same way (alwasy seeking accuracy,
scope and simplicity). This process repeats until a complete
theory is drafted with both parties agreeing to all of the
statements.
7. The theory is then published from the draft.
Charles Chandler
Baltimore, MD
Re: Comets
And just how is it that NOAO has any copyrights anyway? That's a
publicly funded institution. Why aren't their products public
domain from the start? For that matter, why is it that we pay
for scientists to conduct research, and then we don't have free
access to the journals? I understand that the journals are
private enterprises, and they have to pay editors, printers,
etc. But when they're charging $30 or more for electronic access
to single articles, that's just ridiculous. Granted, they get to
say that the articles are publicly available. But at $30,
they're not selling any of those. Professionals get colleagues
to snag the articles for them, and students go to the library.
And it's just enough inconvenience to the independent
investigators that it keeps them out. Argh.
Lloyd
St. Louis area
Re: Improve Scientific Method
As I said in the Comets thread, all material in public libraries
should be readable online.
Charles Chandler
Baltimore, MD
Re: Improve Scientific Method
I totally agree. In fact, the entire publishing industry is due
for an overhaul. They need to get out of their Gutenberg
mentality, and get with modern times. Electronic publishing
should be the standard. Anybody who wants a hard copy of
something should just request it from the nearest Kinko's, who
will print it out and deliver it. Forget about the whole
manufacturing~wholesaling~retailing~advertising model. Make
everything available online, and let on-demand printing serve
the secondary market that wants hard copies. The editing and
updating is what will benefit the most from an online model. I
really think that we're on the threshold of a new age, in which
books won't be written by one or a couple people, and then
handed over to an editorial staff with just a couple of people
in it. Rather, books will be collaborations of hundreds or
thousands of people, many of whom will donate their labor. If a
book requires professional services, that's fine. So they'll
have to charge money for access to the finished product. But
printing is currently the biggest expense in the publishing
industry, and if that's taken out of the picture, there will be
more money available for decent writers, illustrators, and
editors. Then, if the publishers charge a reasonable amount of
money for their articles (e.g., $1 or less), they'll make plenty
of money. I personally think that if the price is low enough,
piracy will go away, and the publishers will actually make a lot
more money. And we'll get much higher quality stuff, and a lot
more of it. And the same goes for scientific literature. They
don't have to be a bunch of control freaks about it. A certain
amount of funding enables a certain amount of research, writing,
illustrating, editing, etc. Then it gets published online for
free, because the general public already paid for it. Once
others get ahold of it, they'll spot errors, and it will start
to improve.
Lloyd
St. Louis area
Re: Improve Scientific Method
Charles, I see you got some info from Deliberatorium elsewhere.
That info may supercede what I just came across, but I think
this is worth posting anyway.
After briefly checking out truthmapping.com and deliberatorium,
I reviewed dialog mapping etc and here are my edited notes on
that.
First video
HTML http://youtube.com/watch?v=pxS5wUljfjE
Jeff Conklin shows that dialog mapping allows those involved in
discussion to get a better understanding of the discussion,
using issue structure, instead of mere linear conversation
structure.
Next video
HTML http://youtube.com/watch?v=ezBqafgAvMw
he says: "I'm now interested in the collaboration that needs to
happen online, synchronously, in virtual meetings, conference
calls, conference calls with web excerpts or go-to meetings.
And, beyond that, even more challenging, is people connected to
a set of maps working from their own computers asynchronously at
different times and doing time-shifted sense-making on complex
problems. . . . It takes moderation skills and . . . a certain
level of skill in the IBIS process and with software to make it
work."
Third video
HTML http://youtube.com/watch?v=s4VNpCwc7SE
Gene Bellinger says: "If one practices the four principles of
dialog according to Bohm, which are to suspend decisions,
suspend judgment, transparency and build on the ideas of others,
it creates a chart of exchange where new things just seem to
happen. So people don't debate, or defend their positions.
People continually are seeking to understand perspectives"
With InsightMaker/s dialog has four components: Question mark =
Issue or Question; Light bulb = Position or response to an
Issue; Plus = Support for argument; Minus = Opposition to
argument.
