0:00:00.000,0:00:03.959 The Internet's Missing Link:[br]Tools for Turning Talk Into Action 0:00:03.959,0:00:06.129 Ben Knight 0:00:06.129,0:00:09.219 Personal Democracy[br]Forum 2014 0:00:09.219,0:00:15.698 Thanks a lot Micheal and thanks everyone 0:00:12.639,0:00:17.179 for having me this very faraway place. 0:00:17.179,0:00:23.198 A few years ago I started a PhD 0:00:20.980,0:00:26.289 researching the evolution of 0:00:23.199,0:00:28.269 collective intelligence and humans. 0:00:26.289,0:00:31.630 I was really obsessed with this 0:00:28.269,0:00:33.790 one question which was why is it that 0:00:31.630,0:00:35.710 humans as far as we know are the only 0:00:33.790,0:00:38.650 species that's getting collectively more 0:00:35.710,0:00:40.840 and more intelligent over time ? With 0:00:38.650,0:00:42.519 every generation we're able to do things 0:00:40.840,0:00:47.440 that are more complex than the previous 0:00:42.520,0:00:49.660 generation. Naturally I was 0:00:47.440,0:00:51.670 sent to Texas and ended up working with 0:00:49.660,0:00:53.679 chimpanzees, teaching them to use 0:00:51.670,0:00:58.450 touch screens so to try and get to the 0:00:53.680,0:01:01.150 the bottom of this. 0:00:58.450,0:01:03.160 The question that i was asking every 0:01:01.150,0:01:05.500 night when I went home from the primate 0:01:03.160,0:01:07.030 Center I'd open my computer and I'd see 0:01:05.500,0:01:09.549 all this evidence of things going 0:01:07.030,0:01:12.159 seriously wrong in the world. 0:01:09.549,0:01:14.979 Things like ecosystem collapse, 0:01:12.159,0:01:17.649 out-of-control extractive economy on a 0:01:14.979,0:01:19.509 global scale and income inequality just 0:01:17.649,0:01:21.999 going through the roof and everywhere 0:01:19.509,0:01:24.100 you look. My initial research 0:01:21.999,0:01:27.490 question was pushed out by a much more 0:01:24.100,0:01:29.259 urgent question which is how is it that 0:01:27.490,0:01:29.949 if we're getting so much smarter all the 0:01:29.259,0:01:31.869 time 0:01:29.950,0:01:33.880 how is it that our biggest institutions 0:01:31.869,0:01:36.850 are just behaving in a way that's less and 0:01:33.880,0:01:39.039 less intelligent. So unintelligent 0:01:36.850,0:01:42.908 that it's putting the future of the 0:01:39.039,0:01:45.729 planet and everyone on it at risk. 0:01:42.909,0:01:47.889 The internet has been heralded for 0:01:45.729,0:01:50.799 decades now as a potentially 0:01:47.889,0:01:52.990 transformative force. In terms of 0:01:50.799,0:01:55.090 accumulating knowledge and making 0:01:52.990,0:01:57.339 communication instantaneous and 0:01:55.090,0:01:59.740 accessible at connecting people more 0:01:57.340,0:02:01.179 than they've ever been connected. And it 0:01:59.740,0:02:03.399 really does have that potential when you 0:02:01.179,0:02:05.859 see things like Wikipedia which we take 0:02:03.399,0:02:08.830 for granted every day where a group of 0:02:05.859,0:02:10.780 people have set up to to make the sum 0:02:08.830,0:02:13.120 total of all human knowledge accessible 0:02:10.780,0:02:18.040 to anyone anywhere. And they're doing it 0:02:13.120,0:02:20.140 and it's amazing. That brings up 0:02:18.040,0:02:22.480 another question which is 0:02:20.140,0:02:25.269 you know if this is the case, why has the 0:02:22.480,0:02:28.030 internet not helped in terms of, you know, 0:02:25.270,0:02:29.590 our largest institutions behaving in a 0:02:28.030,0:02:32.500 severely unintelligent way that's 0:02:29.590,0:02:36.280 putting everything at risk. 0:02:32.500,0:02:39.190 Well at the moment, the internet feels 0:02:36.280,0:02:41.620 like immensely powerful but 0:02:39.190,0:02:43.030 disembodied brain. You hear this metaphor 0:02:41.620,0:02:45.310 a lot about the internet being like this 0:02:43.030,0:02:47.020 distributed global brain. At the moment 0:02:45.310,0:02:49.989 it feels like it's sort of floating off 0:02:47.020,0:02:52.959 somewhere in space disconnected from the 0:02:49.989,0:02:55.209 distributed global body or like the 0:02:52.959,0:02:57.820 limbs in the physical world that are 0:02:55.209,0:03:00.550 deeply impacting on our environment. 