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Rating: 
Summary: Utterly Sensational--Basic Book for Humanity
Review:
I see so many things starting to come together around the world and through books. The Internet has opened the door for a cross-fertilization of knowledge and emotion and concern across all boundaries such as the world has never seen before, and it has made possible a new form of structured collective intelligence such as H.G. Wells (World Brain), Howard Bloom (Global Brain), Pierre Levy (Collective Intelligence), Willis Harman (Global MindChange), and I (New Craft of Intelligence--Personal, Public, & Political), could never have imagined.
This book is better than all of ours, for the simple reason that it speaks directly to the possibilities of deliberative democracy through citizen study circles and wisdom councils. The book is also helpful as a pointer to a number of web sites, all of them very immature at this point, but also emergent in a most constructive way--web sites focused on public issues, public agendas, new forms of democratic organization, and so on. Still lacking--and I plan to encourage special organizations such as the Center for American Progress to implement something like this--is a central hub where a citizen can go, type in their zip code, and immediately be in touch with the following (as illustrated on page 133 of New Craft): 1) a weekly report on the state of any issue (disease, water, security, whatever); 2) distance learning on that issue; 3) an expert forum on that issue; 4) a virtual library on that issue including links to the deep web substance on that issue, not just to home pages of sponsoring organizations; 5) a global calendar of all events scheduled on that issue, including legislation and conferences or hearings; 6) a rolodex or who's who at every level for that issue; 7) a virtual budget showing what is being spent on that issue at every level; and 8) an active map showing the status of that issue in time and space terms, with links to people, documents, etcetera. I cannot say enough good things about this book. If the authors cited above have been coming at the same challenge from a "top down" perspective, then Tom Atlee, the author of this book, gets credit for defining a "bottom up" approach that is sensible and implementable. This book focuses on what comes next, after everyone gets tired of just "meeting up" or "just blogging." This book is about collective intelligence for the common good, and it is a very fine book.
Rating:
Summary: Utterly Sensational--Basic Book for Humanity
Review:
I see so many things starting to come together around the world and through books. The Internet has opened the door for a cross-fertilization of knowledge and emotion and concern across all boundaries such as the world has never seen before, and it has made possible a new form of structured collective intelligence such as H.G. Wells (World Brain), Howard Bloom (Global Brain), Pierre Levy (Collective Intelligence), Willis Harman (Global MindChange), and I (New Craft of Intelligence--Personal, Public, & Political), could never have imagined.
This book is better than all of ours, for the simple reason that it speaks directly to the possibilities of deliberative democracy through citizen study circles and wisdom councils. The book is also helpful as a pointer to a number of web sites, all of them very immature at this point, but also emergent in a most constructive way--web sites focused on public issues, public agendas, new forms of democratic organization, and so on. Still lacking--and I plan to encourage special organizations such as the Center for American Progress to implement something like this--is a central hub where a citizen can go, type in their zip code, and immediately be in touch with the following (as illustrated on page 133 of New Craft): 1) a weekly report on the state of any issue (disease, water, security, whatever); 2) distance learning on that issue; 3) an expert forum on that issue; 4) a virtual library on that issue including links to the deep web substance on that issue, not just to home pages of sponsoring organizations; 5) a global calendar of all events scheduled on that issue, including legislation and conferences or hearings; 6) a rolodex or who's who at every level for that issue; 7) a virtual budget showing what is being spent on that issue at every level; and 8) an active map showing the status of that issue in time and space terms, with links to people, documents, etcetera. I cannot say enough good things about this book. If the authors cited above have been coming at the same challenge from a "top down" perspective, then Tom Atlee, the author of this book, gets credit for defining a "bottom up" approach that is sensible and implementable. This book focuses on what comes next, after everyone gets tired of just "meeting up" or "just blogging." This book is about collective intelligence for the common good, and it is a very fine book.
Rating:
Summary: A thoughtful and philosophical work
Review: Tom Atlee's The Tao Of Democracy: Using Co-Intelligence To Create A World That Works For All offers the reader a positive viewpoint on and for creating a democracy founded upon wisdom, citizen participation, a culture of dialogue, and in an harmonious balance that encourages the best in people. A thoughtful and philosophical work written specifically to stave off the impending self-destructive side of current civilization, The Tao Of Democracy is recommended reading for students of Political Science and Philosophy.
Rating:
Summary: After the inspiration: How to create a future worth living
Review: Tom Atlee's work illustrates the positive impact citizen deliberative councils can have where divisive public issues stall as intractable conflict. Chapter 3 -- Wholeness, Interconnectedness, and Co-creativity -- provides the Rosetta for understanding "co-intelligence" and the qualitative change in conversation when we embrace wholeness, interconnectedness, and co-creativity. Want to change the quality of the conversation? Read this book now.
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