Characteristics

List proposed by Tom Atlee:

Qualities of folly and wisdom - with factors that support each aspect of participatory wisdom

A. Fairness vs. bias

1. Folly comes from narrow-mindedness, bias, partisanship

2. Wisdom depends on open-mindedness, equity, objectivity

3. Factors supporting this aspect of participatory wisdom include balanced information; attention to "broad benefit" and "general welfare"; balance of power; neutral conveners and facilitators; all voices heard; holistic thinking; attending to deep needs/interests of all parties; identifying lies and manipulation; legitimate mini-publics / random selection; citizens considered experts on community values; public visibility; transparency

B. Knowledge vs. ignorance

1. Folly comes from ignorance, denial, obliviousness

2. Wisdom depends on awareness, insight, understanding

3. Factors supporting this aspect of participatory wisdom include balanced information; access to diverse experts; systems thinking; 21st century info access (online, open source, crowd sourced, citizen science); focus on "taking into account what needs to be taken into account"; deliberation; iteration (reviewing results); all voices heard; understandable information; free flow of information; holistic thinking; respect for science; identifying lies and manipulation

C. Responsiveness vs. arrogance

1. Folly comes from arrogance, hubris, dogmatism

2. Wisdom depends on humility, judiciousness, responsiveness

3. Factors supporting this aspect of participatory wisdom include focus on learning; listening; integrating multiple viewpoints; iteration; collective intelligence; dialogue; systems thinking; holistic thinking; identifying lies and manipulation; citizens considered experts on community values

D. Caring vs. selfishness

1. Folly comes from selfishness, thoughtlessness, cold-heartedness, insensitivity

2. Wisdom depends on compassion, concern, resonance

3. Factors supporting this aspect of participatory wisdom include attention to "broad benefit" and "general welfare"; hearing each other's stories; attention to deep needs; all voices heard; triple bottom line; internalized costs; citizens considered experts on community values; support for emotional expression; opportunities to take responsibility for who and what you care about

E. Responsibility vs. carelessness

1. Folly comes from carelessness, negligence, rashness

2. Wisdom depends on mindfulness, judiciousness, responsibility

3. Factors supporting this aspect of participatory wisdom include deliberation; focus on "taking into account what needs to be taken into account"; invocation of citizens to service on behalf of the larger community; triple bottom line; internalized costs; transparency; public visibility; opportunities to take responsibility for what you care about

F. Prudence vs. shortsightedness

1. Folly comes from shortsightedness, immediate gratification, impatience

2. Wisdom depends on prudence, foresight, vision

3. Factors supporting this aspect of participatory wisdom include focus on long-term benefit; systems thinking; ecological thinking; scenario work; visioning work; iteration (periodic and ongoing conversations); internalized costs; triple bottom line; focus on resilience (often contrasted with narrow efficiency); the precautionary principle; attention to each others' concerns

G. Inspiration vs. convention

1. Folly comes from convention, habit, conformity

2. Wisdom depends on imagination, creativity, inspiration

3. Factors supporting this aspect of participatory wisdom include choice-creation; moving beyond partisan/traditional boxes; access to spirit; multiple viewpoints; all voices heard; creativity/visioning exercises; listening to multiple viewpoints; using diversity creatively; awareness of assumptions and narratives; supporting self-organization; group "flow"; opportunities to take responsibility for what you care about

H. Integrity vs. corruption

1. Folly comes from corruption, profiteering, manipulation, adulteration of good process

2. Wisdom depends on integrity, trust, dependability, faith

3. Factors supporting this aspect of participatory wisdom include random selection / legitimate mini-publics; ad hoc citizen deliberative councils; supporting self-organization; transparency; identifying lies and manipulation; penalties for corruption; protection and validation for whistleblowers; public visibility and broad public engagement; citizen watchdogs; considering multiple viewpoints fairly; citizens considered experts on community values

Participatory Wisdom

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