This entry is part of a five-part series on “terrible communities”: 1. All Communities are Terrible Communities. 2. Terrible Outcomes of Terrible Communities. 3. A Less Foolish Power Literacy. 4. Terrible People in Terrible Communities. 5. An Antidote to Terrible Communities
Such a helpful post, particularly the way you've succinctly captured the pitfalls for these three communities. It all maps to my experience, and I've never realized how we-spaces tend toward "a sense of connection with a person without having any responsibility to them" before reading this, so thanks for that.
For my part, it still feels like something's missing here. Maybe you're getting to it soon, but (I think?) all of the communities you've explored so far fail at being intergenerational. They're primarily for people 25 to 55 years old, often single. They rarely if ever include kids.
Religion, for all its foibles, almost always includes an intergenerational element. Religion also, as it so happens, often provides people with a sense of connection *and* a responsibility for them. Without these qualities, I'm not sure if a community can reach escape velocity or deeply benefit culture at large.
Thanks for the great comment. Yes, I think religion at its best removes the terrible community problem. However, I do not know if current religions are responding to the sociopath problem writ large. I've sent this entry to Paul VanderKlay to get his thoughts.
This is excellently important Peter. We can't have community without the "human stuff," BUT we can pay attention to patterns that we can learn to work with, or even get around. Your observation on "We Space" communities were really impactful, as it is a space I'm passionately committed to.
Such a helpful post, particularly the way you've succinctly captured the pitfalls for these three communities. It all maps to my experience, and I've never realized how we-spaces tend toward "a sense of connection with a person without having any responsibility to them" before reading this, so thanks for that.
For my part, it still feels like something's missing here. Maybe you're getting to it soon, but (I think?) all of the communities you've explored so far fail at being intergenerational. They're primarily for people 25 to 55 years old, often single. They rarely if ever include kids.
Religion, for all its foibles, almost always includes an intergenerational element. Religion also, as it so happens, often provides people with a sense of connection *and* a responsibility for them. Without these qualities, I'm not sure if a community can reach escape velocity or deeply benefit culture at large.
Thanks for the great comment. Yes, I think religion at its best removes the terrible community problem. However, I do not know if current religions are responding to the sociopath problem writ large. I've sent this entry to Paul VanderKlay to get his thoughts.
This is excellently important Peter. We can't have community without the "human stuff," BUT we can pay attention to patterns that we can learn to work with, or even get around. Your observation on "We Space" communities were really impactful, as it is a space I'm passionately committed to.