Part of"DandDTrans," a community of inquiry and action regarding the role that dialogue and deliberation can play in addressing the mega-crises of our time
@Lucas Cioffi This page is a compilation of questions asked by participants during all the previous events. I've created this list by reading the notes from all the sessions. Sometimes it wasn't clear who asked the question, so when in doubt, I listed the person who wrote it down for them.Ben R adds: This is ver cool, Lucas! Thank you! I do think in most cases, you've noted the scribe, not the speaker, especially if you were mining notes from a live conversation. Is there any meaning you make from the list? We can have some discussion in the comments section at the bottom if desired.
Specified Questions
Ben R: What do we, as members of the dialogue and deliberation community of practice, have to be and do to enable our most positive transformational impact in the face of emerging global crises which fundamentally challenge our business-as-usual habits and systems?
Ben R: What's possible?
Ben R: This is hard work! Both grappling with these BIG questions and managing an unfamiliar and multi-layered use of technology required significant effort. My reframe on this is that it is at least in part a reflection of the deep challenge of thinking about what might“make enough of a difference to make a difference.” Asking you to go there can bring up pain and grief and frustration and anger. But since we didn’t invite the direct expression of those feelings, perhaps they emerged as“being tired?”
Ben R: What is the crossroads where you find yourself at this stage of your work in service to systemic transformation?
Ben R: What declaration of possibility can you make that has the power to transform the community and inspire you?
Gerald D: Apparently, our grandkids' best odds for sustained quality of life for their kids hinges significantly on how quickly we develop a global culture that perceives that we are all in this mess together, and then quickly realigns now overly-competitive and self-serving cultural and economic values to balance and more gently challenge globally cooperative exchanges of values and information, like language, and dialogue, and deliberation. Within this way of seeing our situation, the NCDD"neutrality" value would recommend framing this"Great Turning or Not: Crisis for Global Economic and Environmental and Cultural and Educational and Nutritional and Health/Well-Being Systems, or not so much?"
John B quoting someone:"What are the mechanisms by which a whole country can be intelligent?
Ben R: What do we want to create together that would make the difference?
Ben R: What can we create together that we cannot create alone?
Brian D: How might we eliminate structural barriers that inhibit conditions for fully realizing possibility?
Brian D: How might we overcome the lack of trust in our Democracy, leaders and one another?
John A: Another pad, on taking action forces the question of who counts as"people doing good work on existential-scale crises"?
John A: Who is working on bringing together the different groups working on a given dimension of climate action, or groups working on different dimensions of climate action?
John A: Who is already hosting conversations that include climate action folks and the people who have the power to make the desired changes?
Linda E: The question is'who is holding all of these efforts together'?
Linda E: Who is synthesizing and coordinating and learning from all of the lessons that have been experienced so far?
Linda E: How can all of us, both those in the D & D community and those at the front line of transformation work, work together to take advantage of the collective wisdom that is there, but perhaps not consciously processed formally as a broader community?
Linda E: How can we join with others who are perhaps focused on creating an alternative future in the so many ways they are doing it so that things are more coordinated and collective learning thinking is being applied?
Ben R: As you consider the original calling question, how has your sense of what we have to be and do shifted or developed?
Ben R: What else have you learned--andwhat elsehave we learned-- thatyou feeladds real value to our work?
Laura: A good question to ask of ourselves..what has our experience been in terms of climate change and what experiences have gotten through our own denial?
Savannah: How to, in our conversations, go to the next step, take action and work together, to comprehensively create the foundational framework... Native American 16 guiding principles, Earth Charter, lots of others. How to get enough people talking about this and about alternative choices?
Savannah: We've been able to get to know and trust each other, speak from our hearts, so it can bear fruit... like a tree. How do we get the fruit off the tree, now that we're branching out?
Bruce S: Notion of invitation... how can we convene activism?
Bruce S: I'm inclined to write down what we can do together as a group... what would you agree to do? Be in a conversation of a few points... what's unique to you that needs to branch to you particularly.
Bruce S: What would be a central tree for this mycelium of this conversation?
Tom A: what do we need to do or be to bring transformation?
Heather: there's a particular politician who I love to hate; what would it mean to show up regularly and try to experience love for that person."What is that"Love Thy Neighbor' instruction?"
Heather: What about using climate change as a wedge issue, as Naomi Klein wants the Democrats to do....what are the odds.... end of ideology, but can we afford not to try?
Ben R: the new story, the superordinate goal, how do you shift the paradigm(Donella Meadows), where do we go with that?
Ben R: Who are we as a group? That's a question we haven't asked enough... nor answered, maybe. Is that why it feels like engagement has been somewhat elusive?
Ben R: Are we animals living a spiritual life, or spirit living an animal life?
Ben R: Is that really me doing that? Or something that's using me, so to speak.
Ben R: Can I let myself be what it wants me to be? Sometimes I don't want to; there's risk, and I want people to like me. I'm very vulnerable to feeling that I don't belong, so why would I do that thing that makes it likely that I won't belong?
Ben R: What does it mean to show up on Hackpad, or in general in these online spaces?
Ben R: Theory of change being a cultural story?
Ben R: Like the behavior of mammals... do females pee on other mammals' territory?
Ben L:"Transmute" - different than transformation. How does transmutation happen?
Ben L: We have to get hot. Are we being too cerebral?