0:02:57.820,0:03:02.890 That's where the big institutions are 0:03:00.550,0:03:05.769 coming. The things that really affect 0:03:02.890,0:03:08.920 our ecology and our living 0:03:05.769,0:03:11.170 conditions on a huge scale. These are 0:03:08.920,0:03:14.500 things without a brain. Theses are huge 0:03:11.170,0:03:17.470 institutions driven by self-interest and 0:03:14.500,0:03:20.140 without anyone really at the helm. 0:03:17.470,0:03:21.910 Just driven by these processes 0:03:20.140,0:03:23.649 that would we've put in place over decades 0:03:21.910,0:03:25.989 and totally disconnected from this 0:03:23.650,0:03:27.310 amazing wealth of collective 0:03:25.989,0:03:32.110 intelligence that's increasing 0:03:27.310,0:03:34.329 exponentially. In 2011 something 0:03:32.110,0:03:37.209 really interesting started happening. 0:03:34.329,0:03:38.980 I have been sitting in Texas getting so 0:03:37.209,0:03:41.590 disillusioned with the slow pace of 0:03:38.980,0:03:44.590 academic research, translating into 0:03:41.590,0:03:46.060 real-world impact that I started feeling 0:03:44.590,0:03:48.130 more and more guilt. I've started feeling 0:03:46.060,0:03:50.260 irresponsible for pouring my life into 0:03:48.130,0:03:53.170 this academic pursuit that was 0:03:50.260,0:03:54.730 interesting but just felt so slow 0:03:53.170,0:03:56.500 compared to the urgency of the problems 0:03:54.730,0:03:59.500 we're facing. So I came back to New 0:03:56.500,0:04:01.630 Zealand and i got involved in grassroots 0:03:59.500,0:04:04.299 community organizing and social justice 0:04:01.630,0:04:06.280 activism. I just felt this real need 0:04:04.299,0:04:09.880 to connect with real people in real 0:04:06.280,0:04:12.760 communities. Then in 2011, 0:04:09.880,0:04:14.950 largely through social media 0:04:12.760,0:04:16.418 seeing as many people 0:04:14.950,0:04:18.130 in this room would have experienced 0:04:16.418,0:04:20.589 seeing these images flooding through 0:04:18.130,0:04:21.579 all the new kind of social movement a 0:04:20.589,0:04:23.169 social movement that looked 0:04:21.579,0:04:25.960 distinctively different to anything I've 0:04:23.169,0:04:28.150 seen before. Starting in Tunisia 0:04:25.960,0:04:29.799 in january 2011 and then 0:04:28.150,0:04:31.659 spreading through to the arab spring 0:04:29.800,0:04:33.300 protests in Egypt and then the 0:04:31.660,0:04:35.310 indignados and 15M mouvements 0:04:33.300,0:04:36.840 in Latin America and Spain and then 0:04:35.310,0:04:39.569 the Occupy movement and Wall Street 0:04:36.840,0:04:42.030 starting in Wall Street and then spreading 0:04:39.569,0:04:44.370 to literally hundreds of cities around 0:04:42.030,0:04:48.960 the world even as far away as New 0:04:44.370,0:04:51.270 Zealand. So this felt to me and I'm sure 0:04:48.960,0:04:53.250 to many other people here like the first 0:04:51.270,0:04:56.460 time the internet had spoken out into 0:04:53.250,0:04:59.520 the real world. The first time this 0:04:56.460,0:05:02.310 sort of massive interconnexion had lead 0:04:59.520,0:05:05.698 people in really large numbers to get 0:05:02.310,0:05:07.139 out on the streets. And so if this is 0:05:05.699,0:05:08.550 the first time the Internet has really 0:05:07.139,0:05:11.250 spoken 0:05:08.550,0:05:13.289 what do you think its first word was ? 0:05:11.250,0:05:14.729 The internet more than anything else 0:05:13.289,0:05:16.318 that was seen in the last few years has 0:05:14.729,0:05:18.810 provided this massive infrastructure 0:05:16.319,0:05:20.639 immensely powerful for mobilizing huge 0:05:18.810,0:05:24.300 numbers of people to come together and 0:05:20.639,0:05:25.050 all say no at once. But then what 0:05:24.300,0:05:26.909 happened ? 