Dissertation Final Version PDM9006

An exploration of the inherent possibilities of mobilizing collective
intelligence through web 2.0.

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An exploration of the inherent possibilities of mobilizing collective intelligence
through web 2.0.

Name: Adam Price

Course: BA (Hons) Product Design

Module: Dissertation

University: Cardiff Metropolitan University

Cover image Copyright Leadbeater. C 2008


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Non-Plagiarism disclaimer

This dissertation has been produced as part of PDM 6009, BA Product Design, Cardiff
Metropolitan University, All Contents Copyright Adam Price 2012


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Abstract

This dissertation explores the concept of the global village and the shifts in motivation as
progressively more peoples satisfaction with life has not increased with the rate of
material wealth that has been gained.

The dissertation explains the differences between intrinsic and extrinsic motives and
shows the effects they have on wellbeing.
It then goes on to explain that the greater the cluster of people the greater the amount
of innovation by looking into Laws of Physics. The more encounters people have with
rival arguments the better and the more information, knowledge, ideas that are
experienced the more likely a new innovation is to happen the opposite to the story of
the lone genius working in isolation.

It concludes that intrinsic motivation is best for prolonged work effort and being open
minded to learning from all the information and ideas that can be shared today.


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Contents

Non-Plagiarism disclaimer ................................................................................. 2
Abstract ............................................................................................................. 3
Introduction ....................................................................................................... 7
Chapter 1.0 ........................................................................................................ 8
1.1 An Exploration of Marshal McLuhan .............................................................. 8
1.2 The physics of spreading ideas ................................................................... 12
1.3 Constructal Law ......................................................................................... 13
Chapter 2.0 ...................................................................................................... 16
2.1 Extrinsic Motives ........................................................................................ 16
2.2 Long term striving to increase personal competence ................................. 17
2.3 The feeling of FLOW ................................................................................... 19
Chapter 3.0 ...................................................................................................... 20
3.1 The state of Wellbeing ................................................................................ 20
3.2 If more and more money doesnt increase Well-being what does? ............. 21
Chapter 4.0 ...................................................................................................... 24
4.1 Conclusions ................................................................................................ 26
4.2 Discussion .................................................................................................. 28
References ....................................................................................................... 31


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List of figures

Figure 1 Global Internet use (Raaf, 2011) ..................................................... 10
Figure 2 Global mobile phone usage(data) (Raaf, 2011) ............................... 11
Figure 3 Kleibers Law (Johnson, 1999) ......................................................... 12
Figure 4 - Predictable cities (Munday, 2010) .................................................... 13
Figure 5 Examples of recurring network patterns (Professor Henry Markram,
2007)(Tom Carden, 2005) (Laboratory, 2005)(untitled, 2008) ........................ 14
Figure 6 - Web 2.0 (DOPPELGNGERS, 2009) .................................................. 15
Figure 10 the top of Maslows Hierarchy of needs (Hierachy, 2011) ................ 21
Figure 11 Network of Rat neuron (Laboratory, 2005) ...................................... 26


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Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank:

My parents for all your support
Steve Thompson has been a great help over the last 2years
EDC for the internship over the summer that really helped me develop my understanding
of Ecodesign outside the walls of University
Finally Gareth Loudon and all the other Cardiff Met staff have been helpful along the way
thanks


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Introduction Global Village

This dissertation sets out to explore the work of Marshall McLuhan from 1964 to
understand the origins of the term Global Village and his description of a technological
extension of consciousness. Which could be argued is materialising in 2012 with Web
2.0, providing networks such as twitter and Facebook that allow people to share
thoughts and feelings instantly without geographical restraint as access to the internet
increasingly becomes ubiquitous.

An electric re-tribalisation of the west. (McLuhan, 1964 )

This will look at Geoffrey Wests rule of super linear scaling to investigate what it is
about big cities which are making the residences produce more innovation than that of
people in smaller towns. An exploration into the Constructal law of Professor Adrian
Bejan will look at patterns in networks. An investigation will be done into the natural
network patterns that increase flow of a current and comparing them with technological
patterns to see if these patterns increase the flow of information and ideas.

