commit 3f56d993bdb0363e36afb50d0ecbeb813fbc268d
parent 8a536047d753a5843b47411d7ebe557bc83eefb1
Author: ugrnm <ultrageranium@bleu255.com>
Date: Wed, 3 Dec 2025 15:05:35 +0100
let it ferment
Diffstat:
1 file changed, 32 insertions(+), 24 deletions(-)
diff --git a/let_it_ferment.mdwn b/let_it_ferment.mdwn
@@ -1,27 +1,35 @@
-Its technology is how a society copes with physical reality: how people get and
-keep and cook food, how they clothe themselves, what their power sources are
-(animal? human? water? wind? electricity? other?) what they build with and what
-they build, their medicine — and so on and on. Perhaps very ethereal people
-aren’t interested in these mundane, bodily matters, but I’m fascinated by them,
-and I think most of my readers are too.
-
-Technology is the active human interface with the material world.
-
-But the word is consistently misused to mean only the enormously complex and
-specialised technologies of the past few decades, supported by massive
-exploitation both of natural and human resources.
-
-This is not an acceptable use of the word. “Technology” and “hi tech” are not
-synonymous, and a technology that isn't “hi,” isn’t necessarily '“low” in any
-meaningful sense.
-
-We have been so desensitized by a hundred and fifty years of ceaselessly
-expanding technical prowess that we think nothing less complex and showy than a
-computer or a jet bomber deserves to be called “technology” at all. As if linen
-were the same thing as flax — as if paper, ink, wheels, knives, clocks, chairs,
-aspirin pills, were natural objects, born with us like our teeth and fingers —
-as if steel saucepans with copper bottoms and fleece vests spun from recycled
-glass grew on trees, and we just picked them when they were ripe...
+Let it ferment
+==============
+
+Give it time. Let it self-organise. Care for contradictions. Encourage others
+to get involved in organisation and content.
+
+After the initial excitement, the real work is in staying with it — through
+quiet weeks, shifting roles, and uncertainty. Fermentation takes time:
+structure can emerge naturally but requires care and trust.
+
+You will also notice when the time comes to write down tasks, divide work and
+allocate efforts. This doesn’t mean creating top down structures. A healthy
+collective can survive the absence of its initiators.
+
+
+**Suggestions**
+
+- Accept uneven growth — some sessions will be full, others nearly empty.
+- Let ownership of tasks circulate: invite others to host, teach and decide. Many tasks are not fun but essential: facilitating, maintenance, coordination, cleaning. These needs to circulate. Don’t wait to be asked to do the dishes.
+- Build small structures and simple systems that can survive if you step back.
+- Allow for experimentation — don’t be afraid to test new forms of governance or tools.
+- Contradictions and differences in pace and opinions will happen; not everyone moves toward degrowth the same way. When interacting with each other, learn to distinguish generative disagreement from toxic behaviour. Enforce your Code of Conduct.
+- Not everything needs facilitation. Leave space and opportunities for people to contribute in their own way.
+
+
+**Quotes**
+
+> Its technology is how a society copes with physical reality: how people get and keep and cook food, how they clothe themselves, what their power sources are (animal? human? water? wind? electricity? other?) what they build with and what they build, their medicine — and so on and on. Perhaps very ethereal people aren’t interested in these mundane, bodily matters, but I’m fascinated by them, and I think most of my readers are too. (blablabla, 2050)
+
+> Technology is the active human interface with the material world. (sdjkfhjksdh, 666)
+
+> But the word is consistently misused to mean only the enormously complex and specialised technologies of the past few decades, supported by massive exploitation both of natural and human resources. (sdkfsdfjkljklfsdjklsdf, 1999)