0:05:25.050,0:05:30.719 We were sort of left with this 0:05:26.909,0:05:32.699 situation this vacuum once the 0:05:30.719,0:05:35.550 oppressive regime has been deposed once 0:05:32.699,0:05:38.669 the petition has been successful 0:05:35.550,0:05:40.169 the sort of once something's been 0:05:38.669,0:05:41.250 taken away when you mobilized in 0:05:40.169,0:05:44.909 opposition to something 0:05:41.250,0:05:48.120 how do you then transition to sustain 0:05:44.909,0:05:51.090 constructive collective action ? So how do 0:05:48.120,0:05:53.849 we get from this situation to this 0:05:51.090,0:05:57.119 situation how do we get from the angry 0:05:53.849,0:05:59.550 infant that doesn't say yes until 0:05:57.120,0:06:03.000 they're you know six months further down 0:05:59.550,0:06:05.370 the track ? And how do we sort of take 0:06:03.000,0:06:07.919 this mass of information that we're all 0:06:05.370,0:06:10.800 exchanging at an ever-increasing pace 0:06:07.919,0:06:14.580 and translate it into constructive 0:06:10.800,0:06:17.940 generative shared action ? That's 0:06:14.580,0:06:20.068 what a bunch of us in Wellington, 0:06:17.940,0:06:22.500 a bunch of technologists open source 0:06:20.069,0:06:25.289 developers facilitators and activists 0:06:22.500,0:06:28.289 have been working on for the last 18 to 0:06:25.289,0:06:30.389 24 months. It came out of 0:06:28.289,0:06:32.789 this experience of collective 0:06:30.389,0:06:35.669 decision-making on a large scale and 0:06:32.789,0:06:37.378 knowing that this was happening in 0:06:35.669,0:06:38.789 cities all over the world on every 0:06:37.379,0:06:41.820 continent that people who've never met 0:06:38.789,0:06:43.979 are coming together were talking they 0:06:41.820,0:06:46.349 were deliberating and they were 0:06:43.979,0:06:49.169 organizing a directly democratic way, 0:06:46.350,0:06:50.910 where every voice[br]could be heard with diverse 0:06:49.170,0:06:52.950 perspectives could contribute to a 0:06:50.910,0:06:54.720 process that would lead groups to come 0:06:52.950,0:06:56.880 to better outcomes than any individual 0:06:54.720,0:06:58.980 would buy themselves. Seeing the 0:06:56.880,0:07:02.100 power of that process and the potential 0:06:58.980,0:07:04.680 on a really large scale for it to have a 0:07:02.100,0:07:07.320 transformative effect. But also seeing 0:07:04.680,0:07:09.120 the flip side of that. Seeing the just a 0:07:07.320,0:07:10.380 practical constraints of needing to be 0:07:09.120,0:07:12.960 in the same place at the same time 0:07:10.380,0:07:14.460 seeing what happens to people when 0:07:12.960,0:07:15.900 they're in meetings for five hours and 0:07:14.460,0:07:17.789 nothing gets decided. 0:07:15.900,0:07:19.169 Or when the loudest voices in the room 0:07:17.790,0:07:21.060 dominate the discussion have a 0:07:19.170,0:07:22.920 disproportionate influence over the 0:07:21.060,0:07:24.960 decision-making and over the course of 0:07:22.920,0:07:27.690 weeks seeing the disintegration that 0:07:24.960,0:07:31.500 selection pressure leads to. The 0:07:27.690,0:07:33.540 same entrenched power structures emerged 0:07:31.500,0:07:36.240 from these groups that had an explicit 0:07:33.540,0:07:39.090 commitment to and two deep deliberative 0:07:36.240,0:07:41.100 Democratic inclusive process end up with 0:07:39.090,0:07:44.400 these emergent informal sort of 0:07:41.100,0:07:47.580 accidental dictatorships. We felt like 0:07:44.400,0:07:48.450 we're using the internet to communicate 0:07:47.580,0:07:50.310 every day 0:07:48.450,0:07:52.920 surely there's tool out there surely 0:07:50.310,0:07:56.160 there's some way of using that 0:07:52.920,0:07:59.370 infrastructure to not just talk but to 0:07:56.160,0:08:02.760 have discussions, then lead to 0:07:59.370,0:08:05.310 building a shared understanding