There is something about a big city which is making its residents significantly more
innovative than residents of smaller towns. (West, 2011)

Then an evaluation of behavioural science will be done to compare and contrast extrinsic
motivation and intrinsic motivation. To gain a base understanding of why in rich
countries where material wealth is high are people, prone to anxiety and depression.
Then any differences between the two motives in work flow and creativity will be
highlighted.

It could be argued that there is no more lone genius that can solve the environmental
management challenges being faced and that the sharing of ideas is more productive
and leads to greater innovation than any single genius could.

The aim of this dissertation is to uncover any commonality of the seemingly unrelated
subtitles. The dissertation will look back in history at early signs of a connected world, at
laws of physics, behavioural science and a brief history of innovation.


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Chapter 1.0 Interconnected

1.1 An Exploration of Marshal McLuhan

Marshall McLuhan in 1964 coined the term global village, known as a clich in 2011,
despite being a revolutionary idea at the time. The term describes the electronic
interdependence which projects the world in the image of a global village. The
interconnections created by an electronic nervous system conspire to a Global
consciousness. This electronic nervous system has become an integral part of western
popular culture and after more than a centurys growth has extended the electronic
nervous system itself in a Global embrace. Communication is global and unaffected by
both space and time as far as our planet is concerned.
(Mcluhan, 1964) (McLuhan, 1964 )

In 1926 Nicola Tesla predicted in the future it would be possible to communicate with
another person in almost any geographical location perfectly clearly and instantly. In an
interview with Colliers Magazine he stated; When wireless is perfectly applied to the
whole earth, we shall be able to communicate with one another instantly, irrespective of
distance. We will be able to hear and see one another as if we were face to face, despite
geographical location. The instruments we will use to do this will be amazingly simple
compared with our present telephone and a man will be able to carry one in his vest
pocket. Nicola Teslas prediction could be argued has been realised in 2012 it is possible
to communicate to another person on the other side of the world in real time. Mobile
phones do fit into vest pockets now. (Tesla, 1926)

Marshall McLuhan describes the effects of the global communication now capable, to be
making the world appear smaller and faster. As the interconnection becomes global it is
like going back in time when we lived in tribes and villages, where everyone knows
everyone. (McLuhan, 2009) Marshal McLuhan coined the word retribalisation which is the
act of returning to a group. The world is changing to be one big village where everyone
knows what everyone else is doing.

An electric re-tribalisation of the west. (McLuhan, 1964 )


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A village is defined as a small community. Communities can now gather on the internet
removing limits of geographical location. Web 2.0 sites are sharing platforms examples
are LinkedIn, Facebook, Forums and Blogs. These virtual online communities can share
information and ideas in a conversational way. In this virtual space a group of people
with a common interest can participate in discussions of interest and importance to the
community and of interest to them.

It is possible to be part of conversations, being had in another country in another time
zone with a number of people instantaneously. Email, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter
are all platforms for extended consciousness. News travels fast as technology extends
from our consciousness, which gives the effect of small village on a bigger scale.

There is ubiquitous connection and communication with the abundance of real time
technology today from Wi-Fi, 3g, smart phones, tablets to mobile only phones. These
devices are allowing people to find out what is happening on the other side of the world
instantaneously. News reports are becoming behind the times for example in the case of
an Indian student Anuj Bidve 23 studying in Manchester who was shot dead on Boxing
Day 2011. The Father Subhash Bidve found out the news of his sons death from India
over Facebook, before British authorities or any press had a chance to report the
incident. (Bingham, 2011)

In a global village the connections that use to happen face to face on a local scale can
now be replicated on a global scale. Through mobile devices and social networks it is
possible to communicate with someone in another part of the world instantly, this is
argued to be allowing the resurgence of bartering, trading, swapping, sharing, but
theyre being brought back into new dynamic and appealing forms. (Rogers, 2012)These
are all aspects renowned with villages, reiterating the Global Village concept. The Global
connection is illustrated in Figure 1 and 2.

