a lab book

a collaboration from around the world.
dedicated to you.
we and it
a people experiment.
redefineschool.com/about/

1/intro
We’re experimenting with the intersection of city and school.
Seeking to scale each individual by crowdsourcing their curiosities
for gatherings/connections that matter to them. To ground that
inevitable chaos we’re crafting a match(dot)com type app/chip,
to listen to curiosity.
What you do and who you are needs to matter to you. Perhaps
what matters most is figuring out what matters most. People
need time and space to do/be that.
If people are doing/being things that don’t matter to them,
there’s little sustainability/thrivability/…

2/intro
Perhaps what has not yet been experimented with:
1/a city-wide experiment, to provide an ecosystem of
eclectic people/resources;

3/intro
2/ an as-the-day experiment, rather than adding something to
the day (after hours/school/work).

extreme brief:
redefineschool.com/what/
4/intro

for
to
Neither the great political and financial power structures of the world, nor
the specialization-blinded professionals, nor the population in general
realize that…it is now highly feasible to take care of everybody on earth at
a “higher standard of living than any have ever known”.
It no longer has to be you or me. Selfishness is unnecessary and
henceforth unrationalizable as mandated by survival. War is obsolete.
- Buckminster Fuller

3 city (community)
as school
(an eclectic ecosystem)
• in the city
• as the day
2 synchronicity
as revival
(a vital/temporary
dance)
1 grit as
sustainability
(an authentic
energy)

Perhaps what we’ve been doing (with school/work/life) has been more
about temporary efficiency than sustainability.
Perhaps that’s why we seem to perpetuate a band-aid mindset, with an
insatiated/ongoing need for motivation.
The center of the problem is that none of them knew the center of the
problem.
- Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Imagine we dig deeper, to a natural energy. An energy that restores/revives
itself, in 7 billion ways, every day.
19/sustainability

1 grit as
sustainability
(an authentic
energy)
Perhaps sustainability is more about space/permission/grit..
look closer.
21/sustainability

1 grit as sustainability
(an authentic energy)
an abandon/intrinsic-drive/madness-even
to satiate curiosity, to follow/chase down rabbit holes of
whimsy/mind-wandering/needs
an ongoing ness of renewing/regenerating/listening/trusting
To be what she already is….We have learned to fly the air like birds and swim the sea like fish,
but we have not learned the simple art of living together as brothers. - Tom Shadyac
22/sustainability

23/sustainability
What we see in successful people is this sort of generous persistence, when we are
faced with the initial no, or the third no, or the fifth thing that doesn’t work, people
with grit figure out a different way to move forward—not an obnoxious way to move
forward but a way to move forward that demonstrates commitment and tenacity.
One of the reasons that lottery winners end up having such miserable lives after they
win the lottery is that coming into a whole bunch of money doesn’t give you grit. The
money goes away pretty fast because you don’t know what to do when it doesn’t work
out the way you hope it will work out.
Grit is a choice. It’s an attitude. It’s not something you’re born with, nor is it something
that is given to you. That really excites me because it means that, unlike the Revolution
of 1910 or 1880, where it mattered who your father was, it doesn’t matter who you
know. It doesn’t matter where you were born if you at least were in a semi-privileged
environment. What matters is that you choose to put yourself into this world as a
creator, an actor, an artist, a leader. That’s just a choice.
- Seth Godin

24/sustainability
Imagine we scale each individual by facilitating connections per choice/passion/curiosity.
Perhaps the path to that vision boils down to whether we continue to oblige compulsion,
or not.

26/sustainability
Perhaps sustainability comes from addressing two needs all of us have..

27/sustainability
Noticing that...
Leaving us with the ..
So ..where to get the grit/cure.. to stay true to self.. ?
to keep choosing/doing/being things that matter.. everyday..
and still experience deep attachment/interconnectedness with others.. ?
Perhaps because...

29/sustainability
Self-sustaining grit is what happens when you unleash/facilitate
whimsy/curiosity.

