The necessary paradigm shift

Richard Ross wasn't the only person I sent a copy f my BOT2001 paper to: I also sent it to many of the reviewers of my book in the virtual cafe. I asked them to have a read through it to see if they could anticipate any awkward questions I might receive when I explained the concept of a living database to the audience in San Francisco.

I was quite alarmed when I received their responses. It seemed that no two of them were seeing the same picture. Many of them were suggesting problems with the model that shouldn't be relevant. It was a puzzle. Why should so many people not be seeing the living database as I'd been visualising it?

As I went through the various comments, it suddenly clicked what was going wrong. Most of the readers were viewing the living database from a server side perspective and not looking at it from the client side. From the server side, the meeting places might seem to be clearly defined topic areas, where the interaction of the people meeting at these places would communicate with each other only around that narrow area of interest.

However, from a client side perspective, the meeting places represent only a place of contact. The topic of interest at any particular meeting place is not a restraint upon the range of communication, but, simply serves as an indicator that those present share a single common interest. It doesn't necessarily mean that their whole range of interests are in alignment.

This can be likened to an antique dealer going to a meeting where the subject matter is snuff boxes. The antique dealer goes there to broaden her knowledge and isn't there to develop a major interest in snuff boxes. In the course of mixing with the people at the meeting she might meet somebody else who is another antique dealer who tells her about another meeting that is taking place where the discussion is old fountain pens that are becoming a popular collector's item.

This illustrates how from the organiser's perspective (the server side view) the meeting is supposed to be about snuff boxes, but, to the antique dealers who attends the meeting, it is about old fountain pens and, for one, the discovery of a new area of interest.

This is the difference between server side and client side perspectives. From the server side the categories that divide up a people space would appear to be rigid. From the client side, there is no rigidity at all – as the categories can unpredictably merge with each other. The topics are not seen as communication restraints, but, as small points of common interest that unexpectedly link people together: providing a catalyst for what might turn out to be a useful association.

One of the readers of the BOT2001 paper – William Ethridge, an Internet payment systems consultant from San Diego County in Southern California – had grasped this client side perspective of the living database, writing:

Might you be familiar with the writings of Robert Fritz? His books include "The Path of Least Resistance" and "Creating". I believe his core ideas are relevant to your work. (And how I wish I had more time to elaborate!) He makes a meticulous argument that the way to successfully achieve the desired end result is to "follow the path of least resistance" and discusses how to create the structures that make it easier – in motivation and in action – to follow those paths.

Fritz outlines the psychological patterns, and how to develop them consciously, that tend to satisfy an initially inchoate desire. No cheesy motivational writer, Fritz is an acute observer of people who successful achieve satisfaction in their lives.

Much of what he says, I believe, has application in gathering information of which one is initially unaware exists. For example, a person seeking information about a specific type of disease (to pick up on an example you used) has a specific set of motivations – however inchoate or disorganized – to gather information about that disease.

S/he may discover that the most important or useful piece of information is about how to emotionally manage the disease and treatment process, even though that was not a conscious goal. In the process of learning from others – how best to manage the disease and its treatment process – the person learns about treatment methodologies, physical effects, etc. So, the information which the person originally saw as being the desired end result becomes simply a step towards more valuable information.

Of course, all sorts of variable results can be had, depending upon the person and the myriad specifics of the situation. The point is that the goal sought is often of lesser importance than the goal actually reached – however little this fact is initially recognized.

Thus, intrinsically, the process is open-ended. Any search that is non-trivial – speaks to the most vital human concerns – cannot have a predetermined aim. Fritz writes with great insight about the "structure" (a word he often uses in a specific manner) of the process of creating, not attaining, our goals.

William Ethridge

William Ethridge's comments illustrate the kind of paradigm shift needed in order to appreciate the value of a people space. It isn't about seeing a formatted space that is designed and categorised by others. It is simply a valuable construct that allows people to make contact and, if these contacts are of special interest, bring them into their own private communication space. This private information space will be individually different for every person who uses the people space.

A people space might be imagined as a city with a large number of places where different interests groups meet for specific reasons. Instead of going to these places to join in the discussions, you might simply go there to observe and find a few people you can invite back to your own home for a private party: a party where there are only people you like and can get along with - talking always about the things you are interested in. The magic of this concept is that this ideal situation can exist for everybody simultaneously: for everybody who is using the people space to make contact with others.