Spacetime Metaprotocols
(p2p sensemaking tools for co-creators of place and time)
-
How can we imagine together more fulfilling, enriching, sustainable ways of coexisting in space and time?
-
How can we create channels of communication for people working on both technical and human aspects of essential spacetime conundrums to deepen their mutual understanding of one anothers’ insights and perspectives?
Team members
- Micah Fitch (@micahscopes, rhythm wizard)
- Bayou Bay (@the_bayou_constellation, place-memory weaver)
Summary
In a world where differing perspectives on how to coexist in space and time often lead to tension and stress, we aim to develop spacetime metaprotocols: collaborative tools and processes that help people realize more fulfilling, enriching, and sustainable ways of being together in space and time.
To achieve this, we will conduct and document a series of participatory, interactive peer-to-peer spacetime-sensing experiments in a variety of contexts. In the process we’ll gather and document insights, reflections and connections to existing spacetime metaprotocols and related tools and processes.
In the end we’ll compile and publish an adaptable, accessible toolkit of activities, prompts, reflections, perspectives and an actionable framework for people engaged with essential spacetime conundrums of all sorts to use collaboratively and build upon in a variety of contexts.
Our intention is to foster critical awareness, active co-creation, and respectful communication across diverse contexts, empowering people to become active co-creators of more harmonious, sustainable ways of being together in space and time.
Q: What is the existing target protocol you are hoping to improve or enhance?
We aim to facilitate improvements to the overall processes people use to communicate about sensitive challenges related to coordination and coexistence in space and time.
We’d like compile tools and processes for people to:
- more effectively communicate about and recognize their own and each other’s rhythms and needs in time and space
- develop critical awareness of the space and time we make and take in interpersonal and shared experiences
- rediscover the transformative power of careful listening
- become active co-creators of place, time and spacetime experiences (digital or otherwise)
- cultivate sustainability in their lives, from the ground up
- bridge gaps between various technical and human framings of essential spacetime conundrums; encourage critical, ground-up p2p spacetime literacy
Q: What is the core idea or insight about potential improvement you want to pursue?
The CAP theorem, a tool used by distributed systems engineers to think about fundamental limitations of networked computers in space and time, can be seen as a reflection of deep but very ordinary, familiar realities of human experience.
Say for example that we as a group are trying to follow “the plan”…
Consistency means that we’re all on the same page about “the plan”.
Availability means that we’re each open to modifying and/or acting upon our current understanding of “the plan”.
Partition tolerance means that we allow sustained or repeated disconnection (physical, cultural, linguistic, social, psychological or otherwise).
CAP theorem says that we can only have two of the three at any given time:
- A+C: We can act upon or change “the plan” and stay on the same page about “the plan”, but only as long as we stay connected.
If we tolerate any disconnection, we’re either going to have to:
- C+P: require re-connection before acting upon or updating “the plan”
- A+P: allow people the freedom of acting upon or modifying “the plan”, even if that means that during periods of disconnection people might be running around with multiple versions of “the plan” (upon reconnecting, there could be conflict, dissonance or confusion resulting from forks in “the plan”; different versions of “the plan” might even be practically irreconcilable and disconnections could persist indefinitely)
Essential Spacetime Conundrums
Protocols dealing with space and time, both human and technological, have to navigate seemingly essential spacetime conundrums.
Essential spacetime conundrums are questions about e.g. how, when, where and why we separate and gather, connect and disconnect.
Cracks in the framework
The technological and human aspects of essential spacetime conundrums are inextricably linked in ways that often go unappreciated, ignored or taken for granted.
Furthermore, preferences for either the certainty that comes with “consistency” or the flexibility that comes with “availability” can be another source of tension, manifesting concretely as differences in e.g. cultural assumptions or peoples’ personalities.
People focused on different aspects of spacetime conundrums all too often don’t realize how to understand or communicate. They might assume that the other side’s problems are unrelated or irrelevant to one other. They often speak different languages and have different frames of reference.
Let’s just say that when it comes to developing spacetime metaprotocols it might be worthwhile to bring a little “partition tolerance” into your practice!
Q: What is your discovery methodology for investigating the current state of the target protocol?