There are predictions that say five billion people are to become connected in 2025 by
mobile devices. This is meant to happen in both the megacities and rural areas of the
world. The extent of this connectivity will create the possibility of a global consciousness
that has never before been seen. (Gratton, 12-May-2011)

50 years ago Marshall McLuhan also noticed a movement towards a technological
extension of our consciousness. (McLuhan, 1964)


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Figure 1 Global Internet use (Raaf, 2011)

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Figure 2 Global mobile phone usage (data) (Raaf, 2011)


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1.2 The physics of spreading ideas

To what extent can biology and social organization (which are both quintessential
complex adaptive systems) be put in a more quantitative, analytic, mathemitizable,
predictive framework so that we can understand them in the way that we understand
'simple physical systems'? There is something about a big city which is making its
residents significantly more innovative than residents of smaller towns. (West, 2011)

Geoffrey West has applied laws in physics to complex adaptive systems like that of a
human city. He took Kleibers law (Figure 3) which scientifically proves that as life gets
bigger, it slows down and applied it to the social organization of a city, finding the
opposite effect, cities speed up with the increase in size. The bigger the city, the faster
people walk and the faster ideas are generated, the residences produce more innovation
than that of people in smaller towns. (West, 2011)

Figure 3 Kleibers Law (Johnson, 1999)
Wests research also showed along with the speed of innovation, increasingly productivity
followed the same linear progression (Table 1). As the city increases in size so do wages,
patents, colleges, gas station and so do other seemingly unrelated forms of
infrastructure all correlating in the same way. (West, 2012)

The larger the cluster of people= the more efficient and productive they become.
The larger the mass of people=larger mass innovation.


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Figure 4 - Predictable cities (Munday, 2010)

Mass Innovation not, Mass Production (Leadbeater, 2008)
1.3 Constructal Law
Professor Adrian Bejan created a simple new principle of physics called the Constructal
Law, a phenomenon which governs evolution in biology, physics, technology and social
organization. He said "for a finite-size system to persist in time (to live), it must evolve
in such a way that it provides easier access to the imposed currents that flow through
it." (Zane, 2008)

The law relates to the tendencies of recurring network patterns in nature, trees, network
of tributaries, air passages, neural networks, and lightning bolts which must evolve in a
sequence to increase the flow of any currents whether it is the movement of water,
blood, or electricity or ideas, it appears in inanimate or animate systems (Figure 5).
Human or natural, it relates to the design in human organizations and corporate
structure of hierarchy and flowcharts as well as neural connections in the brain. (Zane,
2008)


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Like the networks of tributaries pictured below societies are networks of people linked by
friendships, familial relationships and professional ties. Networks spread throughout all
parts of technology: the Internet, power grids and transportation systems are a few
examples. (Bonabeau, 2003)

Figure 5 Examples of recurring network patterns (Professor Henry Markram, 2007)(Tom Carden,
2005) (Laboratory, 2005)(untitled, 2008)

The same pattern is seen in the design of web 2.0, social networks and modern
organizations which have sprouted from web 2.0. Rather than moving a current of water
or blood it allows the flow of information from a point to an area or an area to a point.

In nature the network patterns purpose is to move more current farther and faster for
less unit of useful energy consumed, the design allows them to move more easily.
(Wikipedia, 2012)This relates to the design of web 2.0 (Figure 6) but instead of the flow
of water current it allows the flow of information and ideas. This pattern allows ideas to
spread faster, easier and further. The network of information on web 2.0 is continually
evolving allowing the flow of information and innovation to get faster and go further as
more people become connected.

Because the medium for carrying ideas is fast and cheap, ideas move faster and
cheaper! The time it takes for an idea to circulate is approaching zero. (Godin, 2000)


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Figure 6 - Web 2.0 (DOPPELGNGERS, 2009)

To put cell networks and information networks into context, Steve Johnson the writer of
Where do good ideas come from? Describes the vantage point below as the long zoom
and when you look at the history of innovation from this point, whats found is that
unusually generative environments display similar patterns of creativity at several scales
simultaneously. This presents the bigger picture and shows understanding the causes of
innovation on the largest scale, cant be done without understanding what innovation is
happening on the small scale, they affect each other. Local for local, local for global,
global for local (Green, 2007) what happens on a local level affects what is happening
globally.
Global evolution
Ecosystems
Species
Brains
Cells Nature