and 0:08:02.760,0:08:08.640 eventually to agreed outcomes that can 0:08:05.310,0:08:10.650 be implemented. The platform 0:08:08.640,0:08:13.620 that we came up with came to be known as 0:08:10.650,0:08:15.450 Loomio which has got two 0:08:13.620,0:08:17.850 elements in the name via the idea of a 0:08:15.450,0:08:20.400 loom weaving disparity threads 0:08:17.850,0:08:22.290 together into a coherent whole. Also 0:08:20.400,0:08:23.760 the illumination that comes with from 0:08:22.290,0:08:25.470 the collective wisdom of a group of 0:08:23.760,0:08:29.969 people with diverse perspectives feeding 0:08:25.470,0:08:32.820 together. Where we're at now is 0:08:29.970,0:08:35.099 we've got a robust beta 0:08:32.820,0:08:37.349 prototype that's being used by thousands 0:08:35.099,0:08:39.179 of groups around the world and it looks 0:08:37.349,0:08:42.419 a bit like this. It's a really 0:08:39.179,0:08:45.719 simple user-friendly tool that allows 0:08:42.419,0:08:50.010 groups to have a discussion, start a 0:08:45.720,0:08:53.130 discussion on any topic. If the group 0:08:50.010,0:08:55.860 gets to a point where it makes sense to 0:08:53.130,0:08:58.290 try and make a decision together it 0:08:55.860,0:09:00.000 then anyone can put up a proposal. So a 0:08:58.290,0:09:01.680 good proposal is just a very clear 0:09:00.000,0:09:05.790 course of action I think the group 0:09:01.680,0:09:07.380 should do this. Like an in-person 0:09:05.790,0:09:11.400 group that works really well together 0:09:07.380,0:09:13.110 you have this flexibility where 0:09:11.400,0:09:15.720 you can change your position at any time. 0:09:13.110,0:09:17.280 So someone makes a compelling point that 0:09:15.720,0:09:19.530 you hadn't thought of you can go from 0:09:17.280,0:09:22.110 disagreeing to agreeing. This is sort of 0:09:19.530,0:09:23.430 taking the basic protocol the sort 0:09:22.110,0:09:26.100 of the name of collective 0:09:23.430,0:09:27.479 decision-making that was so that was 0:09:26.100,0:09:29.370 really spread through social media 0:09:27.480,0:09:31.470 around the Occupy movement and around 0:09:29.370,0:09:34.020 the other the other social movements and 0:09:31.470,0:09:35.730 the wave in 2011 and putting it into the 0:09:34.020,0:09:38.910 the most accessible online environment 0:09:35.730,0:09:40.410 that that we can design. When you 0:09:38.910,0:09:43.709 get to the end of the process you always 0:09:40.410,0:09:47.100 have a clear outcome. An actionable clear 0:09:43.710,0:09:48.810 outcome. This is where 0:09:47.100,0:09:50.610 all of these groups that are currently 0:09:48.810,0:09:51.839 trying to make decisions through 0:09:50.610,0:09:54.600 facebook trying to make decisions 0:09:51.840,0:09:55.920 through email these platforms that were 0:09:54.600,0:09:58.230 just not built for having that 0:09:55.920,0:10:02.880 convergence around a shared outcome that 0:09:58.230,0:10:05.940 works for everyone. As soon as 0:10:02.880,0:10:09.930 we had a prototype up and running it was 0:10:05.940,0:10:13.440 taken up by just such a diverse range of 0:10:09.930,0:10:15.270 of groups that it ended up being 0:10:13.440,0:10:17.490 used for things that we could never have 0:10:15.270,0:10:20.040 anticipated. One of the first groups 0:10:17.490,0:10:22.380 use in a large-scale was the same city 0:10:20.040,0:10:24.270 council that 12 months previously had 0:10:22.380,0:10:26.730 been sending us eviction notices to 0:10:24.270,0:10:28.439 clear us from the City Square. They used 0:10:26.730,0:10:30.960 it for a large-scale public consultation. 0:10:28.440,0:10:33.030 Just in the last little while we 0:10:30.960,0:10:35.250 have groups set up in a group of 0:10:33.030,0:10:37.740 community gardens in Bulgaria a 0:10:35.250,0:10:40.290 Community Hospital in Vietnam we've got 0:10:37.740,0:10:41.520 Bitcoin mining coops using it right 0:10:40.290,0:10:43.469 through two groups of twelve-year-olds 0:10:41.520,0:10:46.980 making decisions in their school 0:10:43.470,0:10:49.800 councils. 