Osn Hipbone Knowledge Games Item 5

OSN 2001 Center => Osn Hipbone Knowledge Games => Item 5

GAME: Play the HipBone Games here, an open game

Item 5  23-MAR-2001 21:13 Charles Cameron (hipbone)

Here we'll be playing an open game for the sheer fun of it.  

Anyone can make a move -- and the moves can be on any subject within reason.  In other words, this isn't a game geared to a specific business topic, it's one where you can play moves from pretty much the whole range of human thought and culture...

Our board:

Move # 1
Move Title: Online Social Networks
Move position: 9

Content: Since this is what we are exploring together in here, I thought it would be a good opener.

Comment: This is the first time I am playing this game and I'm very excited already, very curious to 'see' how this will develop. And hope that I 'got' it right.

Move # 2
Move Title: Collaboration
Move position: 8

Content: Working together is a key driver for any network - and online provides an extra set of dimensions - time, space.

Links claimed - to position 9, online social networks. To collaborate = to work together. It has a sense of collegiality and informality about it in some way. A sense of free-will, wanting to work together rather than being coerced into doing so by external structures. Think of the flock of birds collaborating as they fly.

Lessons from geese

Comment: Mihaela says "This is the first time I am playing this game and I'm very excited already, very curious to 'see' how this will develop. And hope that I 'got' it right." Me too Mihaela - and hey, good to catch up with you again!

Move # 3
Move Title:Social Capital.
Move position: 2

Content: Social capital refers to those stocks of social trust, norms and networks that people can draw upon to solve common problems.

Links Claimed: Combine Online Social Networks in position 9 with the spirit of Collaboration in position 8, you get Social Capital in one of the positions that link 8 and 9. Social capital is not agriculture, but it is the body of knowledge and social arrangements that enable some people to dig, others to plant, others to build places for them to live, and thus create the possibility for feeding many more -- the enabling technology for the civilizations of the past ten thousand years.

Comment: When people work together collaboratively, they create intangible public goods that make science and scholarship, democracy and community possible.

Useful resources:

The World Bank Group on Social Capital and development
Community Collaboration and Social Capital
Ron Burt's paper, recommended by Valdis Krebs

Great moves everyone! I'll be adding what we call "bitty boards" to each of the moves as we go ... that is, small graphics that show the context of each move. I'll also add some formatting for clarity. Just in case you're wondering where the graphics and formatting came from ... as you get the idea, you can do this yourself.

Another thing that those who have already made a move need to keep in mind, is that you need to explain where your move links to existing moves.

So that, for instance, Pete would need to go back and edit his post to say that his move Collaboration, links to Mihaela's move Online Social Networks. He'd then explain what the specifics of the link are.

eg.
Links Claimed:

To Position 9, Online Social Networks: Online Social Networks are an example of collaboration ... etc etc.

I'll leave it up to you Pete to fill in the details. You can include links, graphics, colour or whatever you link in claiming your links.

Here's what the html for my move looks like:  

<h3>
Move # 3<br>
Move Title:<font color=red>Social Capital.</font><br>
Move position: 2<br>
</h3>
<blockquote>
<p>
<strong>Content: </strong><a
href="http://www.cpn.org/sections/tools/models/social_capital.html ">
Social capital refers to those stocks of social trust, norms and networks that people can draw upon to solve common problems.
</a><br>
<p>
<strong>Links Claimed:</strong> Combine Online Social Networks in position 9 with the spirit of Collaboration in position 8, you get Social Capital in one of the positions that link 8 and 9. Social capital is not agriculture, but it
is the body of knowledge and social arrangements that enable some people to dig, others to plant, others to build places for them to live, and thus create the possibility for feeding many more -- the enabling technology for the civilizations of the past ten thousand years.
<p>
<strong>Comment:</strong> When people work together
collaboratively, they create intangible public goods that make science and scholarship, democracy and community possible.
<p>
<strong>Useful resources:</strong>
<p>
<a href="http://www.worldbank.org/poverty/scapital/map1.htm ">The World Bank Group on Social Capital and development</a><br>
<a
href="http://www.ncrel.org/cscd/pubs/lead21/2-1m.htm">Community Collaboration and Social Capital</a><br>
<p>

