Chapter 7: Citizens, Communication, and Civilization Building

A Practical Handbook for Civilization Building

This chapter represents an epitome of the whole book, and could be used as the beginning of a course based on the book. It could be used for one module or a day (or a week) of classes or sessions designed to introduce the major themes of the book. A teacher’s/leaders’s guide for this book will be published soon.

Our purpose in this text has been to offer a manual, a practical handbook for civilization building in the 21st Century.

Because we aim that this should be a complete textbook, we have covered the elements of both the theory and the practice of civilization and civilization building. Theory and practice are not rigorously separated, but are creatively intermingled throughout our work. We offer both social science and social theory. We have pre- sented a philosophy of society and a theory of society. We have presented social change and social innovation as natural to a growing, healthy, inspirational society. And we see all communities, right up to the level of complexity of world civilization, as soci- eties (groups, organizations).

Our hope is to provide both inspiration and direction for the builders of the civi- lization of the near and far future. We have presented the materials for a comprehen- sive set of citizenship skills.

Our readers, we have assumed, are people interested in the theory and practice of civilization building. There are many groups who fit this description. We pick out and offer the following categories or social groupings from a larger set: political and civic leaders, managers, parents, teachers and students—and those who are administrators, professors, analysts, and observers of education—journalists and media analysts, fu- turists, business owners and analysts, and leaders of culture, statesmen and stateswomen, clergy and religious leaders, city managers and analysts, administrators of schools and industries, government agency staff, banking professionals, financial specialists, in- vestment fund managers, financial journalists and commentators, international aid staff; workers in international global government and world politics, civic activists, ecologists and environmentalists, animal rights advocates—and of course citizens ev- erywhere. Civilization building, we believe, is accomplished by “administration.” “Administration” cuts across nearly all fields of human endeavor.

Our audience is multi-national. Although many of our examples, and much of our thinking, is American in origin, we believe the problems of civilization are univer- sal. Therefore, it is our expectation that our text and ideas, which have already been presented to audiences in North America, Russia, Europe and Africa, will be used by teachers and learners and practitioners of civilization building in many lands. For civilization building is a global issue, an international concern, and a world-citizen’s skill set.

Values, the prevailing beliefs and opinions of individuals, groups, nations, and of civilization itself, are like switches on a railroad. As a decision-making junction is approached, the cumulative effect of all the values held at that point in time become imperative. The perceptions of individuals, the consciousness of groups, the para- digm, meta-perspective, or Zeitgeist of civilization (which is their “prophecy”) will determine the choice made and direction taken at every junction. Sequential value choices over time, in turn, determine the future for an individual, group, or society for they tend to be self-fulfilling. The result? Again, people and their institutions, there- fore, are more the creators of their own destiny than the victims of it.

Three Main Themes

Our purpose in this volume has been to offer a practical textbook. We have had three main themes.

The presentation of a new approach to Administrative Theory. We call this, appropriately enough, New Administrative Theory. This “theory” is pre- sented as a set of 10 theories, or master principles for management with the deepest moral New Administrative Theory is a general theory for the presentation of a set of principles with one overriding goal: to carry forward any organization, group, community or society towards the achievement of its own goals, objectives or purposes. It is a formula for successful social management and leadership.
The second theme is the existence of new social technologies. In particular, we

present the fruits of 35 years experience developing the Fast Forum^® tech- nologies. Our research had shown us some of the major impediments to the appearance in society of a more vital, more informed, more intelligent democracy than has previously existed. We identified the problems of big meetings, and the difficulties that citizens have in making their views heard there. Civic or political dialogue, according to our analysis, requires social innovation to accommodate the views and wisdom of the many as opposed to the few. We have presented symbolic dialogue, social audits and in particu- lar the Fast Forum^® Technique as a way to solve the problems of multiple simultaneous dialogue.

