Well stated. I have studied people using anthropology techniques as part of my projects, including mobile phone projects and overseas projects.ygmir wrote: ↑Wed Sep 14, 2022 10:21 amso the conflict:
some burners: we wish TTITD would go back to the old days, less rules, less safe, free to do as you please
other burners: we want more rules, and restrictions, because we don't feel safe, and we don't like how others do it.
Thing is, some were the first, and now they seem to be the second. They want rules so the things they don't like, don't happen.
Some want to "keep Burning Man potentially fatal", as long as it's within their comfort zone and with their approval.
Some resent others who have more, spend more, or "do it wrong" because it's not in their vision of "doing it right".
To me, it seems the way of humans: Something is new, it's limited in scope, fun and everyone is on *mostly*, the same page. Others discover it, see it as "cool" or "fun" or "edgy" and join in. Eventually, enough come that some want to change it, to meet their vision, and at some point, they are successful, and then the originals, are pushed out. It happens with cities, societies, events, games...I see it as human nature. Not that I like it, but it can't be a surprise to anyone.
The culture of the participants changes, and that can change the event.
There are fuzzy boundries, going beyond which, financially and existentially endanger the event through government intervention.
Marian is the brains of the post-John Law event, but Larry was the philosopher. I think he saw the event as a big organic experiment unfolding on its own. And I think he was curious to see what it would do. I don't think he was interested at all in controlling it.
Larry wrote down the 10 principles, in 2004, extracting his perception of the event as it had evolved to that point. It was originally written to guide the new regionals. The Cocophony Society OG was diluted or faded by then. It was just luck or Crimson Rose's insight that Dada art was replaced by open source art.
I think one of the weaknesses of the organizers is that they are still Larry-thinking, they only react when a problem has already become serious, and there may be some legal department strategy influencing things.
If I were the Org, which I am not, I would add more experienced-burner qualiative research anthropologists to the Census department. Then I would roll that up through a permanent Cultural Direction cross-department group, including the board. One would hope that process could correct direction before it becomes large and hard to correct. They are building a younger and more diverse board, which is good, but the inner founder board may not be with us forever.
I hope an un-BLM-licensed alt event evolves outside the closure zone, same time, BRC and the alt within view of each other at a distance. My impression is that the Regionals evolve slowly enough that the criticicms of BRC culture have not become a controversy.