Heh.  With the addition of the graphic that I snuck in there.  ;-)

Move # 4
Move Title:Trust-Building.
Move position: 4

Content: Trust, and the building up of Trust, are immensely important to collaborative processes and to Social Networks

Links Claimed: Trust is linked to Social Capital in position 2 because it is a vital component that helps to provide some of the glue for that capital to grow, or fertiliser perhaps, to follow Howard's farming metaphor.

Trust is also strongly linked with Collaboration. The degree of trust, and the type of trust, help to define the limits of that Collaboration, and each is dynamic, waxing and waning depending on circumstances, experiences, and attitudes.

Trust is also signigficantly linked with Social Networks and, indeed, Social networking, although that particular link may be weaker if other agendas are in play.

[Oink slipped by me and posted a move while I was prepping my comments on the first three...]  

Ha!  Position 9, in which Mihaela made the opening move in this game, has more links than any other position on this particular board, so an early move there tends to set the tone for whatever follows.  I'm happy to note that her move topic lies at the heart of this conference, and is thus right on target.  We're off to a flying start.  

Flying?  The best part of Pete's move, for me, was that quiet little link at the end, labeled Lessons from geese!  Which will bring me to my own move in a moment. 

Fact 1  

As each goose flaps its wings, it creates an uplift for the birds that follow. By flying in a "V" formation, the whole flock adds 71% greater flying range than if each bird were flying alone.  

Lesson: People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going quicker and easier on the thrust of another.  

Fact 2  

When a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of flying alone. It quickly moves back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front of it.  

Lesson: If we have as much sense as a goose, we stay in formation with those headed where we want to go. We are willing to accept their help and give our help to others.  

Fact 3  

When the lead goose tires, it rotates back into the formation and another goose flies to the point position.  

Lesson: It pays to take turns doing the hard tasks and sharing leadership. As with geese, people are interdependent on each other's skills, capabilities, and unique arrangements of gifts, talents, or resources.

And Howard: always a pleasure -- and thanks so much for hosting this conference.  Sharing as enabling technology: that too drives me to my own move!

Scuse the slippage, hip. The geese are so relevant! (What is this, Animal Farm suddenly? ;)

Move # 5
Move Title: boids
Move position: 1

Content:

Craig Reynolds' boids are pretty astonishing -- flocks of virtual birds that obey a very, very simple ruleset, and yet manage to do "flocking behavior" well enough to be impressive.

You can find them flying around their virtual sky, together with commentary by Reynolds himself, at:

http://www.red3d.com/cwr/boids/

Links claimed:

to position 8, collaboration and those geese of Pete's.

Pete wrote, "Think of the flock of birds collaborating as they fly" -- and it was that word flock which really tripped my trigger for this move, which was already hgovering in the back of my mind.

Pete's geese flock in their v-formation for good reasons explained in the accompanying text -- reasons which have their analogs in human life and behavior. The boids in my own move offer us a different way to apprehend the flight patterns of communities of birds -- this time using the genre of tools which stretches from cellular automata and John Conway's Game of Life via artificial life to agent based modeling. I'm particularly interested in these tools because they allow us to glimpse the ways in which complex phoneomena can emerge from simple rule sets: "the emergent properties of complex systems".

But that may seem like an abstract and reductionist approach to take to birds -- the originals of boids, which remind me of a poem my very British sea captain father used to recite in an unaccountably Brooklyn accent:

da boid is on da wing.
but dat's absoid --
da wing is on da boid!

[I hope I transcribed that about right...]

I've worked with agent-based modeling myself, and find it a fascinating business. And I should no doubt add that John Holland, one of the forefathers of the genre, considers his life work to be a glass bead game – which pleases me inordinately, as you may well imagine.

The link here, then, is between geese and boids, two analogical approaches to the fundamental human issue of collaboration.

to position 2, social capital, and Howard's enabling technology for civilization.

