Amish Barn-raising by "heyburn3".
You have to wonder to what extent text messaging and internet connectivity powered this non-violent social movement, and where it will go from here. It has the earmarks of social cohesion that surprised most participants, including the student leaders.
Perhaps this is an example of how interacting people form the "water" on which self-sustaining waves can take form, which then take on a life of their own and "might as well be alive (MAWBA)" in the sense that they have most of the rest of the behaviors of what we call life - goal seeking, energy consumption, awareness, etc. That would make it less "artificial life" and more "meta-life" - that is, life occurring on top of other life, as human consciousness rides somehow on top of our body's cells, supported, interacting, but also independently alive.
Or, it might be an example of the computing phenomenon of connectionism in action, where non-programmed learning takes place in large networks, sort of on its own.
The question is, in a democracy, can a collection of normal, intensely communicating people synthesize more wisdom and capacity to produce change than a few very bright people? (need for collective problem solving in today's world)
See posts on social intelligence, unity with diversity, psychiatric treament for high school students in the USA, intellect versus action, role of feedback loops in sustaining a thought,
need for collective thinking in today's world, the importance of social relationships, Lewis Thomas on complex system interventions,
Chile's Student Activists - A Course in Democracy
By Monte Reel
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, November 25, 2006; A01
SANTIAGO, Chile -- When the Class of 2006 graduates in a few weeks, its members will look back at a year in which some of the most important lessons took place outside the classroom.
In their black and white school uniforms, they launched what became known here as the "Penguin Revolution," filling the streets, calling for educational reforms, occupying school buildings and sparking a nationwide debate that was quickly labeled a milestone for the nation's young democracy.
Extracurricular activities for student leaders this year meant negotiating with senior government officials. When they text-messaged friends, at times it was to organize rallies that attracted as many as 800,000 people. A few became nationally known public figures in their own right.
"Graduation will be hard, and there are going to be a lot of emotions that come back from this year," said Karina Delfino, 17, who became one of the voices of the student movement during her senior year. "All the friends made, the difficulties and the successes -- this was one stage in life that has been good, but very tough. The only thing I can do now is to try to end this stage as best I can and get ready for whatever is next."
...
The students' actions turned them into the most powerful social movement since the strict military dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet was replaced by democracy 16 years ago. They forced the government to increase education spending and -- more important for many of the protesters -- prompted it to reexamine the roots of an educational system flawed by vast inequalities between the country's rich and poor populations.
Not everyone has approved of the students' methods at all times, but it's difficult to find anyone who hasn't come to accept them as a significant part of the country's social and political landscape.
"I believe their greatest achievement was to change the way people think of the youth of the country," said Rodrigo Cornejo, with the Chilean Observatory of Educational Policy at the University of Chile. "A lot of people thought the young people were simply individualistic, selfish consumers. But the long-term changes the students were pressing for this year weren't going to directly benefit them -- it was for their younger brothers and sisters."
...
Instead of plotting a grand revolution, the students said, they simply decided to take what they'd been taught at face value. If Chile's economy was so good -- as they had been hearing repeatedly during the presidential election campaigns in 2005 -- why did some schools lack essential supplies, like books and desks? Why should public schools be managed at the municipal level when that system encourages disparities between rich and poor neighborhoods? If Chile is a participatory democracy, why not participate?
"As the movement started to grow, we had everyone involved -- hippies, evangelicals, all the groups," said Delfino, who belongs to her school's social circle of organizers, those drawn to student government and academic organizations. "We all wanted the same thing, which was change. So we were trying to respect different opinions while at the same time working for consensus. That's all."
...The Education Ministry soon began holding negotiations with student leaders, and Bachelet eventually promised more funding to help the poorest students and created a panel, which included student representatives, to discuss broad reforms of the national educational system.
...
"The decision I have to make is whether I want to try to make changes through working directly with the community, or through politics," Huerta said. "If I work in the community, I can change the lives of a small group of people. With politics, you can do it on a macro level. But I don't want to join a political party."
...
"My age group started it, with the idea that you can be supportive of Chile and democracy without having to agree with everything the government does, that it's okay to be critical," Huerta said. "Now we have to see where the students in the first and second years of the high schools take it. I'm eager to see it."
technorati tags:feedback, students, feedforward, systems, synergy, politics, penguin, causalilty, movements, science, connectionism
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