1. Conduct participatory, interactive peer-to-peer spacetime-sensing experiments in a variety of contexts
We intend to build on p2p sensemaking experiments we’ve facilitated in the past, iterating on and adapting elements of them for a variety of contexts:
- Micah’s p2p time workshop at DWeb Camp: silent “listening” to partner movements resulted in the emergence of a stable collective pulse with no audible centralized coordination.
- Bayou’s Affirmation Space project: reimagining multipurpose creative spaces, cultivating participatory collaboration between artists, event organizers, and visitors to co-create their individual and shared memories of and in the space.
- Bayou’s Water Whisperers experience: an embodied water experience on the banks of the Mississppi river; incorporating chair swings, prompts, affirmations, and other activities, inviting participants to deepen their relationship with the bodies of water that surround us and give us life.
Methodology for interactive experiments:
- Connecting with diverse communities and organizations to identify potential participants and contexts for the experiments (e.g., local community spaces, open technology gatherings, art galleries, natural spaces, etc.)
- Collaborating with participants to adapt and facilitate the experiments in their specific contexts
- Encouraging participants to reflect on their experiences through various means (e.g., discussions, journaling, art-making) while being mindful of the deeply personal and cultural nature of these experiences
- Documenting the experiments, insights, and reflections using recording technology in an intentional and respectful manner, seeking consent and feedback from participants
- Following up with participants to gather additional insights and feedback, and to explore potential ongoing collaborations or iterations of the experiments
- When appropriate, incorporating relevant physical technologies into our experiments, ranging from analog artistic tools (e.g. musical instruments, writing and drawing materials) to digital ones (e.g. computers, digital protocols and platforms, open source libraries)
2. Research and document existing spacetime metaprotocols and relevant perspectives
What are some existing theories, tools, and processes that could be thought of as “spacetime metaprotocols”?
Methodology for research and documentation:
- Connect with people in a variety of organizing, collaborative and co-creative contexts to learn about existing methodologies for negotiating around essential spacetime conundrums; compile a review of existing tools, perspectives, and methodologies
- Come up with accessible language for communicating about this stuff.
- Conduct conversations and gather feedback and perspectives on how practicioners of spacetime metaprotocols might find balance between openness and respect for culturally situated knowledge and experience.
- Develop tools to assist people in documenting their own perspectives, processes, and methodologies in the context of essential spacetime conundrums.
- Find ways of inviting people to participate and organically share their own “spacetime metaprotocols”.
Q: In what form will you prototype your improvement idea?
We will compile the work mentioned above into a toolkit containing:
- Research findings and theoretical perspectives
- Activities, prompts, and calls to action for engaging with essential spacetime conundrums
- Documentation of collective insights, reflections, and connections to existing metaprotocols gathered during the experiments, compiled with respect for the personal and cultural nature of peoples experiences and perspectives
- Open-source resources for others to use, adapt, and build upon
- Links to any supplementary media or material outcomes of the experiments (e.g. audio/video recordings; code shared back by participants)
We’ll design our toolkit to be accessible, adaptable, and engaging for people across diverse contexts, encouraging toolkit users to become active co-creators of more harmonious, sustainable ways of being together in space and time.
Q: How will you field-test your improvement idea?
In addition to the preliminary explorations conducted as a part of the discovery process, it would be wonderful to field-test a later iteration of our work at DWeb Camp in August of 2024. Participants will get a copy (or link) to the toolkit!
It’d also be very cool to conduct an experiment with SoP organizers and fellow participants.
Q: Who will be able to judge the quality of your output? Ideally name a few suitable judges.
- Participants in our interactive experiments
- Artists, musicians, organizers in our local community in the Twin Cities or elsewhere
- Leaders and organizers from the broader open source community
- The people who participated in this collective dream sharing activity
- DWeb Camp organizers and participants
- SoP participants working on related topics
Q: How will you publish and evangelize your improvement idea?
We’ll publish our toolkit (along with associated media/code) on the web according to an open license that reflects the open-source/commons intent of the SoP program.
Q: What is the success vision for your idea?
Success looks like seeing people using these tools (and contributing their own) in ways that cultivate deeper critical consideration, awareness and respect for diverse ways of being in space and time.
It would be amazing for the activities and ideas developed during this project to take on a life of their own. If people who have never even heard of our work, who’ll never even hear the words “spacetime metaprotocols”, end up being positively effected by the processes developed in our project, that will be a huge success.