This site
HTML http://compendium.open.ac.uk/institute/about.htm
says
Compendium is a software tool providing a flexible visual
interface for managing the connections between information and
ideas. [It might be downloadable at
HTML http://compendium.open.ac.uk/developers/os_home.php
].
--- Extending Compendium's support for personal sensemaking, we
have a particular interest in what we term collective
sensemaking, and have developed a technique called Dialogue
Mapping, and its extension, Conversational Modelling. Our
experiences with these techiques for capturing and managing —
often in real time and under pressure — the perspectives in
meetings that emerge in open discussion or in collaborative
modelling, lead us to claim that Compendium offers innovative
strategies for tackling some of the key challenges in managing
knowledge and making meaning:
- improving communication between disparate communities tackling
ill-structured problems
- real time capture and integration of hybrid material (both
predictable/ formal, and unexpected/informal) into a reusable
group memory
- transforming the resulting resource into the right
representational formats for different stakeholders.
This
HTML http://debategraph.org
is an online usable tool for dialog
mapping maybe. I didn't have much luck with it though. But see
the following.
The above compendium.open.ac.uk links to
HTML http://cognexus.org/dm_book.htm
which links to
HTML http://www.cognexus.org/id27.htm
which says
"Taken directly from the Debategraph.org website: "Our goal is
to make the best arguments on all sides of any public debate
freely available to all and continuously open to challenge and
improvement by all. In pursuit of this goal, Debategraph is (1)
A wiki debate visualization tool (2) A web-based, creative
commons project to increase the transparency and rigor of public
debate everywhere by making the collective insight and
intelligence of the global community freely available to all and
filtering out the noise and (3) A global graph of all the
debates.""
So maybe if I learn more about that, I'll be able to get more
out of it. Maybe we could both or all try it out sometime soon.
#Post#: 436--------------------------------------------------
IDM Examples
By: Admin Date: May 22, 2022, 7:59 am
---------------------------------------------------------
7 Testimonials
*** IDM TESTIMONIAL - #1
<IDM is a simplified form of scientifically developed consensus,
referred to below as Sociocracy - IDM is the best hope for world
peace, justice and prosperity>
www.champlainvalleycohousing.org/Round-tabling%20Manual.htm
www.champlainvalleycohousing.org/Round-tabling%20Manual.htm#_Toc
36078182
.
Volume 1
.
“Round-tabling” <=Sociocracy>
.
The Practice of Sociocracy in Our Community
Prepared by Sheila Braun
Edited by John Buck
Copyright 2003 by Sheila Braun and John Buck
.
Chapter 1
.
So you want to live in a cohousing village…
Now, how do we make our decisions?
.
As you have explored the idea of living in cohousing, you have
perhaps read and heard a fair amount about the challenges of
making group decisions. Many cohousing communities use the
consensus model, which gives each member a voice, but can be
exhausting. A few are beginning to look at a new option we call
round-tabling, which is also known as sociocracy <or scientific
consensus>.
.
What is round-tabling? Whereas consensus is a decision-making
method, round-tabling is both a decision-making method and a
decision-making structure. In this manual, we will describe
these two aspects as a whole.
.
You’re getting ready to attend your first round-table meeting
since becoming a member. What can you expect? Round-table
meetings follow a predictable pattern.
.
Opening Round
During a round, each member gets a chance to speak. During an
opening round, each member brings him- or herself into the
meeting. People change from meeting to meeting and checking in
with each member of the circle when we first meet helps us to
get back in touch with one another. We are seeking a kind of
harmonization for the meeting.
.
This is the time to mention any items you would like added to
the agenda and to talk about your hopes for the meeting, your
fears if you have any, and your personal feelings about things
either in the meeting or out of it.
.
During opening round, you get a chance to set the tone of who
you are in this minute - -and you get a sense of who others are,
as well.
We have had meetings in which people who seem to have strong
feelings about the group or about something on the agenda have
chosen not to express these feelings during the opening round.
