The Snowflakes have endured as a group because AND despite our interdisciplinary diversity. For years we were able to sit in a small circle that included educators, clinicians, researchers, programmers, artists and the occasional Navy defense contractor and discuss the features of dynamical systems. For a long time this was the cornerstone of the Winter Chaos meetings. We saw that highlighted at the WC 20 when we wecolmed in the 'neurofeedback cabal' and subjected them to the Snowflake scrutiny. At the same conference we had an experiential fox walk, discussed the epigenetics of homosexuality and heard about the dynamics of race and evolution among other things. But while we'd leave personally enriched, the Snowflakes remain an isolated group.
...the annual conference was used as a 'springboard' (drums please!) to launch a year-long project to take off our dynamical systems blindfolds and see what we really have in common as a group. Look!
Surprise........it's the BRAIN!
Overview...
If you back up and strip away all the graphs, all the equations and all the lingo that divides the disciplines, all roads lead back to the brain. Each Snowflake has a direct or indirect relationship with the dynamics of brain health, growth, development, behavior, longevity, creativity and social expression. Why not claim THAT as our common ground and offer the literally thousands of people out there studying the brain our vast amount of expertise, innovative approaches and real world impact on a year-round basis? To do that, we need to reframe how the Snowflakes operate...
Towards Advanced Brain Dynamics...
If every Snowflake created their own personal #profile -- which would amount to a simple checklist of categories and topics that connect them to the brain -- in a nanosecond the people, professionals and potential new members would know what purpose the Snowflakes had as a group. Rather than continue down the salad bar of dynamical systems, we'd fill our bowl with what applied to the dynamics of the brain from our unique vantage points. Rather than be framed by theory, we'd be known for our applications. That is the first step to becoming a sought-after expert ensemble. The idea is to use our annual meeting to review the CONTENT of our many overlapping elements and then harness that energy to impact the CONTEXT of users' lives who need our ideas. It's a big line.
Instant Network...
By designing an on-line open-ended forum, we can take what was a limitation (interdisciplinary diversity) and make it a strength. The new Snowflake Forum for Advanced Brain Dynamics is a resource for people outside our circle looking for help or information and for people who want to join it and contribute to it's development. The reality is when we joined this group we were all students of dynamical systems...and still are of course. But now we embody that paradigm. People who are interested in the brain's complexity are seeking out platforms that offer an innovative approach to overcoming the language barriers we've already conquered. It positions us to promote our own work as individuals AND unify a community of like-minded people who are one-click away from us now...
Those would be some of my hash tags a user would have checked off in their topic search that would point them to me and my current projects, offers and related media, books or research articles I'm currently reading. Easy, right?
Next Steps...
Up until now the Snowflakes communicated between conferences via e-mail groups and the yearly posts to Implexi Mundi which were useful internally. Now that the group is reaching out and trying to connect with other Snowflake-minded people we need a whole new way of communicating with each other and with our new friends. I've mentioned a few of the many possible partners we can recruit.
Complex Dynamical Systems At Ross School http://youtu.be/LuSs9mR5wOk
Ted Hoppe mentioned this to me this week. I think we need to seriously consider a formal relationship with this group and maybe even have their IT department contract to build the Snowflake Forum on-line for us.