Ideas Culture
Workspaces
Organizations
Settlements
Information networks
(Johnson, 2010)

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Chapter 2.0 Motivation

2.1 Extrinsic Motives

A motive is the reason or cause for a person to do a certain thing. The pursuit of more
money is an external motive called an extrinsic motive. An example of an extrinsically
motivated person is I do investment banking to gain money. The persons primary
reason here for doing the certain thing, whether it is investment banking or golf is for
the external gain, whether that is money, food or praise doesnt matter. These external
motives have been the driving force behind economic growth, providing the fuel for the
great engine of human progress. Rich countries have reached a much higher level of
living in the pursuit of wealth maximization, but have now largely finished their work.
(Wilkinson, 2010)

Extrinsic motivation is predominantly short term. For example If a student was paid to
do maths they will most likely work hard in the short term with the incentive to gain
money in mind, but then will experience burn out and lose interest in maths in the long
run. When institutions-families, schools, businesses, and athletic teams, for example-
focus on the short term and opt for controlling peoples behaviour with incentives to
motivate, they do considerable long term damage. (Pink, 2010)

Daniel H Pink and the 50years of behavioural science he uses in the book Drive: The
surprising truth about what motivates us. Identifies rewards such as that used in
extrinsic motivation can surprisingly give us more of what we dont want. The science is
revealing that incentives, external motives of money, all aimed at getting the most out
of peopleIll give you ten pounds if you wash my car for meOr Ill give you 5 to do
the dishes. These incentives narrow our focus and the science is showing promotes bad
behaviour and encourages short-term thinking at the expense of the long view.
The vision is honed in on the incentive rather than thinking about doing the dishes as
well as possible. If a task during paid work is challenging at mind set like think of the
moneywill prevail. Money is the only incentive to work. (Pink, 2010)

If extrinsic motivation shortens your vision so far you dont concentrate on doing you
very best at the task in hand.


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To sustain means to last a long time and if people pursue wealth maximisation goals
which are short term there is will a correlation in the short term sustainability of the
planet. The vision can become so closed in on gaining more; the broader long term
damage is missed.

This mind set is reflected in the short term focus of using oil and coal great in the short
term but unsustainable in the long term over the past two decades global resource
extraction grew from 40 billion tons in 1980 to 55 billion tons in 2002. Source: Austrian
Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management / SERIN

Short term gains of smoking are not outweighed by their inherent long term health
problems, associated number of cancer.

But long term goals and pleasing your future self takes a lot more self-constraint, self-
determination, drive focus and goals which are a lot harder than giving into the
temptation of that doughnut. Short term extrinsically motivated mind-set could be
argued is a strong behavioural contributor to climate change. But it is a test of human
will to worry about the future instead of the moment.

2.2 Long term striving to increase personal competence

What other motives and goals are there to pursue if people no longer doggedly pursue
more money, possessions and stuff?
The opposite of extrinsic motivation is intrinsic motivation this time around instead of
striving externally... Intrinsic motivation is striving inwardly to be competent and get
better at something and to reward inwardly for personal progress. (psychology,
2008)An example of an intrinsically motivated person isI do investment banking
because I find it enjoyable.

Every human has an innate motivation to strive to be better. (Pink, 2010)

Studies of Art students where done over the 1960s to 1980s, surveying their attitudes
towards work, identified whether they were extrinsically motivated or extrinsically
motivated. The results showed the less evidence of extrinsic motivation during art
school, the more success in professional art both several years after graduation and
nearly twenty years later. (Carney, 1986)

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The truth isIt is those who are least motivated to pursue extrinsic rewards who
eventually receive them. (Carney, 1986)

Intrinsic motivation has been a key aspect in sports phycology for years, now sports
competitors get very anxious before a competition. To stop nerves the athlete will focus
on how capable he or she is at the task in hand. Not comparing themselves with the
other competitors.
An example competing in football would be played for the sake of doing it or the pure
pleasure of it not to earn money even though they do, an athlete will concentrate on
achieving their best performance for their own satisfaction not for the money.