It can feel a little odd, watching someone shrug and say, “I
have nothing to say,” when you suspect that they might have
significant fears, frustrations, or anger. It is important,
however, that the group honor the participant’s resistance. We
try to recognize the dissonance if someone doesn’t actually
“bring themselves in,” perhaps by the chair saying, “I sense
that there is a strong undercurrent today,” and letting it go at
that.
.
... <Sociocratic meetings involve the chairperson reading aloud
members' proposals for group-supported actions; objectors
modifying proposals, including modified proposals; and, when
modifications are finished, the recorder recording the
decisions.>
.
How do you prepare a good proposal?
The General Circle chair helps people create proposals. She
meets with the proposal-crafter and they work together until the
proposal seems clear and inclusive enough to make it through a
no-objection round at a round-table meeting.
It is possible, however, to come to a meeting with an
unannounced proposal. If there is time on the agenda and the
proposal is simple enough, it can pass. However, a complex
proposal (such as a plan to change the pricing structure for the
houses we’re building) may be referred back for further
development and coordination if the members haven’t had a chance
to become familiar with it. The proposal-writer ought to speak
to other members while preparing the proposal and take their
initial reactions into account, because the circle is within its
rights to expect to spend precious meeting time only on
well-prepared proposals.
.
... Suppose the same person is always the one with an objection?
.
It might seem to make sense to give each member a sort of
informally-agreed-upon amount of “objection credit” and then ask
seemingly obstructionist members to step out of the way more
often. However, we hesitate to do this, keeping the following in
mind as alternatives:
.
Maintain some humility: A member who seems dysfunctional may in
fact be the only normal person in a dysfunctional group. Don’t
be too quick to judge.
Welcome objections as opportunities to make the proposal better.
Get good at quickly integrating objections into proposals.
.
... The "no-objection" <objection-modification> round ... is
like turning up stones as you plow a field. Move them out of the
way, and you have a good furrow. The chair seeks objections
because once they are overcome the proposal is likely to be a
good one.
.
“Reasoned and paramount” is a guideline to help you determine
whether you have a serious objection that you need to voice. A
reason is something that we can work with — it is not
necessarily cool logic. “Paramount” is something that is
important to the person bringing the reason — it is not
necessarily important to everybody.
.
An objection such as “I’ll miss my dog if she has to sit home
without me” may lack what some people would call logic, and it
may not strike other members as very important, but it can be
worked with and it is of concern to the member bringing it <up>,
so it is not set aside. On the other hand, a member’s objection,
“I don’t like the rule, I won’t like it, and I have no more to
say,” would need further explanation. On hearing such a
statement, the chair might say, “Would you please explain why
you don’t like the rule?” A lack of further explanation can
cause the objection to be set aside.
.
... Emotion is okay in our open discussions — personal attacks
are not.
.
... <Closing> round is an excellent time to answer the
questions, “How did we do? How could we have done better?” It’s
a good time to give feedback to the people who forwarded or, in
your opinion, obstructed the process. It’s also a good time to
let the chair know any ideas you may have for running the
meeting better next time.
.
The note-taker should write down all the issues raised in
closing round and include them in the minutes. They are an
important measure to review before the next meeting.
.
Chapter 2
.
... A project like ours includes many smaller jobs. It’s useful
to create circles, or committees, to carry out these smaller
jobs. We have numerous circles during our development phase.
There’s just so much going on: while the finance circle is
working on forecasting cash flow for the rest of the permitting
process, the legal circle is drafting the purchase and sale
agreements for our house buyers, and the land use circle is
coming up with a plan for planting new food sources for wildlife
that may lose them when we build.
.
What if (as we hope) you want to do more than just attend
meetings? What if you would like to join a circle, make some
interesting proposals of your own — or what if you are suddenly
surprised by finding yourself nominated to chair a circle?
.
... Joining a Circle
Joining a circle is voluntary. If you are interested in a
particular aspect of our project, you can approach the chair of
that circle and ask them if you can attend the meetings in the
hopes of becoming a member of the circle. Each circle has its
own policy about how members are accepted. Some accept all
volunteers, while others have only the members they need to get
their work done.
.