Perhaps we recapture
of a child,
in the city,
in the country,
in the wild.
Perhaps we invite wilderness
back into
our spaces, our people.
Perhaps we create
spaces of permission,
where people have
nothing to prove.
Spaces where we have
no
because we believe/realize,
there is never
nothing going on.
redefineschool.com/neocortex-not-threatened/
30/sustainability

31/sustainability
Perhaps a platform for each of us to awaken/sustain our

32/sustainability
To embrace uncertainty, vulnerability in context.

33/sustainability
Perhaps it makes more sense, is more humane, and more alive/sustaining when we rely
on the nonmap within each one of us. When we listen to the rhythm. Everyday.

Don’t believe what your eyes are telling you. All they show is limitation. Look with your understanding.
Find out what you already know and you will see the way to fly. - Richard Bach
34/sustainability

.. the most wonderful thing I do in my entire life may happen in the next 10 seconds. - James Bach
35/sustainability

Perhaps we’re missing true grit/ /genius/ / …
because we’ve gotten too comfortable at holding others accountable for our
success.
Perhaps we follow the rules/policy/masses because if it doesn’t work for us,
we have someone else to blame.
Most often, letting others decide our days is not going to work for us. And
blaming others isn’t that fulfilling.
/responsibility of finding/doing/being the thing we
can’t not do – is not only the best gift we can give ourselves, but also the
world.
Here’s to being bold enough to take that responsibility/joy.
New every day.
37/sustainability

38/sustainability
They won’t get ulcers, become depressed, or hurt themselves or others because they are so stressed from
being forced through a system that doesn’t see them.

700 million
one
How are the people around you doing?
..doing/being the thing they can’t not do/be.
remarkable
tech connects
everyday

embrace chaos. alive people.
. to infinity. perpetual beta.
40/sustainability

embrace chaos. alive people.
. to infinity. perpetual beta.
41/sustainability

breathtaking. by design.
43/sustainability

Many people are re-imagining public education in incredibly cool ways. The only problem is
that those ways aren’t accessible to everyone right now. Perhaps a (temporary/fabricated)
synchronicity can help to hasten equity. (everyone getting a go everyday)
And so, a mechanism to help us get a good start at modeling another way, in sync, would
have to be simple enough so that 7 billion people could use/access it now. One that would
require no prep, no training, very little policy.
[If need be we could channel/initiate this mechanism via a redefinition of public education. ie:
upcycling ed resources. Repurposing time/money/people we currently spend on proving things, on
classroom management... ]
If we get the dance right, especially initially, we could turn this on a dime.
47/synchronicity

3 city (community)
as school
• in the city
• as the day
1 grit as
sustainability
(an authentic
energy)
2 synchronicity
as revival
(a vital/temporary
dance)

3 synchronicity
as revival
(a vital/temporary
dance)
Perhaps revival is more about
being quiet enough to hear the
beat/rhythm of a synchronicity
for 100% of humanity.
49/synchronicity

2 synchronicity as revival
(a vital/temporary dance)
the dance:
enough people
enough resources/spaces and
enough technology
50/synchronicity

Perhaps we try/create/model a solution, rather than focusing on
the problems/past/victimization/rights..
Perhaps we keep missing us, because we keep giving up
one/two/three degrees too soon. Imagine we’re that close.
Perhaps tech is here to reduce the time between intention & action,
between finding the thing you can’t not do & finding your people.
That offers synchronicity on a whole new level.
enough people – so everyone can be w/their people
enough spaces/resources – to facilitate changing curiosities
enough tech – to ground the chaos (perhaps this is why we can now live out
the dreams of Illich, Holt, Gatto, Jacobs, …)
53/synchronicity

Perhaps we try a new/old idea of time and space. Imagine mental/physical spaces that are
100% free form. Many of us believe that to be too ridiculous. But what if we have that all
wrong. What if we’re not getting to an equitable world, because we’re not completely
unleashing/letting go. Obsession with management/control/prestige most often trumps
authenticity.
Perhaps we experiment in a space with all kinds of people/resources. Perhaps we believe –
that in that space – there is never nothing going on – so that no one has anything to prove.
Imagine that happening as the day, not as an add-on to current busy-ness.
54/synchronicity

people. face to face. eye to eye. heart to heart. love.
55/synchronicity
solitude. local. global. community.

