#consensus

[grickle14]

It had come to that.

[mo-mode]

This is all I got from episode 5 actually

[standwithdaanes]

Consensus is the primary mode of governance among the Haudenosaunee. It is one of three bedrock principles of the Kaya´nere´nhkowa (Great Law of Peace, or Constitution of the Five Nations), coming in under the discussion of Ne´’ Ga˘shasden´‘sa¨’, or popular sovereignty. Consensus is a long process, designed neither for speed nor for efficiency, which are Western, not Iroquoian, values. Under Haudenosaunee law (and Iroquoian customs generally), the point of councilmanic discussion is not to “reach a decision” or “take action” (again, European values), but to achieve the One Mind of Consensus. Consensus building was, therefore, the essential political ingredient in the operation of the league and other Iroquoian governments.  Under traditional government, in order to arrive at consensus, all minds had first to be consulted. Consultation occurred through a set round of councils, each of which met to discuss the issue(s) at hand. The next council in line could not meet until its preceding council or subcommittee of council had come to an agreement on the matter. Both men and women had councils, with women’s councils entertaining all issues first. Each council level, whether female or male, had to be in consensus before it sent a matter forward. If the Adodaroh (chairman of the federal men’s Grand Council) or the Jigonsaseh (Head Clan Mother of the league) disagreed with a matter sent to him or her, he or she could “veto” or table it until a later time. Issues could be reintroduced as often as sponsors wished, and matters could always be revisited judicially, through the action of women’s councils.  These rules exasperated Europeans who were accustomed to small, exclusive clusters of men making all decisions, whether or not others agreed. During the colonial era, various Crown forces attempted to push their own hierarchical styles onto the Iroquois, with little success. During the forced assimilation after the establishment of the United States, the women’s councils were disbanded and Western-style government was foisted off on the people, but in the twentieth century, the old councilmanic styles have resumed. Although consensus is honored, women’s councils have yet to reattain their formalized place.

Encyclopedia of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois Confederacy) by Bruce Elliott Johansen and Barbara Alice Mann

[queeranarchism]

[the cover of A consensus handbook by Seeds for Change, featuring the title in Orange lettering followed by an color drawing of 11 people working on the maintenance of a house]

I'm going to share this as a separate post for those that missed the ask: A consensus handbook by Seeds for Change https://seedsforchange.org.uk/handbook is a free and very handy guide to how to take decisions as a group without leaders or hierarchies. I'm going to drop the chapters here to show off just how much useful stuff it has. If you work with consensus, there's almost certainly a problem in here that you recognize and wish you had some answers to!

1: Making decisions by consensus What’s wrong with the democracy we’ve got? - Why use consensus? How does consensus work? - The consensus process - Key skills and values for consensus 2: Facilitating consensus The role of meetings in group work - What is facilitation? - Facilitating a meeting – Making meetings accessible - Taking minutes 3: Facilitating consensus in large groups Meeting the conditions for consensus in large groups - Processes for large groups 4: Facilitating consensus in virtual meetings Why have virtual meetings? - The tools for the job - Challenges of facilitating virtual meetings - A consensus process for virtual meetings 5: Quick consensus decision making Preparing for quick consensus - How it works 6: Facilitation techniques and activities Starting the meeting - Regulating the flow of the meeting - Encouraging involvement - Techniques for problem solving and tackling difficult issues - Prioritisation techniques - Activities for re-energising - Evaluating meetings 7: Troubleshooting in your meetings Our meetings take a long time - Time pressure - Our meetings lack focus - Our group is large and we don’t enjoy meetings - We’re stuck and can’t reach a decision - Too many ideas - ‘Steamroller’ proposals - How can we deal with disruptive behaviour? - What to do when someone blocks - Our group is biased towards the status quo 8: Bridging the gap between theory and practice Conflict and consensus - The life cycle of a conflict - Ways of dealing with conflict - Techniques for inviting collaboration Power dynamics - Step one: What are our feelings about power dynamics? - Step two: Diagnosis – what is actually going on - in your group? - Step three: Where do your power imbalances come from? - Step four: Work out some ways to change your power dynamics Other common issues - External pressures - Open groups with changing membership - What if you’re the only person who wants the group to change? 9: Consensus in wider society So how might it work? - Challenges, questions and tensions - How do we get there? - A final thought

[wayti-blog]

“When you reach the end of what you should know, you will be at the beginning of what you should sense.”

― Kahlil Gibrán, Sand and Foam

[abalidoth]

1. Consensus, because I want to hear more

OK YEAH

So, Consensus is set in a space nation called the Amapola Republic, a midsized social democracy consisting of one terraformed planet and some stations, as well as a few outlying colonies and projects. Amapola and its neighbors are beset by an entity known as the Swarm, a parasitic hive mind that attacks ships and colonies to add human bodies to its mass. The Swarm is basically a paperclip optimizer, and subsumes the humanity of its constituents to further the goal of expansion at all costs.

One day, a Swarm cruiser is captured and some of the drones are deprogrammed and set up with some resources to build a life in Amapola. B617, who takes the name Bee, is one such drone. But like many deprogrammed Swarm drones, she is dissatisfied with life as a singleton, not hearing the chorus in her mind. Eventually, she gets together with some like minded individuals -- ex-Swarm and not -- to start a new hive mind, a very human hive mind that seeks harmony with the society around it.

The story bounces back and forth between Bee founding the Consensus, and twenty (?) years later, with the Consensus well-established inside Amapolan society (not that there isn't some friction) facing a new threat from out of the system.

One objective I have while building the Consensus is that I want it to feel like a hive mind made out of humans, with human desires and needs. They eat well, they make art, they sing. They run a chain of restaurants, because why wouldn't you when every one of your members is a world-class chef? At the same time, the Consensus knows that it can make singletons uncomfortable, and that it can attract vulnerable people, so a lot of the rules and hierarchy around the Consensus is them trying to address that.

For example, there are two divisions within the Consensus. Adjuncts have the hardware, and the hive can hear their thoughts and speak back to them, but they're not fully subsumed into the group mind. They're still individuals, but they're part of a larger whole. Agents, on the other hand, have been completely subsumed into the group mind, and the Consensus treats their bodies as mostly interchangeable. The individual consciousnesses that went into the Consensus are still around, even after the death of the original body, but they tend not to have much attachment to the meat they once inhabited. You have to be an Adjunct for at least a year before the Consensus will consider you for Agenthood -- both because the Consensus wants to make sure that you're a good fit, and to keep self-destructive people from making an impulsive decision.

[sinukiyo]

I act like I'm okay but deep down, I need the second verse of the consensus song.