In this lunation cycle, we wanted to step off the AI hype train and turn our attention to online communal gardens. The online spaces that were supposed to make it easier for us to connect and collaborate have turned either into noisy airports where nobody has time to build meaningful relationships, or attention marketplaces where our personal data is being sold to the highest bidder and used to feed data-hungry AI golems. Our online communal gardens are now being overgrown by AI-generated content and trampled upon by bots, which makes it increasingly harder to plant the seeds of collaboration we need to explore paths to better tech futures together.
In this episode of the Pathfinders Podcast, we explore the connection between weirdness and playfulness as prerequisites for learning – both for humans and other species, such as bumble bees –, and for a scenius of creativity and innovation to emerge. We embrace the background playfulness of our kids and cats as we wonder why existing online communities feel increasingly exhausting. We examine business models and myths – such as blitzscaling – that reward and worship scale above all else, and incentivise weirdness that provokes reaction instead of weirdness that inspires wonder.
In the second part of our conversation, we turn our attention to conditions we might need to nurture for weird online communal gardens to emerge, both as stewards and as participants. What business models could help sustain weird spaces? What lessons could we learn from multiplayer online games or from platforms like Kialo and PI.FYI? Where should we mindfully direction our attention? We wonder whether the answer lies in switching from machine-scale attention marketplaces to (human) body-scale gardens that better support smaller groups, playing together, and embracing physical constraints and friction.
If you’d like to wonder and wander with us, join Tethix firekeepers Alja Isaković and Mathew Mytka in this meandering exploration inspired by the latest Pathfinders Newmoonsletter. In addition to the resources explored in the Newmoonsletter, we recommend exploring:
You can learn more about the Tethix pathfinding adventure at: https://tethix.co/pathfinders/
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