blog.forgreatjustice.net

“But in the end, none of that matters as much as the simple fact that software does not work the way we think, and until it does, it is not worth trying to perfect.” — Scott Rosenberg, Dreaming in Code.

My thought for the year: it’s called “culture” because it grows everywhere.

That is, when you establish the bare medium for social interaction - be it a weekly meeting space, a shared workpalce kitchen, a mailing list, or an option to “friend” others online - the base medium exists for a social culture to emerge, evolve, self-enforce and self-define,  in a very shirky way. You can affect the process in some ways, but once it truly picks up, it’s important to recognize that you are no longer in control. The culture is an autonomous organism.

This shouldn’t be too surprising, but sometimes I’m impressed (occaisioanlly: exasperated or awed) by how social patterns evolve, everywhere, again and again.