Anxiety is a negative effect of extrinsic motivation caused by the comparison of oneself
with another person. Comparison will often be of possessions in the case of keeping up
with the joneses idiom, looks and competence compared with your own.
Intrinsic motivation has been proven to minimise anxiety, depression, worrying about
how others see them, drive to consume, comfort eating, obsessive shopping and
spending, or become prey for excessive alcohol, psychoactive medicines and illegal
drugs. Because Instead of comparing oneself against the Joneses, the person will focus
on learning or trying to create something better end up gaining pleasure from the act of
doing it. The satisfaction will come from the success of inward striving for competence.
(James, 2007)

A key aspect of creative thinking is state of being and the state is best with an open
mind. Extrinsic motivation is closed in on the reward and intrinsic motivation is wide
open for long term learning to be receptive to new ideas and information to keep
learning more and more. Experiments have been done that show external rewards
narrowed peoples focus and blinkered the wide view that might have allowed them to
see new creative solutions to problems. Regularly capturing engaging in intrinsic
motivation allows for more creativity and prolonged work effort both factors are good for
innovation and solving problems. (Pink, 2010)

There is no escaping the fact that individuals with the greatest well-being are most
likely to be the ones with the combination of intrinsic goals and motives. (James, 2007)

To abstain from the enjoyment which is in our power, or to seek distant rather than
immediate results, are among the most painful exertions of the human will N.W.Senior

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1836. It is amongst the most difficult to have self-restraint, self-discipline, self-
commitment to look after the current and future self.

Harvard Business School Teresa Amabile calls it intrinsic motivation principle of
creativity, which holds, in part: intrinsic motivation is conducive to creativity:
controlling extrinsic motivation is detrimental to creativity.

We can think more creatively if we open our minds to the many connected
environments that make creativity possible. (Johnson, 2010)

2.3 The feeling of FLOW

Flow is a certain kind of intrinsic motivation that someone can feel. It occurs when
someone feels an overall, intrinsically motivated feeling when they are totally involved in
an activity and are on "auto pilot. (psychology, 2008)

Elements to achieve flow

* A balance of levels of skills and of level of challenge
* Complete absorption in the activity
* Total concentration
* A motivation to perform
* The absence of certain outward goals or rewards
* Appropriate focus maintenance.
* Achieve optimal arousal before performing
* Good feelings about performance
* A balance of levels of skills and of level of challenge
(psychology, 2008)


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Chapter 3.0 Wellbeing

3.1 The state of Wellbeing
The dream of wellbeing dreamt until now by the few is not sustainable for all.
We have to change, we have to learn how to live better while consuming less
environment resources and regenerating the contexts of life. Professor Ezio
Manzini (Green, 2007)
Wellbeing is defined as the satisfactory condition of existence. It is contradictory that at
the lofty peak of human material and technical achievement, studies of wellbeing and
happiness show, no increase to ride with the economic growth only the opposite. They
show rich countries are anxiety-ridden, prone to depression, worried about how others
see them, unsure of friendships, driven to consume and with little or no community life.
The increase in money and material wealth doesnt result in an increase in a persons
wellbeing past a certain level of income which was potentially reached in 1970 in the UK
according to neweconomics.org. (James, 2007) (Wilkinson, 2010)

Since 1970, the UKs GDP has doubled, but peoples satisfaction with life has hardly
changed. (neweconomics.org, 2010)

Rich countries have reached a level of wealth where the more of the same stuff no
longer greatly affects wellbeing once people have enough food more food isnt a great
help. The richer a country gets the less getting still richer ads to the populations
happiness.
The gaining of more wealth and possessions, and trying to keep up with the joneses
culture is progressively being associated with increases in rates of anxiety and the use of
narcotics. (Wilkinson, 2010)

Almost a quarter of Britons suffer serious emotional distress, such as depression and
anxiety, and another quarter are on the verge of. (James, 2007)

If money engendered wellbeing, millionaires would be the most contented folk on the
planet as well as the richest. (James, 2007)


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3.2 If more and more money doesnt increase Well-being what does?

