[p2p-research] the connective

[Roberto Verzola]

I'd like to tell a related story. I coordinate a network that trains 
farmers on a new method of rice farming called the system of rice 
intensification (http://sri.ciifad.cornell.edu/index.html).

In my experience, out of 10 farmers, we talk to, 8 or 9 would raise all 
kinds of problems and reasons why the method will not work. But 1 or 2 
would want to try the method out immediately and would keep bothering us 
for more information, what the requirements are, how to start, etc. etc. 
The latter (the "early adopters") are the people we usually focus our 
training attention on. Our success-on-first-try (SOFT) rates are usually 
much better with them than with the former, who tend to give up too soon.

It is often the success of the early adopters that gets the skeptics to 
eventually try the method too. And then some of these skeptics often 
turn out to be eventually as enthusiastic in their promotion of SRI, 
after they have actually tried it out. The important thing is to 
convince them to try it out first.

Roberto

Samuel Rose wrote:
> On Sat, Dec 11, 2010 at 3:20 PM, Patrick Anderson <agnucius at gmail.com> wrote:
>   
>> Hello Michel Bauwens,
>>
>> Do you remember telling me User Ownership has a potential problem of
>> Worker exploitation?
>>
>> I'm just trying to understand if that position has changed, and if
>> not, how that perceived problem will be solved.
>>
>> Your suggestion was to make sure the Workers had part ownership in the
>> Means of Production.
>>
>> Does that mean private ownership of devices such as the PlugComputer
>> must be shared with those who manufacture, configure and/or maintain
>> those devices?
>>
>> If not, then maybe you can help me see past my confusion?
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Patrick Anderson
>>
>>
>>     
>
> Michel may have said this, or he may not have. But what *I* am saying
> is that these hypothetical scenarios do not prove or disprove
> anything. What matters in the end (at least to me) is what real people
> actually do with plug computers. Not what they can, nor what we think
> they should do.
>
> Michel could change his position on what you are talking about to a
> different thing on a minute-by-minute basis, and it won't really
> matter to me at all in this case, until people are actually *doing
> something* resembling what we are talking about with plug computers
> (or anything for that matter). Let's at least see 2 people doing it,
> ok? :)
>
> For me, it's more important to see people doing what we are talking
> about AND BENEFITING FROM IT IN A POSITIVE WAY THAT IMPROVES THEIR
> LIVES, than to nitpick about who said what. It gets really, really,
> really, really, really, really tiresome. :-D
>
>