The benefits of dialogue are many in the building of civilization. John Spady, director of research in the Forum Foundation, and eldest son of this book’s co-author, completed his Master of Science degree (Applied Informa- tion Management) at the University of Oregon in August, 2000. His thesis titled “A Selected Study of the Benefits of Dialogue in Small Groups and Implications for Symbolic Dialogue in Larger Groups,” was a study of eight authors writing in the field of Dialogue, including Bohm, Senge, Isaacs, Ellinor and Gerard, Simmons, and Spady and Bell. His Abstract ended, “Conclusions [of his study] list the benefits of dialogue attributed to small groups and relate ways to scale them to larger groups using the technique of symbolic dialogue as defined by Spady and Bell (1998).” His findings were significant. He found that these benefits could be created in larger groups using the technique of symbolic dialogue as defined by Spady and Bell (1998). He reports, “The term ‘symbolic dialogue’ is a creation of Spady and Bell (1998)”¹¹³. We believe our new terms of “symbolic dialogue” and “social audits” are pathfinders to the future in civilization building.

The third theme is the task of civilization building. We approach this through a philosophy or theory of civilization and its advancement, and through an analysis of the nature and opportunities of citizenship. This means that our objectives include the presentation of a set of skills for effective citizenship. These citizen skills are a vital part of contemporary culture and the building of world civilization. We believe this civilization exists in two ways, in two contexts: planetary and Civilization, and its problems and opportunities, exists therefore as a global or collective—a human—phenomenon; and within each nation or land.

A Breakthrough in Social Science

These three themes could be depicted as linked vehicles on a shared journey to a better future for humankind. We can imagine them as railway cars. Our three themes are like vehicles composing a train on a set of curving tracks, curving towards the high purposes of civilization building. But the track itself is a new one in social and politi- cal science.

We claim that this track represents a breakthrough in social science. That is a bold claim. But it is not an unreasonable one. Historians of science have shown that sci- ence is not a continuous sequence of unbroken discoveries. It is an alternation of “normal science” and periods of revolutionary change. These are called “paradigm shifts” (cf. Kuhn,¹¹⁴ 1970, Lakatos and Musgrave).¹¹⁵ Breakthrough science certainly requires a large measure of imagination, faith and intellectual daring. “Every genu- inely revolutionary work,” writes David Wick in his history of quantum physics, requires a “leap beyond logic.”¹¹⁶ Werner Heisenberg, who was born in 1901, writing his first paper, peppered it with “…startling leaps in logic, baffling appeals to analo- gies between classical and quantum, and bizarre mathematical objects casually mixed with familiar formulas.” (Wick, p.18). Our faith is that we can see, coming in the 21st Century, breakthroughs in social science comparable to those that marked the appearance of quantum physics in the 20th Century.

We believe that the breakthrough in social science that we claim to see happening is part of the revolutionary impact of quantum thinking on social science. So we have described our theory of civilization change, in part, as Social Quantum Mechanics (SQM). It is a theory of dynamic social change. It travels on wings of innovation, and innovation is ingredient to its content and its form. Social innovation is its currency and its result.

Social Quantum Mechanics is a young theory, being crafted and tested by many experimental and theoretical hands and minds; but we believe it will have far-reach- ing consequences for the vivification of cities and citizens. In other words, we envi- sion a true revolution of the best kind in the enhancement of democracy.

This is due partly, but not wholly, to the development of new communication techniques. We have described our approach as centering upon symbolic dialogue within multiple simultaneous communication and many-to-many or many-to-one communication. We have developed the computer and information technology to go with this.

But our concern has not just been a breakthrough in social science or mathemati- cal sociology; we also see a breakthrough in human affairs, in citizen empowerment, in the life of the body politic. For Social Quantum Mechanics is a philosophy and theory, a model or picture of society as a whole. It is an implicit political science deriving from a new approach to sociology based on the activation of the energies of the citizens.