0:10:46.980,0:10:51.330 Something that's appealing 0:10:49.800,0:10:52.920 to everyone from anarchist 0:10:51.330,0:10:54.930 collectives through to government 0:10:52.920,0:10:56.969 departments feels like something that's 0:10:54.930,0:11:02.160 got a lot of potential for widespread 0:10:56.970,0:11:04.710 uptake. We've built this 0:11:02.160,0:11:06.930 beta version over the next six months 0:11:04.710,0:11:08.850 we'll be bringing out of beta to a full 0:11:06.930,0:11:10.530 mobile release. We've just run a 0:11:08.850,0:11:12.649 crowdfunding campaign that I know some 0:11:10.530,0:11:14.569 people in this room contributed to. 0:11:12.649,0:11:17.540 So we're deeply grateful for now having 0:11:14.569,0:11:21.920 resources to take it through to a full 0:11:17.540,0:11:24.079 release that can scale. 0:11:21.920,0:11:27.050 We're really just driving forward 0:11:24.079,0:11:29.329 and building with the open source 0:11:27.050,0:11:31.279 community something that we see as 0:11:29.329,0:11:37.579 public infrastructure for distributed 0:11:31.279,0:11:41.749 group decision making. Some of the groups 0:11:37.579,0:11:46.219 that are using it. Where we're at now 0:11:41.749,0:11:50.420 I feel in history is a really really 0:11:46.220,0:11:53.300 interesting place to be. And it's a 0:11:50.420,0:11:54.649 a really hopeful time in some ways and I 0:11:53.300,0:11:56.899 think that's what the the spirit of this 0:11:54.649,0:11:59.869 conference really captures, that we've 0:11:56.899,0:12:01.970 got this infrastructure with more 0:11:59.869,0:12:05.629 potential for liberation for inter 0:12:01.970,0:12:08.179 connection. For genuine distributed 0:12:05.629,0:12:10.670 meaningful democracy. And with the same 0:12:08.179,0:12:13.459 infrastructure is increasingly under 0:12:10.670,0:12:15.740 threat. We've got this digital Commons 0:12:13.459,0:12:18.319 that's increasingly being enclosed. 0:12:15.740,0:12:22.429 We've got all these these spaces that 0:12:18.319,0:12:23.959 feel public and really are not. Space 0:12:22.429,0:12:26.629 that feels like you can freely 0:12:23.959,0:12:28.699 participate when every single behavior 0:12:26.629,0:12:30.499 that you perform is being monetized, and 0:12:28.699,0:12:38.329 is being sold to the highest bidder. 0:12:30.499,0:12:40.220 The challenge now is to support the 0:12:38.329,0:12:42.859 ecosystem of tools that are developing 0:12:40.220,0:12:45.139 that are held publicly but held in the 0:12:42.860,0:12:48.230 public good that a purpose-driven not 0:12:45.139,0:12:49.850 profit maximizing. And they're some 0:12:48.230,0:12:51.649 really amazing tools coming out. 0:12:49.850,0:12:54.470 There's a group in Argentina called 0:12:51.649,0:12:57.350 "Democracy always" who've built the first 0:12:54.470,0:12:59.809 user-friendly platform for liquid 0:12:57.350,0:13:03.529 democracy for proxy voting. Really 0:12:59.809,0:13:06.139 impressive project. And I feel like the 0:13:03.529,0:13:06.980 challenge is really to to look at what's 0:13:06.139,0:13:09.049 already there. 0:13:06.980,0:13:12.079 This burgeoning sphere of publicly-held 0:13:09.049,0:13:13.759 Civic tech infrastructure and support it 0:13:12.079,0:13:16.670 and see what we can do to support other 0:13:13.759,0:13:19.999 projects coming up. As it's only when 0:13:16.670,0:13:23.569 we're all participating in meaningful 0:13:19.999,0:13:26.270 democracy. Democracy as a distributed 0:13:23.569,0:13:28.550 network of real people in real 0:13:26.270,0:13:30.350 communities coming together to make 0:13:28.550,0:13:32.060 decisions that work for everyone. 0:13:30.350,0:13:35.150 Only then will the public internet have 0:13:32.060,0:13:40.780 delivered on its real potential. 0:13:35.150,0:13:40.780 Thank you very much.