I paraphrased Howard's move already, using the words sharing as enabling technology, and it's here that the second shoe drops for me.

Not only does John Holland's work interest me a lot, his friend and colleague at the University of Michigan, Robert Axelrod, has been doing fascinating work with the same type of tools, modeling the ways in which cooperative behavior can emerge in populations of agents who play iterative games of prisoner's dilemma. Some of his recent work can be found in his extraordinary book, The Complexity of Cooperation: Agent Based Models of Competition and Collaboration.

I believe that what we have here [and in some related work my colleague Ross Hammond and I did at The Arlington Institute] is a breakthrough: that what we are witnessing in Axelrod's work is a mathematically verifiable argument for the importance of cooperation.

Comment:

Until very recently, it has seemed plausible to many people to relegate "idealists" to the margins of society, where they could pen their innocent poems and dream their naive dreams while "realists" got on with the tough business of governance.

I do not believe that this can serve us any longer as a survival strategy. I believe we have arrived at a point where it is only the integration of ideals with praxis which will allow us to survive as a species on this planet. I also believe that it will require a major shift in paradigm for this to come home to people -- and what excites me about the work of Robert Axelrod is that it shows in the language of today's priesthood -- mathematics, computer simulation -- the viabiklity of truths which were until now in the province of religious teachers, of the Dhammapada and the Beatitudes.

I believe I see a break in the clouds...

Note the incredibly cool graphic I added to my move, invented by  Mihaela Moussou at my request.  

It is no small task to render a visualization of an abstraction like "Social Capital" at a moment's notice! Thank you, Mihaela! That was inspiring.

Yowsa! Now that is a brilliant graphic, yes. (raises hat politely to Mihaela)

OK, I'll give it a try . . .

MOVE #6
Move Title: Transparency
Move Position: 6

Content: Building trust requires honesty, the willingness to be transparent, to be yourself without pretense. While it may be tempting to re-create one's self online behind the mask of electronic anonymity, any hope for a lasting or meaningful online network relationship demands openness. Credibility is like virginity - once it's lost, you can't get it back.

Links Claimed: I'm linking to both positions six and nine. Trust is a vital component of an online social network. Transparency - through honest and tactful dialog - can help build it. I also want to claim a link from Transparency to Social Capital. The ability to create the synergy necessary to build social capital requires trust, and as I said earlier transparency fosters trust. Two of us together are just so much smarter and can get so much more done than the combination of our individual efforts.

Comment: I "birthed" an online community nearly two years ago that now has nearly 400 "members." The common thread is wild and crazy women,originally brought together through the website devoted to Rebecca Wells' book "Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood." We created the alternative site because the one provided by book publisher Harper Collins tried to restrict our speech. An incredible bonding has taken place through the bulletin board at www.yayahammock.com. Over the two years, a few flare-ups have occurred, mainly related to dishonesty.

Hi, Chevon.  You've no idea how delighted I am to find so many education-oriented onliners around here -- one of my fondest dreams for the HipBone Games is to see them used in education (psychology and conflict resolution are the other two areas that particularly interest me).  

Playing in position 6, you're linked by the board lines to positions 2 (social capital), 4 (trust-building) and 9 (online social networks).  Can you claim a link to social capital?  I bet you can.  Any further elaboration you'd like to make regarding your links to trust and online networks?  

Transparency: a fine and relevant move.  And dialog, hidden within it.

Lovely, Mihaela: a magic carpet indeed.

darn it, charles, I came here to pot Boids or something similar (flocks, emergent behaviour) Your genius must be quicker ;-)

Hmm, now where am I going to play Stories and Storytelling?

6 would have been perfect, but I missed it.

ought to link with Social Capital (2), as Storytelling is historically the way societies perpetuate themselves, and Collaboration (8), since stories make good collaborative and learning tools; fun, learning experinces, so I suppose playing in position 3 might be OK.

Hmm, and the tacit knowledge / understanding which emerge from the jumble of well-crafted and oft-embriodered and evolving stories within a community / society could justify a link to the complexity and emergent behaviour of Boids (1).

