Collective Intelligences
Last updated
Last updated
The course began with an exploration of how design influences behaviors and its role as a product, practice, and attitude. We questioned historical frameworks like the Bauhaus and examined alternative models of design knowledge sharing: centralized, decentralized, and distributed systems. Distributed systems, which support collective intelligence, emphasize shared practices and resilience, offering a framework for collaboration through open, collaborative, and regenerative values. An example discussed was the Distributed Design Platform, which shifts from linear production models like PITO (Product In, Trash Out) to DIDO (Data In, Data Out) within Fab Labs.
As a class exercise, we were asked to reflect on the values we share. In my group, we identified friendship as a core value of the MDEF community, recognizing its role in fostering collaboration and trust.
Building on the previous session, we explored the Tragedy of the Commons, a theory by Garrett Hardin that highlights how fear and selfishness can lead to resource depletion in shared systems. We also discussed the principles of commons governance, which emphasize adapting rules to local contexts, understanding participant dynamics, and maintaining accountability. Successful commons management relies on collaboration, local knowledge, and collective governance rather than centralized control.
For the second exercise, we expanded on the value of friendship, brainstorming practical ways to strengthen this within the MDEF community. Ideas included collaborative events, informal gatherings, and spaces for sharing personal experiences, emphasizing the importance of building connections beyond academic work.
In the last session, we connected online with the School of Digital Arts (SODA) in the UK to explore on-chain DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations). DAOs are blockchain-based systems offering transparency, trust, immutability, and autonomy. They allow tracking of unpaid or invisible labor through tokens and by-laws established by participants, which determine governance structures like voting.
We also discussed DACs (Decentralized Autonomous Communities) and alternative value systems. One fascinating example was the Rai stones of Micronesia's Yap Island, where transactions update a collective mental ledger instead of physically moving the stones. Similarly, time banks redefine value by exchanging services and knowledge instead of money, fostering community-driven economies.
