Money
Money drives the political economy and corrupts everything it touches. Do not attempt to become a “rentier” with your website (advertising or other forms of internet revenue) nor your CoCreative Learning group (don’t charge for participation). As soon as you do, your interests cease to be aligned with the pursuit of truth but will be driven by “earnings” incentives and penalties. Share the modest costs of CoCreative Learning between the individual participants in your weekly meetings.
You can earn a living from CoCreative Learning by charging for your time to share the knowledge in these pages but don’t attempt to become a co-creative learning “entrepreneur” – it will corrupt your judgement and restrict your learning. Be an advocate for CoCreative Learning; it will expand your learning community and accelerate your own learning.
Self-censorship
Fear is a powerful weapon of control. Fear of death, fear of poverty, fear of social exclusion and loss of status, fear of condemnation by one’s peers… these are all powerful incentives to self-censor. The system survives because of erroneous beliefs which go unchallenged – the only way those beliefs will crumble is if evidence which negates them penetrates human consciousness. For that to happen we have to speak out without fear or favour. More people are doing so today than ever before, join them.
There are no taboos in CoCreative Learning and there is no question which can’t be asked. Free learning requires free speech.
The standards you adhere to yourself, you defend on behalf of others.
Ad hominem attacks
Never resort to name calling.
You will be attacked verbally or digitally from time to time but do NOT respond in kind. Rather, invite curiosity by providing hard evidence of why someone is mistaken in their view. It usually takes two or three exchanges for rational dialogue to ensue. It will quickly become obvious when you’ve “hit a brick wall” – that no matter what you say, they’re not listening/engaging. Don’t continue to bang your head against the wall – it’s a waste of emotional, spiritual and intellectual energy. Gracefully withdraw while leaving the door open for them to re-engage later. There are always others to usefully give your attention to.
“Build your opponent a golden bridge to retreat across.” ― Sun Tzu
Co-creative learning is like being a detective and you will learn more by engaging with, and asking questions of, the “other” (those with whom you vehemently disagree) than those who think like and agree with you.
Ego
Ego is an obstacle to co-creative learning.
CoCreative Learning is essentially unlearning, discarding our previous beliefs to explore reality based on evidence. Consequently, if we think we already know or think we are awake, our minds are closed. Co-creative learning is an awakening which requires an open mind. Nothing in the world is fixed but fluid and evolving, as our learning must be. There are layers of lies and deception to peel away and we encounter different, evolving perceptions of reality as we peel away each layer. At each layer, we should hold “tentative conviction” (see Certainty below).
If we’re regarded as “expert”, relying on our credentials and past learning as the foundation of our being, our ego is dominant and an obstacle to learning. If we feel intellectually superior to others, we fail to learn from them; often the wisest voices are those we seldom listen to. Humility pays dividends in learning but should not lead to self-censorship (see above).
We have to let go. Let go of ego. Let go of belief. Let go of fear.
Ideology
Ideologies are belief systems and if we are to learn, we need to shed beliefs and ideologies.
Increasingly, we’ve become focused on “identity” – I’m a something..ist, he’s a this or she’s a that. Identity politics is another ideological cage which puts boundaries on exploration. Take the conversation beyond identity to what concerns us all, as human beings.
Groupthink
CoCreative Learning is the antidote to groupthink because of its Process, Principles and Sources. MindMaps are invaluable in deconstructing myths born of groupthink.
The Irrelevant
We are responsible for our own learning and individually, we need to prioritise our activities. Time and opportunities for Co-Creative Learning are limited. Consequently, to be effective learners, we need to decide what’s important and record it in our MindMaps – everything else is disposable, not just the irrelevant, in the sense we don’t have to hold on to it within our conscious mind; it will be filed away for retrieval using our MindMaps. Similarly, our interactions with others need to be prioritised, limiting them to those directly concerned with our current focus of learning.
Prioritising your time will accelerate your CoCreative Learning but don’t be impatient; there is a natural rhythm to learning – take time to focus and reflect on the now, the current subject of your deliberations, and you will be led in the right direction to expand your understanding. Co-creative learning is a natural, organic process; it only needs the right conditions to thrive.
Certainty
Certainty is a trap. It is akin to a belief which can be overturned by new information or evidence. We must apply “tentative conviction” to our work which means we assert our analysis is correct at the last snapshot but recognise, as we dig deeper, new information or evidence may emerge to overturn our previous conviction.
Like nature and the universe, co-creative learning is fluid, dynamic and circular, not static and linear. In a world that is constantly changing and evolving, our learning too must evolve if we are to adapt and thrive.
The term “tentative conviction” comes from Peter Challen whose father’s words, relayed by Peter, have been adopted as the motto/guide for Critical Thinking and CoCreative Learning:
Nothing is impossible if you don’t mind who gets the credit
If your name is not appended to a conviction which is subsequently overturned (as many will be), you’ll have no need to try to defend an indefensible position.