As for the stories which emerge in an online social network, just watch out for the anecdotes and happenstances which emerge from your online acquaintances and your interaction with them.

So: Position 3. Stories.

Let me see if I get this right.
At this point in the game, if I took move # 6, I should title it something that links to 4: trust building, 2 social capital and 9 OSN but not necessarily to 8 collaborate or 1 Boids.
And if I took move #3, I should title it something that links to 1 Boids, 2 social capital, 8 collaboration, 9 OSN (I don't have to worry about 5 because that's not titled yet).
[Slip: This was written before Richard slipped in with #3 stories]
Have I got it right?
And a Hi, to you too, Charles.  I'm delighted to have the opportunity to play this game interactively here.

Yes.. I@m happy to swap places if you prefer :-)  

It's a great move, just think of a justification for it now it's kinda made..

Richard,
how kind of you
Stay where you are - I like stories there
I'm just getting the lay of the land
Thanks

Wonderful moves everyone!  I'm logging on from the student computer lab at the University of Melbourne, and will have to wait until I get home this evening to add some deeper thoughts about the game here.  Really enjoying watching the play.

OK, home again, have added the bitty boards to each move so far, and wonderful graphics, compliments of Mihaela.  

Who wants to make a move next?  Jan, with your move as proposed?

Okay: here's an image-mapped board that Tom Simon has very kindly provided for us. You can now go through the game by clicking on any position where there's a move in play, and Caucus will take you to that move (you may need to give it a little time if you have a slow modem).

Note that the numbers at the top of each circle -- just in front of the name of the person who made that move -- are the ones that tell you the order in which the moves were made; the numbers at the bottom of each circle are the standard position numbers for this board. So if you want to begin at the beginning of this game, you'll need to go to 01 Mihaela, which you'll find in position 9.

Cool, Charles. Holler if you need any help with that and someone will do that, no doubt.

ANOTHER LINK FROM EARLIER MOVE #6 - I also want to claim a link from Transparency to Social Capital. The ability to create the synergy necessary to build social capital requires trust, and as I said earlier transparency fosters trust.  Two of us together are just so much smarter and can get so much more done than the combination of our individual efforts.

Chevon, you can always add to your earlier move by clicking on the Edit button next to it.

Howard slipped past me -- I was going to offer to do it myself, but if you do it you
can make sure the phrasing is just the way you want it.  Cheers!

Move # 8
Move Title:Fun.
Move position: 5

Content: "it doesn't work if there is no fun in it" and "OK. You are having too much fun, but maybe something useful is happening here." Howard. "Fun from CREATING together." Jon

Links Claimed:

3 Stories - all the good ones make us at least smile.

8 Collaboration - since when has this ever worked without a bit of fun?

9 OSN - no fun, no gain.

Comment: I'm realising I'm probably not as cerebral as most here - so I'm always on the look out for a laugh ...

Denham, to minimise the confusion for new players, I've hidden your duplicate position 5 move - it is visible by following the link below:

Denham Grey's alternate move

Since we had two moves for the same position, we'll take the first posted one.

Charles, perhaps you can explain the more advanced version of Hipbone Games that allows for trumping of previous moves in your item on how the game is played.

For now though, who is going to make a move to one of the remaining open positions, 7 and 10?

glad we got fun in there :-)

OK, I tried to go back and edit my move to also claim the link to social capital. I pasted in my comment, but it didn't show up when I told it to make the change. Anybody have a tip for the technologically challenged?
Thanks

Charles is already flying ahead of me ... we're starting to flock :)

Move: 9
Move Title: Simple Rules
Position 10

Content: Simple rules generate complex, emergent phenomena.

Links:

A straight shot from Simple Rules (10) through Online Social Networks (9) to Collaboration (8) to Boids (1)

Those digital boids (1) are online (9) having fun (5) demonstrating collaboration (8) in a social network (9). They are telling us the story (3), that simple rules (10) work for what they do. I don't know if social capital (2) is measured in digital animal economics or if trust-building (4) is a factor of flight, because it may well be that transparency (6) is innate to boid-life and that alone keeps them from bumping into themselves.