Perhaps we can prototype this social fiction (equity) into reality in a more timely manner.
Perhaps if people could see another way modeled, they’d go: we like that, we can do that.
Perhaps 20 mill no-strings-attached is a worthwhile bet on synchronicity. ie: Setting enough
people free from thinking about money for 6-12 months. Just to see.
redefineschool.com/ibp/
8 mill – ish: for places/resources,
buying and/or
renting spaces
(ie: community-
owned spaces)
for the crowd-
sourced gatherings
that matter, also
equipment/
resources needed in
those spaces, & for
traveling to and
from those spaces
56/synchronicity
I want you to consider the frightening possibility that we are spending far too much money on schooling, not too little. I want you to consider
that we have too many people employed in interfering with the way children grow up – and that all this money and all these people, all the
time we take out of children’s lives and away from their homes/families/neighborhoods/private-explorations gets in the way of education.
- John Taylor Gatto

7 mill – ish: for people,
people that need income can be supported to play, especially tapping into sabbaticals for
teachers in the district, and waivers/scholarships into unis/business for students – so they won’t
worry about the potential of being punished later for playing, or for taking a year (on) off – to
come back & play our/their dream/vision, also parents/community members, wanting to play
57/synchronicity

5 mill – ish: for tech,
while none of the ideas are new, combining
them might be. creating a chip (edison ish),
that would *listen for curiosities w/o
judgment, make connections, and leave a
trail (commonplace bookish). garnering
resources (wifi, devices,..) to make this
equitable/malleable for anyone.
58/synchronicity
*tech can listen w/o
judgment, take in unlimited
data, organize it, make
connections/matches for us,
leave a trail, … so that we can
spend our time
being/becoming rather than
proving

A term that resonates with this ability/desire/potential to be both completely yourself, and completely
immersed in community.. tapping into our interconnectedness..
59/synchronicity

Imagine…yourself meeting up for 30
min each day with a group of maybe
7 people. You could have a set place
[in redesigned school buildings,
public libraries, coffee houses,
parks ...] or change it up each time,
up to you. You just would need to
come together. No agenda for the
time spent, just sharing space, with
a goal of eventually getting to know
each other.
Imagine everyone –
being known
by someone.
Imagine …we believed it was legal
to think for ourselves.
Perhaps we awaken indispensable
people, change the world for
good, with the simple act of 7
billion people talking to
themselves everyday for 3 min.
This self-talk encourages
eudaimonia (you to be you) and it
becomes data – to help you find
your people.
Imagine everyone –
being themselves.
62/synchronicity

Tech reducing the time between intention & action, helping you ..
Because people are in the city, funding for school starts to flow through the city
(community spaces.)
matters.
64/synchronicity

An app that would encourage/create/support:
1/People talking to themselves
daily, asking themselves if they are
doing what matters.
2/People connecting to people in
their city/community, a strategic
serendipity.
3/People’s mesh network, their
footprint or trail.
Imagine edison/glass/siri/everest, et al, via a necklace (or wherever/however you want to
wear it), accessible to everyone, under the guise/default/commons of public education.65/synchronicity

might
dictate
your day
might
free up
your day
to manage time to facilitate whimsy
like..
66/synchronicity

noun
verb
perhaps we verb more.

like..
china
china
8 yr old
70 yr old
68/synchronicity

Oh. You
meant a
plate..
Oh. You
meant a
country..
No big deal. Another match up happening tomorrow. Think:
69/synchronicity

guitar amp
GED
volume
amp
15 yr old
52yr old
70/synchronicity

Whoa.
That’s how
it works?
Could you
have your
band test it
out?
Cool jets. A connection is made in real life. App records it as a trail/node.
71/synchronicity

