Videos
The video on empathy directly confronts this notion and suggests that human interactions are driven by our mirror neurons—an amazing concept that humans experience similar emotions and neural experiences as those witnessed by our fellow humans. The ALS video builds upon this idea with the formation of the http://www.patientslikeme.com/website. Individuals are able to share their stories within groups of individuals with like conditions and with those who are interested in the human story of each condition. The human story told through data is another interesting concept that quantitative researchers embark upon but cloak the individual story, face and experience beyond the curtain of anonymity and quantitative measures. Both of these shortcomings of the quantitative field are addressed through releasing the power of vulnerability and development of new measures—collected and constructed by the patients—to create a community. This is the aspect that speaks most directly to me. Social media is being used to connect us through the pain and suffering of the human experience to where “we need to give to others to be successful” (ALS Video).
The video by Chris Anderson touches upon the formation of new communities where the relationship of one-to-many is replaced by the relationship of many-to-many. I think this notion is the crux of the opportunities for both the internet (tool) and cyberspace (experience/community) to reconstruct our social constitution and consequently redefine our expectations for and experience with government. The Patientslikeus website empowers patients to shed the identity of victims in need of being saved by omnipotent doctors to being participants with an active role in concert with the medical community. This symphony of actors is not limited by the doctor-patient experience but is most potent when it extends to family and the cyber-community. Utilizing the internet as a connector around empathy and innovation (Anderson video) can create new ecosystems of health that can replace the reactive function of treatment and proactively build protective factors and emergent response systems within the community.
Second Life
I found the activity of joining Second Life very interesting. It is easy and free to join and the graphics and software are very modern and professional. The avatar experience in this world allows you to create your own avatar where you decide gender, appearance, race and contextual identity (human, animal, machine or symbol). This exercise reminded me of a quote by Catherine Riessman in her book Narrative Method for the Human Sciences. She states: “Perhaps the push toward narrative comes from contemporary preoccupations with identity. No longer viewed as given and “natural” individuals must now construct who they are and how they want to be known, just as groups, organizations, and governments do. In postmodern times, identities can be assembled and dissembled, accepted and contested, and indeed performed for audiences.” (Riessman, 2008 p. 7) I think this quote cogently provides a perspective for the draw to Second Life (SL). Within SL it appeared that all avatars who were people were skinny and the women were dressed with bare-minimum amounts of clothing. This identity I find pervasive in advertising and found it interesting that most individuals I came contact with ascribed to these generalizations of desired appearance. I also notice that people could get married on SL and written into the code was the blowing of kisses gesture and a love meter (I do not know the purpose of this indicator as we all need love). The availability for virtual connections is definitely a purposeful aspect of the architecture of the site.
Furthermore, the descriptions of the destinations provided a glimpse into expectations of a location: lover’s paradise, Perdition- where crime and ghetto-life run rampant, vampires, education, etc. Though I prefer the real interaction with people to that of the virtual experience, SL is noted to be a new tool for companies to hold virtual conferences and meetings. I can see how both the positive and negative aspects of a world similar to that shown in the movie Inception can be created in an environment of “limitless” (code permitting) possibilities and interactions. For public administration this could provide a medium for citizen to interact and model citizen expectations as they interact with computer generated public administrators and governance systems. Citizens could also create their own ideal city where they are subsequently encouraged to model these changes in the real world. The opportunities for both the intellectual development and practical motivation for action are ripe if utilized appropriately.
Meetup
The Meetup experience provided me with a new appreciation of the opportunities of social media. My mother is a very empathetic woman who was raised with a strong sense of community. Over time and by recently moving to a new neighborhood, my mother has become less connected to her social networks and would benefit greatly from sites such as Meetup. I registered for the Phoenix Philanthropists Volunteer Meetup and was made aware of the grand opening event for Maggie’s Thrift. Maggie’s Thrift is run by Maggie's Place who offers assistance to expectant mothers who are alone or are on the street. This is the type of organization that my mother expressed interest in volunteering for a number of years back but never found an opportunity to participate. Anderson would suggest that these sites create crowds focused (the light) on programs of your interest which subsequently leads to the catalyst for innovation through human interaction and desire. I like the language Anderson utilizes and the opportunities granted by sites such as Meetup.
Public Administration Opportunities
Modern public administration is ripe for opportunities for creating similar Meetup sites structured by the theories provided in the videos to engage to the highly mobile, populated urban cities. Democracy within this context can extend beyond the notion of shared ideas and equal votes to shared actions and equal participation. I believe that the responsibility placed upon government is disproportional to the resources available and our innate sense of accountability. Moreover, I propose that the opposition to the ideas that government should over regulate and control public and private actions stems from the inherent need to belong and participate. The liberty espoused in the American ideals is also imbued with a response-ability by each of us in shaping this nation and collectively writing its future. I contend that public administration will be successful if we are able to engage our citizens to release their collective intelligence, empathy, resources, love and innate desire to participate in advancing the human experience.
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