... Round-tabling <sociocracy> doesn’t seek the “best” of
everything, but rather what is “good enough,” so that we don’t
spend endless hours splitting hairs over final details. We make
the decision and move on to the next one, knowing that we have
done well enough <and that there'll be opportunity to make
improvements later>.
.
--
.
*** IDM TESTIMONIAL - #2
<Here's one more item of highlights from:>
www.champlainvalleycohousing.org/Round-tabling%20Manual.htm
www.champlainvalleycohousing.org/Round-tabling%20Manual.htm#_Toc
36078182
.
<Sociocracy> Chapter 3
.
Our Structure
.
We’ve been talking about circles without discussing in detail
how circles relate to each other. That is the subject of this
chapter.
.
First, a few words about hierarchy. It’s hard to talk about how
a round-table organization is structured without raising
questions of hierarchy. Cohousers, in many cases, are allergic
to hierarchy. That may be because in our culture a hierarchy is
often about some people having autocratic power over other
people. This is not the case in a round-table hierarchy.
.
Round-tabling assumes that if it is necessary to order tasks, it
is necessary to arrange task-doers in some way that makes
communication lines and functions clear. Imagine a ship with no
crow’s nest, no sailors who follow instructions, no navigator,
and no captain. Perhaps everyone would be “equal” (though I
doubt it), but almost certainly such a ship would sink on its
first voyage. People play different roles in a well-run
organization.
.
Just as all the sailors on a ship cannot make all the decisions
involved in taking a voyage, so every member of our cohousing
community cannot make all the decisions involved in the
development process. It isn’t practical, and it isn’t efficient.
Each member must find a way to fit into the overall effort.
.
For example, if you like to sit in on work sessions that produce
creative proposals about how we will manage our village farm,
then you belong on the land use committee, which is engaged in
the “doing” aspect of land use functions. If you don’t like
coming up with those proposals, but enjoy giving feedback on
farming proposals created by others, then you should attend
General Circle meetings, especially when farm proposals are on
the agenda. If your strength lies in figuring out how the farm
village concept fits in with our overall strategy for building
and maintaining the community, then others may decide to elect
you to the Steering Circle, which takes account of a broader
perspective in its decisions. If you are good at focusing on a
large goal and expressing the difference between where we are
and where we want to be, then you might best serve the community
as the Project Leader, who leads the “doing” throughout the
organization. If you are good at working with a group and
leading meetings, then you are likely to be elected the chair of
a committee, of the General Circle, or of the Steering Circle
(or more than one of those).
.
Power…
Power is another one of those subjects that cohousing groups
don’t really like to talk about — at least, not using the word
“power.” But cohousing communities usually go out of their way
to confer maximum power upon individuals. Our structure, on the
other hand, might seem to take such individual power away. So
does round-tabling empower an ordinary member? If so, how?
.
This question of power is an incredibly important one, because
many people have deep feelings about other people’s power
(possibly stemming from hurtful experiences).
.
A key concept in round-tabling is that nobody has total power
over the organization, though we do strive to provide everybody
with equivalent power within the organization. Here is a list of
the powers or strengths that an ordinary member has:
.
· Membership in the General Circle. This includes several key
powers:
_The power to elect the chair and the note-taker of the General
Circle;
_The power to help define the aims and activities of the
sub-circles (and to propose to redefine them whenever you feel
it is necessary to do so);
_The power to elect the chairs of the sub-circles;
_The power to make proposals of your own that can affect
day-to-day operations;
_The power to offer reasoned and/or paramount objections to
proposals you can’t live with;
_The power to elect representatives to the Steering Circle who
will represent your point of view in strategy decisions;
_The power to call a meeting of the General Circle if something
comes up.
.
· Calling for an election. Any member has the right to call
for an election if he or she feels that the decisions made by
the Steering Circle or the chair of the General Circle or of a
committee haven’t been sensitive to the will of the members.
.
... The General Circle chair-person, who, among other things,
directs day-to-day operations and guides the sub-circles, is
elected by the members and can be re-elected <replaced> at any
time.
.
