I recently had a helpful reminder of the role that exploring consequences can play in the shaping panelists’ thinking about the policy possibilities they are developing. Exploring consequences is something that IF project panelists do near the final stage of their...
How might public policy get people to act in certain ways? The question of how a democratic society could impact the behavior of its citizens is a near constant one in our Interactivity Foundation discussion projects. One type of policy response that often comes up...
One of the most important features of Interactivity Foundation discussion projects is the emphasis on exploring contrasting perspectives and developing contrasting policy possibilities. Along the way to doing this, panelists need to practice being open to...
What consequences might flow from a given policy possibility? It’s impossible to say for sure, but exploring this question is an important part of the IF discussion process. It helps the participants in an IF project to envision the policy ideas they’ve generated...
When IF project panels are beginning the transition to generating public policy ideas, I’ve found it helpful to have the panelists explore different metaphors for thinking about the policy area. Metaphors can capture a distinct vision of what the policy area, or...
I’ve often wondered what an IF facilitator might do in a Sanctuary Project to encourage a discussion panel to generate some truly creative policy possibilities. There are times when a discussion panel might struggle with moving off the line. They might sketch out...
Interactivity Foundation Project Discussions aim at generating contrasting conceptual policy possibilities with the hopes of expanding and enriching public thinking about a complex area of social and political concern. You might think of a “policy” as providing a...
Near the end of the rock documentary The White Stripes Under Great White Northern Lights, the White Stripe’s frontman, Jack White, talks about the importance of obstacles and tensions for his creative process (here’s an unofficial clip; the video quality is not...
“If an idea does not sound absurd, then there’s no hope for it.”—Albert Einstein I recently came across these words from Albert Einstein in the context of an interview on the topic “Does Science Fiction Predict the Future of Journalism?”. The interviewee, Loren...
How might educators teach students to engage as active participants and facilitators in student-centered discussions? How might contemporary higher education classrooms become places for the discovery and social construction of alternative ways of thinking and...