Group process
The census process we used this week was very interesting to me. It was seeming to work very well but at the end we still had people in the community who seemed upset. That makes me question if all the efforts were really worth it. We could have just gotten it down to 3 names and taken a vote, I feel as though the feelings would have been the same. Maybe I am wrong and it is possible that the outcome would have been totally different if we had taken a vote. I guess overall I felt frustrated that we put in so much effort and time and in the end there seemed to be people that were still very unsatisfied. I guess my point is, in society can we ever really achieve a happy ending for all?
May 24th, 2008 at 10:50 pm
Ouch! I feel as though you are making a very big assumption about the feelings of others. I also think that saying “3 people” is a passive way to bring attention to specific people. I think that the idea behind the census is wonderful, but in the end it still boils down to some people get what they want and others get what they can tolerate. Personally I can not and do not feel comfortable speaking with any authorit to the feelings of others. I do, however, feel comfortable saying that stading up for what you believe in and saying that I do not agree is difficult and should not be precieved as pouting. I do not think it had anything to do with “not getting their way” as much as agreeing less with the concept the Pangea represents and more with the concepts that Urbtopis presented. By the end of the census it was obvious the we were discussing more than just names. The titles on the board had taken on lives of their own and were very clearly representive of ideals, values, beliefs,and missions. These concepts are usually viewed on a very individual basis. It is important that as we continue to build a community that we remember that a community is made up of individuals, and that individuals do not always agree. Disagreeing with the census is not necessarily anti-community, and being “called out” because you disagree is not necessarily supportive or respectful of our differences as individuals in a community.
May 25th, 2008 at 9:16 am
Hi Jessica, I am very sorry if I hurt your feelings. I was really speaking to the process as successful or not, in the sense of comparing it to an outright vote. I did not use the word pout, nor did I mean that at all in my blog. I was trying to get across the point that in the end there were still people unsatisfied and I feel as if the result might have been the same had we just taken a vote. I was really trying to compare the voting process to the census process. I am very sorry if it came across that I was trying to speak for people or put words in their mouth, that was not my intention at all. I changed the last line to hopefully make my point clearer. Also, I must admit that I wrote that blog very quickly so I could get out the door and get to the beach so maybe my point was not as clear as it should have been. Please accept my apology and know that I was just comparing the census process with the voting and asking the question of can we ever really all reach agreement in society and all be happy in the end.
May 30th, 2008 at 6:10 am
Hey Mel,
I think you wrote a comment on my wall that you meant to write to Jessica O., but it did make me read your blog and the communication between you and Jessie D…I agree with Jessica’s view point for the most part. I mean I was unsatisfied b/c I felt like most people wanted Urbtopia but they went along to get along b/c people were stuck in the sand on Pangea. Because I COULD have kept saying keep for Urbtopia, but b/c it was 3:58 I just let it go! lol…I had already said what I had to say about Urbtopia therefore there was nothing more for me to say but I got looked at as not caring because I was tired and chose to put my head down. Overall I liked the process but I would revamp it and do a vote at the end! LOLOL!
June 2nd, 2008 at 7:10 pm
That was what I was saying, I would have done everything the same but at the end I would have just done a vote and gotten it over with once we got it down to 3 names! ; )