Julia, age 12, uses a donated/recycled laptop and the donated wifi from the wifi bank, to voice record
the following before she goes to bed:
I noticed a lot of my friends’ parents have cancer. They keep talking about early detection. I asked
my mom and she said if you find out early on, the cancer can usually be cured, but that not
enough people find out early. I also watched a video of a 17-year-old that wrote a recipe to cure
cancer and is now working at Stanford. I’m dreaming about finding ways to improve early
detection. I want to connect to people who are experts at this and see what I can learn from
them.
72/synchronicity
like..

Vicki, age 25, uses her iphone and texts while waiting at the doctor’s office:
I just found out my mom has cancer. They told her they didn’t find it soon enough and that it’s
spreading too fast. I’ve got to research myself, find out some other answers for her.
73/synchronicity

Tom, age 7, uses his mom’s ipad and his family’s wifi access, to record the following:
My mom has been doing this healing stuff my whole life. I’ve never believed in it before. But
she started doing it with me, because I have/had asthma, and now I don’t have it anymore. I’m
really interested in seeing if it can help people with cancer.
74/synchronicity

The app connects them.
A mesh network created for each of these (ie: the brain) could have one small node representing their
intense curiosity and that’s it. Or, it could be the start of an offshoot node, as they advance into the study
of health and medicine. Either way, this cancer node could be detected by the app in a couple weeks by
someone else talking to themselves about the same things and then they all receive notification of
another potential connection.

Many incredible people, have been seeking many incredible solutions, to bettering:
education
health
budget
poverty
environment
et al for many years.
What if we already have the solution(s), we just don’t have them in sync. [people, space/resources, tech]
What if we bet on.. ..
76/synchronicity
perhaps this is our answer to health issues, environmental issues, privacy issues,
property issues, money issues, war issues, ..
this luxury-ness of 7 billion people being usefully preoccupied. every day.
redefineschool.com/something-else-to-do/

Perhaps we haven’t yet experimented in this ecosystem (entire city – entire day),
because we fear chaos/laziness. Perhaps that fear has been legit. Perhaps it
hasn’t been possible to let people follow their whimsy, en masse.
Perhaps new technology can help us facilitate everyone’s
whimsy/curiosity/aliveness at once, in sync, so that we can get to a more natural
state of being.
Perhaps we rewire and fade-out techs/systems that are no longer of benefit.
81/ecosystem
redefineschool.com/rewire-ds-ni-ic/

Perhaps we get at the root, by focusing
on where we already:
• spend our money
• send our youth
• perpetuate our mindset
and perhaps even:
• create our problems.
Perhaps we boldly question all of that
and experiment in a space not yet tried..
an eclectic ecosystem.
(rather than a 3rd
grade classroom, or a high
school, or a discipline such as school math, or
a sector such as health, poverty, politics.. )
83/ecosystem

3 city (community) as school
What if the entire city becomes
like a public (concerning all the people) open
university campus.
84/ecosystem

Perhaps school as we know it isn’t …
85/ecosystem
Once we understand that learning can and should occur outside
the classroom, it will become commonplace to see students
engaged in learning activities throughout the community.
- Stephen Downes
Perhaps it’s been …

If we let go of regulation/inspection/control and focus on two conversations the world
could change for good, today. If everyone starts talking to themselves, we will end up with
7 billion authentic people taking charge of their day, 7 billion art-ists. We’ll have
cities/communities where everyone is known by someone, with time and space for
gatherings that matter.
Perhaps then we will see how breathtaking all people are. How hungry people are, for hard
work/play that matters. Perhaps we find ourselves swimming in more solutions, than
problems.
Today, this is doable. Tech can ground initial chaos of a city set free by shortening the lag
time between people finding their art/passion and finding their people.
86/ecosystem
redefineschool.com/lag-time/

Perhaps everybody is a genius.
It’s just that most of the
aren’t facilitated in school/work today.
87/ecosystem
I don’t believe in lazy.
You just need to find what you’re hungry for.
- James Bach