If a person isnt very hungry, theyre secure, theyre surrounded by loving family and
friends they have good self-esteem and they respect other people. Increasing their
wellbeing by striving for more wealth as gaining more of the same thing isnt going to
help. Once they are no longer hungry more food wont help a great deal if anything
more food would be detrimental to wellbeing.
Above are all the aspects of Maslows hierarchy of needs below is self-actualization to
fulfil this is going to have the greatest increase in well-being in rich countries where the
bottom of the pyramid has been gained. So what is it?

Figure 7 - The top of Maslows Hierarchy of needs (Hierachy, 2011)

Morality This is shown in a new drive for non-profit organizations, purposeful work on
sustainability. The bookend generations quest for purpose.
As the writer Sylvia Hewlett has found in her research, the two bookend generations are
redefining success and are willing to accept a radically remixed set of rewards. Neither
generation rates money as the most important form of compensation.
It seems clear people around the world, alarmed by our circumstances, are seeking and
creating paths forward to a more sustainable future. (Kelly, 2006)
This is particularly true among the younger generations. Millennial generation- born
after 1982 are taking environmental issues very seriously. This was also been made
clear in D H Pink book Drive.

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Baby boomers around the world because of the stages of their lives and the size of their
numbers are nudging purpose closer to the cultural centre. In response, business has
begun to rethink how purpose figures in what it does.
Boomers arent singing alone in their chorus of purpose. Joining them, and using the
same hymnbook, is their sons and daughters-known as the Millennial, or the echo
boomers. These young adults, who have recently begun entering the workforce
themselves, are shifting the centre of gravity in organizations by their very presence.
(Pink, 2010)
Creativity - As work is becoming more creative as the computer or machine can take
care of the autonomous work the human is left with enjoyable creative part. But as a
businesss manage people rather than lead them, when a mundane task is given to a
member of staff an extra incentive is given. Dave if you put these letters in to these
envelopes by 2 o clock Ill give you a tenner. (Pink, 2010)
The strength of the creative industry here in the UK, overall picture developed by
Staying Ahead showed the UK creative industries were proportionately the largest in
the world, comprising 7.3 percent of the UK economy, and 6.4 percent of UK Gross Value
Added equivalent to 57bn.
(Reid, 2010)

Spontaneity/Autonomy - This is reflected in new Results Only Work Environments
ROWE that a company called Meddius implemented among others. This way of working
lead to more autonomy, it is up to the employer to the do work when and where they
choose. Cases where this was used, productivity rose and stress declined.

Problem Solving There are overwhelming tasks of managing environmental
challenges and a rising global population to cater for.

Lack of prejudice In a global village the connections that use to happen face to face
on a local can now happen on a global scale This is making the world seem smaller and
bringing people together.

A large majority of people want society to move away from greed and excess toward a
way of life more centred on values, community, and family. (Wilkinson, 2010)Value and
purpose fits well into the Morality side of needs.

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Happiness is gained from intangibles rather than more tangibles. (Green,
2007)Relationships, peer respect, experiences and being part of something larger a
community or bigger objective to save the planet from Warming to much.
81% of Britons believe that the government should prioritise creating the greatest
happiness, not the greatest wealth. (neweconomics.org, 2010)


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Chapter 4.0 Lone Genius

In renaissance time rational humanism began, people then started to believe that
creativity came completely from the self of the individual and for the first time in history
people started referring to that artist as being a genius. This is a big burden for any
human psyche to manage and can warp and distort ego. It creates unmanageable
expectations about performance Elizabeth Gilbert argues. (Gilbert, 2009)
Genius is defined as having a natural capacity of intellect had in creativity shown through
original work in a subject e.g. art, science and so forth. (Harper, 1400)
A surprising truth about big ideas: even when they seem to be individual flashes of
genius, they dont happen in a flash though the people who have them often
subsequently claim that they did. (Johnson, 2010)
There is a mystery behind the flash of genius that inventors have when an idea is
sparked for a new invention. A moment of clarity is had, like the moment Charles Darwin
realised the theory of natural selection he famously suddenly saw the mechanism for
evolution in a blindingly obvious flash of genius. The story goes along the lines of the
genius Darwin had a Eureka moment the theory of evolution came to him. It is very,
very rare to find somebody in isolation has had a sudden spark that changes the world.
(Johnson, 2012)
Rarely is the story told like this after years of forming the idea from exposure to many
opposing rival ideas, experiencing many different environments and interactions as well
as going through stressed and relaxed states. A prolonged period of time was spent
conversing and concentrating on the argument, which has been a hunch for many years,
a moment of clarity happened where all the pieces of the puzzle where put together.
(Deininger, 2012)
It's very, very rare to find cases where somebody on their own, working alone,
in a moment of sudden clarity has a great breakthrough that changes the
world. And yet there seems to be this bizarre desire to tell the story that way."
(Johnson, 2012)
The vast majority of major innovations since 1800 have come from outside of
environments where money and profit are the main motive as extrinsic motives can
shorten the concentration and focus onto the money. But innovations happen in an