< Link claimed to "move title" in position #: >

Comment: OK, now I get it, that just like the simple rules for flocking behavior, that I am just supposed to pay attention to the nodes nearest me ... keep up, don't bump into other boids, adjust flightpath accordingly ... and the rest of the flock will take care of itself.

Ooooh, Lisa, I haven't seen your whole move yet (Lisa is editing it as I write), but the fact that it will be in position 10 and has to do with simple rules and the phenomena they generate pretty much guarantees us an elegant "indirect link" of symmetry with boids in position 1.

Chevon: I had trouble getting my original "self-intro" post accepted by the Welcome item for OSN2001, and a day or two later was able to do it -- but nobody knew why either way!  If you like, I'll post your change.  Let me know.

That's quite the grand slam you're going for, Lisa, linking to just about everything on the board (Lisa is still working on her move as I post this, it's coming clearer now).  

The rules require a move in position 10 to link with moves (if already played) in 6, 7 and 9, the positions directly connected to position 10 by board lines -- and you can certainly claim an "indirect" link on the basis of symmetry with position 1.  Someone playing in position 10 generally wouldn't worry about the other positions -- but your throughline:

A straight shot from Simple Rules (10) through Online Social Networks (9) to Collaboration (8) to Boids (1)

More Mihaela graphics have been added to previous moves ... and checking back, I think there is one more move to go.

Thanks Charles and Janette ... that was fun. I learned enough to play by the rules. I'm not inclined to knowingly break rules in a social network ... without a really good reason to do so.

hmmm Lisa, playing mornington crescent should cure that :) Actually, I think (charles?) that this is in part a social game where the rules are elastic enough for you to mould them to your will, within acceptable boundaries.. and you judge what is acceptable.  I'm re-training myself in the lost (to me) art of not being afraid to play wiht the rules.  

I was scared to make my move here, as I didn't think the Boid connection to stories was good enough, but I realised afterwards that it was my call, and the point oif the game is that the other perticipants will nudge me, feed back, improvise and adjust to these conditions themselves.  And if they don't they should :)

Right you are, Hod.  You can play it tight, like Scrabble with a specified edition of the dictionary, or you can play it fast and loose -- it depends, too, on whether you want the game to be two-person or two-team competitive, or multi-player coopperative (solo is possible, too).  

The Kevin Bacon game at Item 7 is a strict one: if the movie database doesn't agree that the two stars you're connecting were in a movie together, or if the movie in question has been claimed in another link, your move fails.  

Here's the current board for this game, with one move still to go: you can follow the game by clicking on any position where there's a move in play, and Caucus will take you to that move (you may need to give it a little time if you have a slow modem). Use your browser's back button to return to this board.

Note that the numbers at the top of each circle -- just in front of the name of the person who made that move -- are the ones that tell you the order in which the moves were made; the numbers at the bottom of each circle are the standard position numbers for this board. So if you want to begin at the beginning of this game, you'll need to go to 01 Mihaela, which you'll find in position 9.

I realise this is a one-player one-move game, but ... as position 7 has remained vacant for so long I can't resist having a go ... I expect it to be trumped the moment a newcomer puts their hand up ...

Move # 10
Move Title: Face-to-face
Move position: 7

Content: Face-to-face opportunities can only enhance OSN

Links Claimed:

5 Fun - you can't beat ftf for really good fun (excepting Oinks's killer espresso, of course).

3 Stories - surely the best are ftf, whether it's Howard speaking or gatherings round the office watercooler.

9 OSN - few would see OSN as a substitute for ftf (?).

10 Simple rules - what could be more simple and complex than a ftf encounter?

Comment: I'm really intrigued that the "fun" play has not triggered a response yet. For this play to make sense I'm assuming that all other plays were referring specifically to online only. Is it possible that HipBone has pushed me to a simple truth that I feel intuitively ... sustaining online social networks requires at some point a ftf event or meeting? (Charles, I'm hooked!)