Imagine the city as an apprenticeship haven (the Met on steroids), where the entire city is the floorplan.
The high school buildings become resource centers and meet up spaces. There is a city-wide art hall and
engineering hall, forensics hall. The town acts more like a university campus.. where people are walking
and biking to and from buildings through the course of a day, as the day. Feeding off each other.
Feeding off life.
The museum, the library, the restaurant, the dr’s office, the vet’s office, the coffee shop, the robotics
company, auto-repair shop, permaculture farm, engineering firm, real estate office, dance/recording/art
studio, … these become the classrooms.
Public ed funding can now go toward community owned/shared spaces/resources, ie: maker space,
community gardens, …
We’re imagining crowded/stressed school buildings start emptying out as people realize options available
to pursue interests in the city. As buildings empty, perhaps we restructure existing buildings to facilitate
this useful notion of space – not defined by previous stated age groups – buildings could be combinations
of – or whatever.
highschool bldgs: youmedia center - ish
middle school bldgs: maker space - ish
elementary bldgs: brightworks - ish
higher ed: barefoot/swaraj uni - ish
90/ecosystem

We need a move toward a more practical, sustainable learning model that is less based on market-driven
accreditation and more on the inevitable give and take that happens among people who engage in
similar activities and share similar forms of literacy and worldviews. …. Community as curriculum.
Community as measure. How are the people around you doing.
- Dave Cormier
92/ecosystem
imagine a community such as mine, Loveland, CO.
You, a university, or a CEO of a company, come to me today, asking if Peter is a good fit, if he’s worth
consideration at your establishment.
I say, most likely not. I explain to you, that currently, Loveland has 400+ charitable organizations, so one
would think we wouldn’t be dealing with homelessness, our county wouldn’t be 6th in the nation in
suicide rate, etc.
I say, I wonder what the heck has Peter been doing, letting that happen in his community
imagine you come to me a year from now.
Loveland no longer has 400+ charitable organizations, but rather, one kitchen table. People have
connected. They engage in ongoing conversations, conversations that matter. People have started to
take care of their own situations. Because people now question how they spend their days, health has
improved. People are realizing that they matter to each other, the suicide rate has gone down….
And now, now I say to you, … yes, Peter. Peter is perfect. Whether or not he helped to change our
community for good, he has been living in it. He’s associated and with people that are free and are
practicing their art. Peter is gold. Peter is indispensable.

• in the city
The city, as an ecosystem of eclectic
people and resources.
94/ecosystem

Seeking to improve learning for a classroom of 3rd graders, for an entire school, or even
for a business, is a boost for sure. But perhaps those very structures (mental and physical)
are at the heart of the problem.
Perhaps authentic learning/connecting/being thrives in more organic/chaordic spaces.
Perhaps the sharing of resources (people, spaces, things) city-wide is where we might get
at a cross-generational, eclectic community of people, a village.
Imagine all the money (trillions), time (7 hrs a day for 12+ yrs), and people (90%?), spent
on public education, being funneled instead into enlivening local communities. Perhaps
we have all we need, we just need to be more resourceful.
96/ecosystem
If you look at it all the spots in the city, there are places that are pretty much in good
view but no one pays much attention to it because it’s just like a city left over.
..the only stuff you care about, the thing you worry about, is how you are going to
welcome and give a hand to the people.
- Stéphane Malka
[having to do with #/kinds of people.. inclusiveness/eclecticness]

97/ecosystem
Today, people are learning online, on boats, in buses, in classrooms, in schools of all
sorts, in other countries, at home, in the city, … this is great. What we are suggesting
is that we no longer pigeon-hole learners to any of these spaces. You want to learn
on a boat. Great. But let’s not say now, that you are a boat learner only. Maybe
tomorrow another space will behoove you. Change is good. .

