[iDC] The Ethics of Participation

[Michel Bauwens]

Hi Patrick,

Thanks for sharing this. As a post-burnout survivor, I have been through the
extremes of this intellectual Taylorism, but I'm happy to say there is a way
out, though of course, just as for recovering addicts, the mastery needs to
be cultivated for the rest of your life.

My strategies were pretty similar. 1) close down the portable phone (I only
use it for family contact when I'm separated from my wife); 2) give away the
laptop (you don't need to work everywhere); 3) make time for reading every
day, for the family, and for friends.

I use the 8-8-8 philosophy of the Spanish anarchists, 8 hours of work, 8
hours sleep, and 8 hours of socializing. I use traditional Thai massage to
keep me healthy (the yoga for lazy people), as well as regular walks.
Whenever I "sin" against those rules, for example when I need to work
longer, I keep track and compensate later. All this has to be compared to
the 9 am to 11 pm schedule I was beholden to before. I subscribe to tons of
list and newsletters and blogs still, but just take a fixed amount of time
per day to do what I can. For example, though the solution is not ideal, I
only check one blog per day.

Regaining the mastery over one's life and time, is really one of the key's
to finding happiness in life, and there is simply no comparison between my
life before and after. Unfortunately, it usually takes serious bodily harm
before we are motivated to undertake these necessary changes.

Michel

On 1/7/07, Patrick Lichty <voyd at voyd.com> wrote:
>
>
> > However, contrary to your reading, I don't have problems with periods of
> silence on this or other lists. In fact, I think that a month of high
> traffic followed by "time out" is rather a sign of a
> > maturing network. Traffic alone is not an indication of a lively group.
> Fewer posts once in a while do not mean that subscribers don't read,
> bookmark, or forward posts. There are many
> > forms of participation even if not all of them equally contribute to
> communal value.
>
> I agree.  COnsider the note on Partial Attention and the 24/7 work crisis.
> for example, I have started turning off my cell phone for protracted
> periods
> of time.  In addition, although I have been blogging pretty prodigiously
> (which were written in bursts, truth be told), I have been relatively
> silent
> on many of the lists.  This does nto mean I have not been reading much of
> what's going on.
>
> Quite the opposite.  I have been reading, and mulliing, and considering
> what
> is the best value of a response to myself and the list.  As the percieved
> necessity for production ratchets up more and more, no one should ahve the
> time to write books (I have about 200+ pages written on New Media, but
> never
> have the time to compile them into a book), do deep research (see
> Stephenson), let alone have a family life or relationships.
>
> This is the intellectual market dialectic as I see it - As more noise
> flourishes, one has to be on lists, blogs, etc constantly - the more the
> better.  On the other hand, this consumes one's life to point where there
> can be nothing but practice.
>
> It's very much like Trump & Kiyosaki say in their latest book, "We Want
> You
> to Be Rich" - they have the 24/7 lifestyle, tons of friends, hectic
> schedules, dealing constantly.  This is what they like. A lot of New Media
> people do this too. Mary Flanagan even said recently that she loves what
> she
> does, does it all the time, but really doesn't have much of a life.  To
> me,
> this is intellectual Taylorism at its highest, having some medical reasons
> why I can't work 24/7, I dont, even though I may cost me a job here and
> there; I simply can't and won't do it anymore.
>
> Maybe I'm a bit more on Stephenson's side - being more precious with one's
> time keeps you sane. I love writing, visiting, talking, but I just can't
> do
> more than 50 hr/wk without requiring a 2-3 week crash every 4 months of
> it.
>
> I love this list, and think it's one of the best in our field.  However I
> apologize for not being more active - it isn't that I don't care, it's
> that
> I'm in my first year at a new institution, and it's taking a lot of my
> time.
>
> Peace, everyone.
> Patrick Lichty
> Columbia College, Chicago
>
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-- 
The P2P Foundation researches, documents and promotes peer to peer
alternatives.

Wiki and Encyclopedia, at http://p2pfoundation.net; Blog, at
http://blog.p2pfoundation.net; Newsletter, at
http://integralvisioning.org/index.php?topic=p2p

Basic essay at http://www.ctheory.net/articles.aspx?id=499; interview at
http://poynder.blogspot.com/2006/09/p2p-very-core-of-world-to-come.html;
video interview, at
http://www.masternewmedia.org/news/2006/09/29/network_collaboration_peer_to_peer.htm
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