i'm not at all sure myself how this might fit in, but the principles of holacracy appear to me to facilitate and foster people working together in an integral way, so they might be of help in the multiplex forums where we're hoping to come together in an integral way, to play perhaps more than to work.

one more thought, suggested by ken's latest answers to IU student questions.  i think he remarked that we have to be careful what words we use around ever-so-sensitive green, e.g. green or turquoise.  a more neutral word would be perspective, to which we can add that some perspectives are better than others, and a perspective that completely takes into account two previous perspectives is clearly better than either of them.

Holacracy is something we play with at the office.  I appreciate your suggestion to bring it here.

A few things that I think would help everyone immensely:

• Members having the ability to moderate (move things around, delete them, etc.) their own discussions but not other people's discussions.  That way we can individually feel in control of at least some portion of the community, but not have too worry too much about godlike/fascist authority taking over.  That way any unfortunate shadow-inspired witch hunts would be confined to individual discussions, not the whole community.  And individuals who didn't appreciate other individuals would be able to keep a respectful distance from eachother.

• One space that is open to everyone.  And I mean everyone, no matter what their level, perspective, state, or monetary situation is.  In other words, a free place open to the public, and only moderated for the purpose of keeping spam (irrelevant commercial advertising) out.

• Positive I-I participation (rather than negative moderation) - regular, but focused, interaction between members and someone from within the I-I who can offer suggestions, answer questions, and move the conversation in a more productive direction.  Check out Yotam's posts from last summer.  He was a great inspiration for many of our best discussions on the I-I forum.

• Project based areas, moderated by I-I only, where people could collaborate in specific think tank discussions with an actual goal in mind.  Either for bringing Integral theory to the public, or for refining internal ideas where we still have questions (like how to best bring the greatest depth to the greatest span).  I-I participation here would be great too.

Thanks so much for working to keep us unwashed masses happy and healthy!

-Turtle

Hi Turtle,
These are great suggestions. Thank you for pointing out my faults in a very productive way. This is exactly what I need. I really mean it, thank you! :-)

Funny, I wasn't actually thinking of you specifically, Hallie.  I was just going on experiences with other communities and moderators.  But I'm glad you appreciated it!

Oh, and I should definitely remind you to try to fit in Fred Kofman's effective communication ideas somewhere in the plans/guidelines for the I-I community/ies.  If only we could all have his voice following us around and reminding us how to put things into perspective before we let random stuff blurt out of our mouths!  Though... that might get a little creepy after a while :-)

-Turtle

Sometimes we look at the actions of others and find it difficult to understand what motivates them. But we are all doing the best we can with the information we currently have. We have all been taught how to see the world from the examples of those around us and by our experiences. Keeping this in mind, we can accept the choices made by others while seeking ways to increase the world's level of consciousness as a whole.

Our different levels of consciousness are like the developmental stages of children, whose understanding varies according to their age and experience. For example, the behavior of a two-year-old who doesn't want to share can be understood as a phase of his social education, whereas a 16-year-old who behaves in the same manner would be thought to be acting childish. I have a one-year-old granddaughter and I am fascinated with her development at this stage. I also drive a school bus with older children. All of them are fun to be around, and each of them has a state, stage of development process they are going through. I'd rather watch the children than the adults at II, who want to censure people like Helene. She is expressing her spiritual nature, and I find her fascinating at times. I have never thought well about people who take pleasure in censuring. Wonder if we censured books in our public libraries, then a lot of people would be angry. Censuring is a Nazi tactic and a right-wing Christian practice. Do we want to be like that? I hope II doesn't stoop to that level. It is important to remember that we are each on our own unique path. We may have chosen certain lessons or made an agreement to play certain roles in the unfolding of the world's understanding before we incarnated in this lifetime. So our job is not to judge others but to shift the balance of understanding in the world by increasing our own.

Every thought we have and action we take becomes part of the collective energy of the planet. When we use our energy to bring light into the world, it combines with the light brought by others to dispel the darkness. Though we live in a world of duality, which helps us to experience the material plane, we don't need to experience extremes to understand them. We can share our experiences and understanding with others not from a place of condescension but of connection. When the entire family of humanity understands that each of our thoughts, choices, and actions affect us all, we will share an incredible level of consciousness-one that puts our oneness above all else and helps us evolve into higher expressions of our spiritual selves. Remember the next time you witness an action of another that they are of the same earth as you but simply on a different conscious level at this point in their life. Find compassion, bless them, and move along your day in grace.
I came to II because I felt a level of spiritual consciousness existed. Believe it or not, this is the only forum I have ever posted and will be my last.