What’s fascinating is what
happens when architects and
planners leave.
There’s no such thing as normal..
people are able to adapt to any
situation.
In most places.. government is
completely absent.. so they use
what they have (found
materials) in amazing ways.
imagine a city (cities) set free from govt regulations… in order to take
over/redesign/upcycle their cities.. as the day.
Imagine… what these ingenious communities could create themselves and how highly
particular their solutions would be if given basic infrastructures they could tap into.
- Iwan Baan
What Iwan found in left over, poor,
forgotten spaces:
98/ecosystem

A space where there are many people
doing things they love to do
painting, reading, tinkering with chemistry, building electrical circuits, cooking,
gardening, experimenting, …
Others are encouraged to come along side them and learn from them or work on
their own projects and be able to ask questions of someone who knows.
99/ecosystem

sharing/becoming stories/dreams
(social fiction)
100/ecosystem

Can we heal like at the personal level? the community level?
the public level?
101/ecosystem

102/ecosystem
Only
label is
curiosity..
changing
24/7
if you like.

What we have… What we need…
1. people who
want their days to
1. people (perhaps you) who believe they own the mattering of
their days [most don’t believe it’s legal/possible to think for
themselves]
2. tech that can
aggregate/organize
large amounts of
data, listen w/o
judgment, et al
2. a means (perhaps tech) to connect people in a more
timely/serendipitous manner [ie: to ground chaos, hasten
connections, and leave a trail, as everyone starts thinking for
themselves]
3. space - where
we are now
3. an ecosystem (perhaps a city) full of eclectic spaces/people/
resources [and very few rules - a huge sandbox]
4. time – now 4. time (perhaps the day), not tacked on to the already busy day,
this can’t be after hours [well it can, but not if we’re seeking #1]

• in the city
• as the day
It is legal to think for yourself, plan your
day(s), follow your whimsy, …everything as
experiment.
104/ecosystem

106/ecosystem
[having to do with no-strings/agenda-attached.. intrinsic/perpetual beta
ness. following your whimsy isn’t an after hours luxury, it is the day]

we don’t need more meetings/prep/training/regulation/strategic-plans…
only one thing stands in our way to a better world
finding the bravery/wisdom
to let go.
107/ecosystem

we can
try
talk about
regulate
spend money on
but that won’t last.
there’s no teeth/heart in that.
shaping other people’s curiosities.
it won’t wake people up.
enough.
108/ecosystem

choice matters.
curiosity matters.
neither found (alive) under compulsion/coercion/control.
109/ecosystem

Perhaps 100% is best for all humanity.
Perhaps it’s our means to a thriving sustainability. If I’m owned by someone, to
whatever degree, I can’t give everything. The act of proving of oneself, strips us. And
that partial-ness lessens us, it lessens our community.
Perhaps most of our fears of the chaos/laziness/? we assume inevitable with 100%
freedom/inclusiveness, is based on spaces/research/situations where 100% was never
given/taken, never truly experimented with. [the science of people in/from schools
ness]
There is never nothing going on. Imagine if we started listening
to/honoring/experimenting with that mindset/truth/respect/breathtaking wonder.

This takes all of us (in the city) letting go of all our time (as the day) – which is
perhaps our biggest roadblock… ie: to let go of control and trust.
This is the another way we need to model. To show that the dance won’t dance
until we fully realize/believe..
112/ecosystem

113/wrap
redefineschool.com/knowledge-vs-wisdom/

more on needing you… to be you.
a be you book.
redefineschool.com/about/story/a-be-you-book/

more on needing us… to be us.
a be us book.
redefineschool.com/about/story/a-be-us-book/

We’ve seen/heard too much to not. We can’t not give this a go.
Too doable. Too urgent.
Perhaps a city changed will be enough for people to say, i/we
can do that. For people to realize it is legal/safe/good for
people to think for themselves.
7 billion people taking charge of their day.
Finding/doing/being the thing they can’t not do. Creating
community. Creating us.

perhaps our only credentials worth mentioning:
a bit of backstory, if you’re so inclined:
redefineschool.com/story-board/

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