We see this breakthrough as a kind of political counterpart of the Reformation (16th Century). Just as Martin Luther and his collaborators in the Reformation de- centralized authority and spoke of the priesthood of all believers, so we see the power of political change becoming more and more universal among citizens everywhere. But for this, citizens need citizenship skills as well as a vision of a better society.

Citizenship Skills for a World of Citizens

Our three theories of civilization are the starter-kit for a set of world-citizenship skills for a world of citizens.

Our purpose, however, is not primarily to train up “citizens of the world” and in this way to sabotage or dilute feelings of patriotism and nationalism. Our reasoning is more subtle. We understand the power of self-esteem, and anchoring of personal development that comes from identification with a particular nation or fatherland/ motherland—that is, a sense of citizenship. World citizenship is a more abstract con- cept that comes at a later stage of moral development. Thus our first intention is to equip citizens for effective insight and action in their own hometown, their region, and their nation.

Nevertheless, citizenship is a set of human or personal roles or identities. We can picture them as a series of concentric circles. The innermost circle is that of the family. Next is the workplace. Following that is the local community: the person is a citizen of a town or district. The next circle, going outward from the center, is the citizen of a city or metropolis or megalopolis or nation; then there is the circle representing the citizen of a region such as an association of countries or a hemisphere; finally there is the idea of the citizen of the whole inhabited world. This is the circle, or level, or global (world) of planetary citizenship. Astronomers, astronauts and cosmically minded folks such as science fiction writers can also postulate a layer of identity that they might term cosmic citizenship. These citizens of the cosmos are citizens of worlds.

These concentric circles are a way of picturing our multiple citizenship roles, our layers of citizenship identity. They help us understand that “symbolic dialogue,” while enabling the individual citizen to contribute an opinion, simultaneously helps com- munication among all of these disparate groups of the values in which they believe. But our book aims to equip the reader—and those who will be educated by the reader— with citizenship skills.

In offering this concluding summary, we want to distinguish three elements of the set of citizenship skills. The first is the citizen’s grasp, moving towards mastery, of the theory (or theories) of citizenship. The second is skill in the practice of citizenship. The third is the skills associated with networking, or collective citizenship action. We are going to say a few concluding words about each of these.

The first is the citizen’s grasp, moving towards mastery, of the theory or theories of citizenship. A citizen highly skilled in this component of citizen skills is able to give a coherent and progressive, usable account of his or her privileges and rights, duties, responsibilities and opportunities as a citizen. This includes the right to refine the theory of citizenship itself. It also includes the citizen’s right and duty to discern and communicate his or her vision of the common good.

A subsidiary skill is actually a set of skills: the skills of self-knowledge. The skilled citizens grow in their understanding of themselves and their own moral vision. They advance cumulatively in their capacity to identify and overcome their resistances or blocks to their own civic involvement. Growing skill in the ability to overcome their resistances will allow citizens to envision the Good Community and Society, the Beautiful, the Ideal City, and to contribute to its realization on earth. Citizens skilled as visionaries will be growing in the arts of the inspiration of citizens and society (political arts). They will be able to make a significant difference towards the building of their own and other cities in “An Inspirational City in Pursuit of Happiness!^®”

The second component of citizen skills is skill in the practice of citizenship. Communication is a key element here. In particular, we offer our readers ways to set up effective channels of communication between governors and their constituents. The citizen skilled in the practice of citizenship will be skilled in communicating to those near and far, to those low and high, their ethical vision for the communities of which they are a part: in other words, their concerns and plans for the common good.

Action is also required of every citizen: action on behalf of the common welfare. The highly skilled citizens will grow in the ability to move into action: to place their talents in the service of the community and its growing culture and civilization. The citizen will grow in the ability to understand scientific method. They will learn how to do an experiment in civic science, and how to build their own knowledge relevant to citizenship, and how to access and mobilize their own civic wisdom, hope, and energy. The citizen will be continually growing in effectiveness as a “Citizen Councilor,” and as a builder of civilization. Individual citizens are learning how and when and where and why and with whom to act, to get going, accomplishing significant actions on behalf of the Good Society.

