I agree that high-rung thinkers would benefit from putting forth a more collaborative and organized effort to resolve the golem problem, and not limiting themselves to the individual habit-building that Tim refers to in the Answers section of the Changing Course chapter.
There are ways that Idea Labs can reclaim territory that has been ceded to the Power Games–ways to dissolve golems. To bring down a golem, it is not necessary to seek power over policy or institution. Instead of a top-down approach, I prefer to start by deconstructing a golem’s narrative.
The deconstruction method starts with a values conversation: establishing understanding of what people actually want, rather than trying to establish a shared picture of the status quo. After identifying the values at stake for people and demonstrating understanding of and respect for those values, the next step is exploring the effects of people’s current methods. This is where people start to see how they might be harming others, and even themselves. The last step is to present alternative approaches for accomplishing their goals, ones they can recognize as preferable. It’s up to them to decide what to do with what they now understand.
Deconstruction takes skill and practice to use reliably, but for quick reference I abbreviate the process as follows:
Make them comfortable
Make them think
Make them choose
The deconstruction approach is unlikely to persuade the entire population of the golem. However, it can persuade enough people that the golem crumbles away as the people within it see the effectiveness of high-rung thinking at solving their problems.
The genie doesn’t have to defeat the golem by beating it at the Power Games. The genie can defeat the golem on the memetic level, by understanding the non-toxic values motivating the people in the golem, and addressing those values constructively, better than the golem itself can. In other words, the genie can show people it knows what they want and can deliver.
To make it faster and easier to identify people’s values, I’ve boiled down people’s motivations and the obstacles they face into some keywords. Expressing what matters most as simply as possible has the added benefit of preventing people from latching onto particular methods of accomplishing their goals. It allows people to recognize satisfactory solutions even if those solutions differ from what the people originally had in mind.
Helping people get on the same page about the criteria for a solution is an essential first step towards building more effective genies, which is my area of specialty.
I agree that high-rung thinkers would benefit from putting forth a more collaborative and organized effort to resolve the golem problem, and not limiting themselves to the individual habit-building that Tim refers to in the Answers section of the Changing Course chapter.
There are ways that Idea Labs can reclaim territory that has been ceded to the Power Games–ways to dissolve golems. To bring down a golem, it is not necessary to seek power over policy or institution. Instead of a top-down approach, I prefer to start by deconstructing a golem’s narrative.
The deconstruction method starts with a values conversation: establishing understanding of what people actually want, rather than trying to establish a shared picture of the status quo. After identifying the values at stake for people and demonstrating understanding of and respect for those values, the next step is exploring the effects of people’s current methods. This is where people start to see how they might be harming others, and even themselves. The last step is to present alternative approaches for accomplishing their goals, ones they can recognize as preferable. It’s up to them to decide what to do with what they now understand.
Deconstruction takes skill and practice to use reliably, but for quick reference I abbreviate the process as follows:
Make them comfortable
Make them think
Make them choose
The deconstruction approach is unlikely to persuade the entire population of the golem. However, it can persuade enough people that the golem crumbles away as the people within it see the effectiveness of high-rung thinking at solving their problems.
The genie doesn’t have to defeat the golem by beating it at the Power Games. The genie can defeat the golem on the memetic level, by understanding the non-toxic values motivating the people in the golem, and addressing those values constructively, better than the golem itself can. In other words, the genie can show people it knows what they want and can deliver.
To make it faster and easier to identify people’s values, I’ve boiled down people’s motivations and the obstacles they face into some keywords. Expressing what matters most as simply as possible has the added benefit of preventing people from latching onto particular methods of accomplishing their goals. It allows people to recognize satisfactory solutions even if those solutions differ from what the people originally had in mind.
Helping people get on the same page about the criteria for a solution is an essential first step towards building more effective genies, which is my area of specialty.
For more of the tools that a genie would use to do the work of democracy and thereby outcompete golems, here is one of my more recent articles on the subject: https://ginnungagapfoundation.wordpress.com/2022/11/06/democracy-is-in-danger-but-not-for-the-reasons-you-think/.
Thanks for starting this conversation!