Weblogsky: Where consensus doesn't work

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Where consensus doesn't work

Susan Crawford has a friend who's a string player in a conductorless orchestra. [Link]

The idea of a conductorless orchestra is effortlessly cyberian. Beautiful music, made without anyone in charge! Through listening and reacting, through feedback and awareness, the net becomes intelligent and produces order for free. No one has to direct its growth.

But listen to my conversational companion from last night: "There are these people that just love to hear the sound of their own voices. They can't even explain what it is they want. They say, 'More like THIS,' and bend an elbow or something, and no one knows what the heck that means. The people I respect never say anything. No one shuts anyone else up. It's just awful."

jon posted this at 4:04 AM
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