... Committee circles have power to act freely within — but no
power to act outside of — the range of tolerance set by the
General Circle. The General Circle can redefine circles’
parameters when necessary.
.
Any member can offer an objection that will serve to improve a
proposal, but trivial objections or objections without reason
are explored and tested rather than immediately acted upon.
.
... For example, does the General Circle make all decisions that
affect the entire membership? The answer is no, not always,
because our efficiency would be severely hampered by never doing
anything that affected everybody without first getting
everybody’s buy-in. We are trying to build a large real estate
project in a world that we must sometimes respond to quickly, so
what we have instead is a total of four representatives from the
membership on the Steering Circle, participating in these
development decisions. These representatives are charged with
the task of informing members about decisions and discussing
them ahead of time. Members can replace any representative if
they feel they are not being adequately represented; members can
also ask the Steering Circle chair for an invitation to
participate in a particularly “hot” issue.
.
--
.
HTML http://www.knoxtnusa.com/KnoxCoHousing/decision_making.htm
.
Get Experience Now!
Knoxville Cohousing Community is using sociocracy right now
during the development phase. Please consider volunteering for
one of the development committees. Volunteering for a committee
offers a wonderful opportunity to gain experience with
sociocracy and to contribute to the creation of your new
community.
.
... Knoxville Cohousing Community - Building an old-fashioned
neighborhood in a new way.
.
Comments on this Web page should go to knoxtnusa@chartertn.net
.
--------------------------
.
*** IDM TESTIMONIAL #3
www.compassion-response.net/12Circulars/Year%202002/06CircularJa
n02.htm
.
COMPASSION RESPONSE NETWORK CIRCULAR No 6
.
By David Keane, 30/January/2002
PO Box 582, Gosnells WA 6110, Australia
keane@nw.com.au
Healing site address: www.nw.com.au/~keane/healing
.
Main Objective of Compassion Response Network
.
The Inner Planning Circle has agreed upon the main objective for
the Compassion Response Network, as follows:
... "To facilitate the emergence of a goodwill network in which
the hands of men and women of goodwill are strengthened so that
they become enabled to directly provide a meaningful
compassionate response to the most urgent needs of humanity."
.
... The Esoteric Significance of the Compassion Response Network
.
The Compassion Response Network provides a new dimension to
global goodwill networking.
.
Many established esoteric groups, networks and schools, focus
upon subjective development and education. Many of these seek
subjective group integration using a meditation of synthesis.
Many other service groups are of a more practical orientation.
For these groups, Sociocracy provides a pathway towards
objective integration for group members.
.
The Compassion Response Network links a meditation of synthesis
and Sociocracy together in the one network. It will provide an
organisational base in which members can invoke a pathway for
higher purpose to manifest upon Earth through intelligent
service activity.
.
... The Compassion Response Network therefore is developing a
pathway by which disciples and men and women of goodwill can
unite together "in one spiritual undertaking", so that theory
for the solution of humanity's many problems is gradually turned
into practical reality, and the word "united" comes to have a
true significance and meaning.
.
... As we have seen with Kyoto and Agenda 21, a talkfest
frequently leads to an illusion of progress, keeping the service
work on the theoretical level. It does not touch upon the
essence that manifests the vision. A talkfest is a step forward
when we do not yet have clear vision. But we have had clear
vision for twenty years. We now need to move forward and
manifest that vision.
.
Convening and discussing is about lateral relationships. We
agreed to focus first upon the vertical relationship for our
network, the purpose or vision inspiring it. Once this had been
defined, we can discuss constructing lateral relationships.
.
We choose first to trust in the overshadowing goodness and
provision of God. To suggest we cannot muster enough strength
for the service tasks of the heart will be to declare the power
of God within us as impotent.
.
We discussed for a while the Sociocracy approach to Vision,
Mission and Aims. This would provide a wonderful model for
coordinating and empowering many members within our network. We
agreed to discuss these matters more after our Main Objective
was decided.
.
Much discussion was then involved in wording the Main Objective
in everyday words so that people can really understand what's
being said.
.
Pioneering Experiment with Sociocracy by Email
.
