"Eliezer S. Yudkowsky" wrote on
Tue, 30 May 2000 10:39:41 -0500
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Robin Hanson wrote:
"I wonder what would happen if you organized a 'party/poster'
conference by just having a very large room with dozens of whiteboards,
and with snacks and chairs distributed throughout. There would
be no official schedule or map, and you'd spend the whole weekend
wandering about joining whatever discussions or presentations
formed "spontaneously." Any dispute about what a group talked
about in a location would be handled as at a party, with the
option of one group walking away to do what they want somewhere
else."
I like this spin on creative brain-storming. In most, criticism
is not permitted or interrupting a person's expression. Every
idea, no matter how frivolous is accepted because these ideas
tend to trigger best solutions. In your design, the rules, in
this regards, would be social skills and common sense, which
would include not interrupting or censoring inappropriately.
We performed a type of creativity session at university where
we had butcher paper on all walls of the room and students were
given total imagination-stretch to do with the white whatever
they wanted. Usually, a person needs some sort of direction,
or theme for the process to get motivated. This is different
than bringing a type of creative thinker into a room with a specific
scenario to build on, and giving total freedom to create and
exchange ideas. Considering this, I might participate differently
if I was with you (Robin), Max, Greg, Amara, and Eli than I would
E. Shaun, Fiorella Terenze, Stelarc, Nadia and Francis Ford Copola.
But then again, maybe not. Both groups are comprised of individuals
whose creativity crosses disciplinary boundaries. Much of the
outcome depends on the dynamics of the group and communication
abilitiese.
I like your "party" analogy -:) (I'm visualizing several people
at a coctail party sipping on their drinks moving in groups (of
one or more) to and fro from other groups - depending on whether
the conversation is intriguing or a bore.) I don't think, however,
that I would want to mix a party with a task. I would, however,
mix a party scene with a performance art piece which would involve
all participants in a task; or create a task session in a party-like
atmosphere as long as everyone knew.
Eliezer:
>This is an excellent idea and should, at the very least, >be
tried as a 2-hour across-the-board "panel" at the next >Foresight
conference.
Could you explain? Thanks.
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