Thursday, November 13, 2014

We Should Be Initiators, Not Just Participants

In his book, "Here Comes Everybody," Clay Shirky comments that after the initial creation phase, groups or ideas sometimes take off and can change the world.  In his Wikipedia example he explains that one person merely has to stub out an article to get the process going.  Eventually, through minimal efforts of many and the large efforts of a few, the article can then become robust and lengthy.  Shirky goes on to say that a key benefit of technology is the ability to "lower the hurdles to doing something in the first place." (p. 181)  These ideas got me thinking about initiators, people that help others join in just by starting a discussion.  Personally, I know that I am more likely to join a discussion that has already been started than start one myself.  I think that behavior is typical of the average person as well.  Great responsibility then lies with those who start discussions because they enable everyone else to participate.  As I came to this realization I also realized the strong connection it had to the LDS Church's doctrine of agency.  When we contribute to a discussion someone else started we are being acted upon but when we can be the initiator, we are acting and using our agency as it was intended.  If we have something worthwhile to say the chances are there are others who agree with us.  The tools are there to say it and who knows, we may provide the platform for people to join in, participate, accomplish something great, and even change the world.

1 comment:

  1. Or, one could argue, I'm acting by initiating a comment, not being acted upon, since nothing you did coerced me to respond. I even chose to click a link and come to your blog, all without you acting upon me.

    And typically, I now try to avoid getting in the conversation, since I tend to get myself into trouble whenever I do. My opinion is not usually popular...

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