Our Inner Planing Circle of four members living in three
different continents, convened over Email and collectively
debated and agreed upon the ideas to be embraced within the Main
Objective, and then the precise wording for the Main Objective.
.
Two of our members have extensive Sociocracy experience, and
although other attempts have been made, this is believed to be
the first time in the world all parties were willing to
participate throughout the meeting in a Sociocracy meeting by
Email. This is therefore a global first in pioneering Sociocracy
through Email meetings.
.
As acting secretary of the Compassion Response Network, I must
say I am impressed with the Sociocratic Method. I have eight
years of former experience in seeking to coordinate group work
through our East West Network projects. Whenever there was a
divergence of viewpoint in EW Network, the matter would
inevitably be resolved by my meditating on the matter, and then
making a firm decision. As the decision was mine, the
responsibilities which often had a material or financial
component were also my own. This led to an overload of duties
and responsibilities upon myself, the coordinator of EW Network.
This was why the potential of EW Network was limited, and had to
eventually close down. The demand had grown too big for it.
.
The Compassion Response Network however has group leadership
through its Inner Planning Circle. Important decisions are made
through the group. In EW Network, dedicated members were able to
find a subjective harmony and agreement through meditation, but
much of the objective management was centred through a single
personality, as is frequently the case with so many goodwill
initiatives.
.
Members of the Inner Planning Circle, despite not being able to
meet physically, were able to convene a deep discussion and make
decisions on many fine points, because they were assisted on the
objective level by the Sociocratic Method.
.
In Sociocracy, the circle consultation method results in airing
of many views and variations of emphasis, but nevertheless the
essential group (or circle) harmony remains. And Sociocracy
provides an avenue to reach to a deeper level of group
understanding and agreement than was ever possible in EW
Network, guided though it was by goodwill principles. In the
Sociocracy way of doing things, the final decision is definitely
a group decision, and the group accepts the responsibility.
.
... The Email meeting to decide on our Main Objective took
nearly two months. There are many interactions and matters to
resolve in a Sociocracy meeting. If everyone were gathered in
the one conference room, it would take just a moment to pass
from one speaker to another. But using Email, it may take a day
or several days between each communication in a sequence of
discussion. We are learning all the time, and hopefully we can
speed things up as we proceed.
.
Our approach has a significant advantage over global gatherings
and conventions. We dispense with the immense cost of travel to
such gatherings, and are therefore able to direct the money
saved into positive service work. In an age of immense human
need and inequality of income, this approach therefore greatly
strengthens the hands of the poor server.
.
... Yours in Love and Light,
.
David Keane
.
.
--------------
.
*** IDM TESTIMONIAL #4
www.champlainvalleycohousing.org/sociocracy.cgi
.
Our Decision-making Method: Sociocracy
...
Here's an example: Suppose you are a member of our group, and
you decide that it is important that we include some kind of
swimming pond or pool in our landscaping plan. What do you do?
.
Your first step is to take your suggestion to the committee most
concerned with the issue, the Land Use Committee.
.
...<You> type this on your computer: “I propose that we include
in our landscape design a sandy beach for swimming, at a cost of
not more than $x,000. A Swimming <Place> Committee shall be
formed to research and carry out a plan.” You email your
proposal to the Land Use Committee Chair about 10 days before
their next meeting. They add your proposal to their agenda and
you attend the meeting specifically to speak on the details.
.
During the meeting, You <may> participate in the <other>
discussions but ... not <any other decisions, unless you join
the committee>.
.
Then ... The facilitator reads your proposal and asks you to
explain it ... and why you think it is important.... The
facilitator asks if there are any objections to your proposal.
Two of the five members consent to it as it is; one member is
worried that our wetlands will need to be changed and we would
therefore take longer getting Act 250 <government> permits;
another member says she wouldn’t want a swimming pool unless it
had fresh water only, like Underhill’s swimming pond; and
another member is worried that the landscape architecture budget
will be over-run if this is done.
.