But what is the “action” required of every citizen? It is to think about problems posed by their leaders, talk with their peers, and then make choices that are felt best for the common good. In the process of symbolic dialogue with their “chiefs of state” (i.e., the president, governors, county executives, mayors, and leaders of big organizations, public and private), they will help all to build a vision of “what ought to be.” As symbolic dialogic matures and the visions of the future become more real, the vision itself (which is a “field”) begins to be effected “naturally” into society through the dynamics of the self-fulfilling prophecy. Humanity, thus, is more the creator of its own destiny rather than the victim of it.

The people and their leaders will thus provide the “steering mechanism” for society while the “propulsion” is provided primarily by the institutions of govern- ment and business with the assistance of schools, universities, and religions.

Governors will grow in their ability, through symbolic dialogue, to ascertain the vision of their constituents. They will grow, like top pilots, in their ability to fly with maximum information on the information panel; they will gradually reduce their habit of flying blind. Zeitgeist Communication offers a set of such skills to governors and governed alike.

The third component of citizen skills is skill in the activities associated with networking, or collective citizenship action. The highly skilled citizens will grow in the ability to build community. They will be increasingly mastering our ideal models. They will grow in their ability to employ social and politi- cal experimental method and so to develop the power of communities of citizens across many regions, and for many significant purposes.

Civilization Building: An Art and a Science

Civilization Building is not an exact science; it is an art, and a work of art. Indeed, in one sense all civilization is the sum of a series of works of art. What kind of art? Many kinds—political and architectural, civic and cultural arts; and moral arts too. For a civilization is a synthesis of ethical arts: it is a moral masterpiece, and therefore a high achievement and art form in social ethics.

But the fact that Civilization Building’s “science” cannot be ultimately, and per- manently, codified (i.e. as an exact science) does not mean it is not science at all. It is simply a social science, inspired by political art, an exercise in both the soluble (sci- ence—see Medawar¹¹⁷ ) and the possible (politics).

Our book is, among other things, a charter for particular experiments in civiliza- tion building. Our ideal “models” such as symbolic dialogue, social audits, citizen and spiritual councilors, and PLAN and QUEST Forums^™ are offered as frameworks. They are the setting, and sometimes the actual structure, within which to conduct these experiments in the advancement of civilization.

The models themselves are not final statements; they are invitations to get down to cases, to practice civilization building by trial and error in particular times and places, with particular people. The important thing, as with all experimental science, is to do those experiments! One can be a theorist of civilization building from an armchair. But one can be a builder of civilization only on Main Street or its equivalent . . . by “getting among the people”; by doing experiments in real or symbolic space, with real people— children and adults!

In the days of the Internet and its successors in a cyber-world, silicon-based civi- lization and civilization building is certainly possible. Even robots, androids and per- haps aliens too can vary in their level of civilization and their contribution to it. Computers and their technologies are a major part of the armamentarium of SQM and civilization building.

But we remember that it is all for “the people.” In the final analysis, our book and our theory are instruments for the accomplishment of the purposes of society so memo- rably stated by Abraham Lincoln that government should be “of the people, by the people, and for the people.” ¹¹⁸ Our aim is to equip multitudes of governors—ordi- nary people—with the citizenship skills needed to build a greater civilization than history has yet recorded. This is the highest vision of the Leadership of Civilization Building. The mortar that binds a creative organization or society—that is, one that isactively searching for solutions to its problems—is Dialogue—respectfully given and re- ceived!

Thank you for reading this book. We hope you found the ideas in it of interest and use and that it will help you enable Symbolic Dialogue and Civilization Building imaginatively in your life. YOU ARE THE LEADERSHIP OF CIVILIZATION BUILDING!

Richard J. Spady and Richard S. Kirby