Heh.  Good move Lawrence, and the links claimed are appropriate.  I'd be advocating face to face as an optional requirement for a successful OSN though ... something that may add, but not necessarily.  I've heard of networks breaking down after the participants have met in person.  

A comment on your statement that "position 7 has remained vacant for so long".  This game has been played a lot faster than the usual HipBone Game, which can often extend over periods of days, weeks, or occasionally months.  In particular, the final move often takes longer than other moves, as it is generally not seen as just another move, but an opportunity to draw together the themes and moves of the whole game.  It can take time to envision such a move, find appropriate links, graphics and a way of drawing them all together so that the summation of the final move gives a satisfying feeling of completeness.  

That said, there is no right or wrong way of playing the game, and fast moves can be just as insightful and satisfying as well considered moves.  

Re the trumping of moves, although some competitive players enjoy such manoeuvres, for beginners and collaborative games, it can lead to feelings of disappointment with the process as a whole.  A better way, for those that want to go further with a game, is to take one of the moves of the completed game, and use it as a starting point or theme for a following game.  

Charles, how about a summation from you, of the content and process, and a final view of the completed game board?  

Well done everyone who made a move in this game!  And to Mihaela for her wonderful graphics.  If anyone wants to add extra graphics or links to their move, feel free to do so.  

Looking forward to the next one with eager anticipation.

Hello from London - very late in the game.
I would just like to say how close the ideas are (should
be no surprise) to what works in 'real world' fields of
community participation and partnership-building... see
for example http://www.partnerships.org.uk/part .  

What we need to do there, I think,  is import insights
from OSNs, virtual teams to the messy business of
on-the-ground partnership working, then integrate that
with online.... but that's another game/story.  

If you'll excuse a plug for another item we'll be exploring
some of  that on April 2 in the Design theme with
another sort of game.  

If there is one thing I would like to slip in here it is
'commitment'....getting 'buy in' to a development
process
- is essential to develop social capital
- requires trust and transparency
- benefits from stories and fun
- definitely requires face to face
- is at the heart of OSNs  

... so it seems to be about the same position as Pete's
collaboration.  

Is it the same thing - or is commitment a prior
requirement to collaboration? Does it require a bit of
'what's in it for me'? Where is motivation on the board?  

Congratulations Charles on such a neat device... I'm
not sure we'll be able to anything so elegant in the
Design theme. Any ideas for that would be very
welcome.  

[edit] I've just been reading the keynote discussions
and see strong references to purpose and commitment
there.. but I'm not sure how to make the item links. Lisa
has a good diagram in there about different stages

You could always do a HipBone game on design considerations to supplement your discussion and your intended game. That way you can see the interplay between the two games and how they reinforce the discussion.

Good idea. I'll alert the other folk in the design group.

Chevon's move "transparency" got me thinking about David Brin's book, "The Transparent Society" and what sort of move it would make on this game board. I have yet to read Brin on this and I need to soon because the folks I work with are getting ready to do a TANSTAAFL event around the issues/opportunties he and others raise.

"Excuse me for being greedy, but I want freedom and good government. Both a flourishing economy and a well-cared-for earth. A society that is diverse and communal ... that offers both privacy and accountability. One that can afford a big conscience, along with lots of neat toys. In fact, despite the relentless propaganda about "trade-offs," it should be evident by now that all five of these pairs will either prosper together or wither on the same vine. They are linked. They share the same blood supply. What evidence can I offer for such a strong and iconoclastic statement? The same evidence I have used several times before.Us." David Brin, The Transparent Society, pages 225-226.

What is the meaning of this game board and the emerging world of online social networks, with faster and cheaper computing, bigger bandwidth and who-knows-what new tools, to personal privacy and freedom?

David - I seem to be following you around this "morning" (towards evening in your world) I'd like to start an item in Open Space on bringing together F2F and virtual spaces that you mention in one post. Maybe we can figure out how to move some of the related post in there.

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