The facilitator takes notes and asks you for comments. You
explain that the swimming pond wouldn’t be anywhere near the
wetlands, and that you agree that fresh water would be necessary
to make it work for our community; and you point out that $y,000
of the landscape architecture budget was allocated to building a
bridge that ... isn’t needed <any more>. The facilitator alters
the proposal to add a phrase keeping the swimming pond out of
the wetlands, and adds the words “fresh water” to your
description. On this round, then, no member of the committee
objects. Since this proposal does fall within the purview of the
committee that heard it, someone proposes immediately to form a
sub-committee with you as the chair with the aim of researching
the best way to get this done and to propose contractors, exact
fees, and dates, making reports to the Land Use Committee before
spending any money.
.
... once <we soon learn> how it works, We find <this sociocratic
process> to be elegant, efficient, and fair.
.
------------------
.
*** IDM TESTIMONIAL #5
www.sacredspaceinc.com
Our Atlanta-based team of Feinknopf & Moe specializes in
corporate and community facilitation, communications, and
strategic planning as well as transportation-related urban
design.
.
We imagine a world of caring, creative and vital people, each
engaged in passionate, satisfying, enriching pursuit. We work
with organizations, communities and individuals to achieve that
possibility.
.
Nonviolent CommunicationSM (NVC)
We believe the foundation of healthy relationships and
communities is authentic, respectful connection. Because of our
profound belief in NVC's ability to build and maintain such
connection, we support and offer NVC trainings and base all of
our work on NVC values.
.
Sociocracy Training
We are sponsoring in-depth training on Sociocracy, an
organization and governance method that supports power-with,
rather than power-over. Internationally certified Sociocratic
trainer and business consultant, John Buck, will be offering
five days of workshops. ...
.
-------------
.
*** IDM TESTIMONIAL #6
www.homes-across-america.org/search/details.cfm?who=155&Feature=
all&action=showInnovation&Que
.
<An EcoVillage:> Community Governance
.
Goals of Innovation: The EcoVillage Community Association, as a
community of homeowners, requires a system of governance that
allows and fosters residents to build community and respect the
Earth. The community desired an effective and efficient system
of governance in which there are not “winners and losers,” but
rather a true building of community through resident involvement
with the interests of all equally served.
.
Description: For about two years, the community used consensus
to make its decisions. Although respected, this proved
inefficient and exhausting, and led to serious concerns among
homeowners. The group discussed other ways by which they could
self-govern. It wanted something more than decisions being made
by a pure majority vote. Without a better system of governance,
it was possible that the ideals, goals and harmony espoused by
EcoVillage would be seriously compromised.
.
The group was willing and committed to find a way of governance
that fit the community’s situation. After discussion and review
of options, it was decided to try a system of decision making
where power was vested into committees of people who regularly
interact with one another and have a common aim. Each member of
the committee is guaranteed a voice that cannot be ignored in
managing the organization. This system, known as sociocracy, is
used in corporate enterprises. It allows participants to give
and receive effective leadership while remaining peers.
.
The principle of consent governs the decision-making process. A
policy decision can only be made by consent, that is, if nobody
raises a reasoned and paramount objection against it.
Introducing sociocracy was a relief. The group became more
efficient and subsequently has been able to make many difficult
decisions in harmony with one another. ...
.
-------------
.
*** IDM TESTIMONIAL #7
www.worldteacher.faithweb.com/sociocracy.htm
.
... <Kids Should Have Sociocratic Meetings>
.
Partly because the stated aim of the school is to impart
knowledge and skills, and partly because people regard obedience
as a virtue in itself, children have been trained to obey. We
are only beginning to realise the dangers of this practice. If
children are not taught to judge for themselves, they will in
later life become an easy prey for the dictator. But if we
really want to prepare youth to think and act for themselves, we
must alter our attitude to education. The children should not be
sitting passively in rows, while the schoolmaster drills a
lesson into their heads. They should be able to develop freely
in children’s communities, guided and helped by those who are
older acting as their comrades. Initiative should be fostered in
every possible way. They should learn from the beginning to do
things for themselves, and to make things necessary in their
school life. But above all they should learn how to run their
own community in some such way as has already been described.
.
... From Beatrice C. Boeke, Holland
*****************************************************
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