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environment conducive to an open state of mind like a university or other environments
where intrinsic motivation prevails.
Creativity is rare in isolation, being exposed to as many rival ideas, environments, things
, people, experiences a lot of challenging ideas and most importantly a persons state of
mind must be open which is why being intrinsically motivated to be open to take on new
ideas and information.
We need to group together. If you want to change the world, you have to group
together you have to be collaborative, religions do this. They are multinational they are
branded they have a clear identity so they dont get lost in a busy world. (Botton, 2012)
The truth is the genius put far more hours of hard graft into a task and has made the
luck for this genius ideas to happen or performance to happen. They have tried out more
ideas than anyone else. A way of increasingly the probability of coming up with new
inventive idea is to have a lot of ideas. The larger the conversation the more ideas being
brought to the surface and the time it would take one person to brainstorm ideas
compared to a large group is slower simply man power isnt there.
High complexity design is no longer a case of clever individuals or teams creating
products in splendid isolation, but of multidisciplinary organizations or networks creating
relevant qualities and cultural spheres. Stefano Marzano of Phillips


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4.1 Conclusions

Marshal McLuhans concept of the Global village from 1954 continues to become realised
in the 21
st
century, with the internet connecting 1,733,993,741 people in 2011 and
5billion by 2050 Marshal McLuhans is going to become even more apparent. (Raaf,
2011)

Geoffrey West work showed that the bigger the city, the faster ideas are generated; the
residences produce more innovation than that by people in smaller towns. This in theory
shows that greater mass of people = greater mass innovation. As the internet
progressively pushes geographical boundaries out the window it is at the same time
allowing a greater mass of people to group together. The speed of innovation will
increase with the increase in the number of people connected on the internet. Super
linear scaling sums it up.

With the Constructal law illustrating the increase in flow is created by the common
network pattern and its continual evolution, pictured below. The network structure is
great for increasing flow of water and blood and information as shown by web 2.0. But
can the structure be applied to education networks and organizations to increase work
flow? The law also showed that when applied to web 2.0 instead of increasing flow of
water it increases flow of ideas and information continuing to spread, further and faster
as it evolves.
But can it being applied to increase work flow in education and organizations? Could the
organisational structure of a linear, pyramid of hierarchy being swapped for a network
structure increase work flow?

Figure 8 - Network of Rat neuron (Laboratory, 2005)

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In conclusion the exploration revealed a number of opposing truths.

The more modern technology creates global interconnections the closer to being
tribes and village people become again.
Kliebers law is actually the opposite when applied too cities. Instead of getting
slower as cities get bigger they get faster.
If a person is intrinsically motivated for self-betterment and the less focused on
the money the more likely a person is to gain more money.
The flash moments of a lone genius actually tends to happen over a longer period
of time than a flash.

It shows a strong link between 3 quite seemingly unrelated areas of laws in physics,
behavioural science and creativity.

As more people connect, more innovation can happen to ensure that is does intrinsic
motivation is a key for prolonged work effort and being open minded to learn from all
the information and ideas that can be shared.
The more encounters with rival arguments the better and the more information,
knowledge, ideas that are experienced the more likely a new innovation is to happen the
opposite to the story of the lone genius working in isolation but a flash a genius arrives.


28
4.2 Discussion

Over the past two decades global resource extraction grew from 40 billion tons in 1980
to 55 billion tons in 2002. (worldresourcesforum.org, 2009) The median UN population
forecast projection is for 9.3 billion by 2050. (Martin, 2011) These are a couple of the
statistics that sum up the overwhelming problems that are facing societies today.

With overwhelming tasks such as managing the Environmental challenges. No single
person, government, religion, region, country, ideology, institution or market place can
tackle these overwhelming problems alone in isolation.(Kelly, 2006) No single person
can take responsibility for the burden of tackling the challenges ahead; for this reason
the future will be less about predicting it and more about collaboratively designing it.
(Green, 2007) Innovation will be essential for meeting the Environmental challenges of
the future including moving to a low carbon economy and reducing waste. (bis.gov.uk,
2010)

Mass innovation not mass production Charles Leadbeater. (Leadbeater, 2008)

Another overwhelming statistic reveals the [Americans and the Japanese] have seen no
increase in happiness over the last few decades despite economic growth. Depression is
on the rise and the world health organizations predict it to be the 2
nd
largest health
problem in 2020. (neweconomics.org, 2010)

"It is a remarkable paradox, that, at the pinnacle of human material and technical
achievement, we find ourselves anxiety-ridden, prone to depression, worried about how
others see us, unsure of our friendships, driven to consume and with little or no
community life". (Wilkinson, 2010)

At the same time the electronic infrastructure has evolved to a state where there is
ubiquitous access to the internet 1,733,993,741 people are now connected. (Raaf, 2011)

The internet allows for sharing and participation in conversations with little geographical
restriction and provides an abundance of free knowledge. The new virtual environment
creates interconnections that compel commitment and participation. We have become
irrevocably involved with, and responsible for, each other. (McLuhan, 1964)


29

It is the authors opinion that the environmental challenges being faced are best tackled
my maximising people efficiency and making the most out of the opportunities made
possible with Web 2.0. Not just the environmental challenges but any innovation will be
better for it if the inherent possibilities in Web 2.0 are used effectively to mobilise
collective intelligence of a diverse range of communities. To tackle the overwhelming
problems facing environmental management, innovation and creativity is paramount to
maximise creativity and the physics shows it is best to increase the amount of people
that can get together to increase innovation. Optimistic maybe but the goal is to turn the
problems into opportunities, it is such a big problem being faced but at the same the
internet is creating an opportunity for creativity and abundance of knowledge and ideas
that can aid the creative process.
The literature review revealed that Marshal McLuhan work in 1964 in the authors
opinion is very relevant today with terms like Global Village, Global Consciousness and
re-tribalisation of the West. All terms that describe what is materialising today and into
the future as 5 billion are project to get connected.
In the authors opinion the increase in interconnection does appear to be making the
world feel smaller and as the physics showed in the chapters 1.2 and 1.3 it is also
speeding up innovation. The authors observations from the literature review is that
innovation and ideas are now spreading further and faster and will progressively do so
into the future. The implications of this for product design will unfold in the future and
doing further research would focus in detail into the implications as well as on existing
business examples.
The idea of more people having intrinsic motivation on paper sounds easy. But the true
implication of implementing and tapping into intrinsic motivation in reality is a real
struggle To abstain from the enjoyment which is in our power, or to seek distant
rather than immediate results, are among the most painful exertions of the human will
N.W.Senior
In further research would in depth into the technical details behind sharing information
and open innovation. As the dissertation set out the key factors which are creating a
shift in future work. Detailed case studies of existing companies would be done to see
how they have taken advantage of the opportunities of the internet.
Further research would ask can the benefits of the cluster of people grouping together
in cities be replicated on an even bigger scale online as the internet through mobile
devices becomes an extension of our consciousness?

30
Key findings
It is the authors opinion the exploration has shown that the greater the cluster of people
the greater the amount of innovation. Intrinsic motivation minimises anxiety at the same
time as increasing concentration on do any given task better and that the lone genius is
better of collaborating.
Its complicated.


31
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An exploration of the inherent possibilities of mobilizing collective

intelligence through web 2.0.

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