Yesterday evening So Empowerment is indeed the basis for Communicative Self-steering but there is really a difference. Cornelis describes that indeed creativity is key in that process to reach CATHARSIS. Use self-relfection to purify your thoughts, behaviour, actions… cleansing the brain.
If you really make me apply this theory to Esmee I’m confident that it is not the fact that she is now a star, not the fact that she is doing it without the old establishment… no, I would than conclude that the fact that really thousands of people are giving her feedback on breath, rith, lyrics etc… could be best compared to this philosophy. The fact that she empowered by a crowd and the tools to purify her talent would be more applicable to communicative self-steering…. but than again… I still find this a bad example of taking self-control by self-reflection… Cornelis his theory is often confused with ‘empowerd by new media’ too often.
I see much resemblance between the theory of Cornelis and the U-turn model of Peter Senge. (see below).
Maybe it is a little awkward to use this kind of theory on the Esmee-case… but than again… it usually the weird cases which make you understand these models the best =)… So Esmee used YouTube singing top-10 songs (her own came later) and receiving feedback. SO she probably moved from Sensing to Presence and than comes the turning-point. Do you stay within the domain of the exterior-motivation or do you start purifying and progress towards realizing. She had millions of people helping her with suggestions on webcamm-use, usage of voice, breath etc… So I’m willing to stretch these theories a bit towards this new paradigm, but is my opinion that Esmee is now pleasing her fans by singing all the reequests, appearing in TV and radio-systems, going out with the stars etc.
So I think we are trying to see more in this than in fact there is. Yep, a great showcase of empowerment… but paradigm shift? No way. Esmee just took another entree into the music-industry… but still, she is conforming to her role as star in the music bizz… No problem and all the best for Esmee (great combo of lonely girl singing in her pants of in her small bedroom before a webcam — so no pimped image… plain vanilla), put let’s be careful in tagging this act of empowerment as what Cornelis refers to as one of the biggest reformations in social history: Communicative
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I agree with you that empowerment is not the same as communicative self-control. Empowerment is a first and necessary requirement for communicative self-steering. What e.g. YouTube and weblogs offer, is a platform that supports people in this way of thinking. Whether people actually use that ability is another question. Up until now, Esmee Denters seems to have listened, thought and acted on the reactions and comments she got through MySpace and YouTube (I don’t see why not), but she may stop doing that today or tomorrow (or maybe yesterday). YouTube may not be the best example because it does not enforce communicative self-control. But the same holds for weblogs and so many other systems I suppose. Ultimately, it is a choice people make. Communicative self-control is also a choice, but you cannot make that choice if it is not supported by your environment. Does that make sense? Correct me if I am wrong :-)
Yes the environment plays an important role in the process of communicative self-control, I agree with you. And indeed, the communication that takes place within that environment plays an important role for the individual to understand, learn, and deal with the complexities of our society. But in the way Cornelis sees it, through these interactions, not only does the individual gain knowledge, but does the environment or society gain that as well. The personal ‘journey’ is very much aimed to ‘grow’ as an individual as well as a society. Note that in Cornelis’ view you first have to go through two different phases (natural system and social system of rules) before being able to enter the ‘last’ phase and entering the communicative self-steering.
So the question is: did Esmee gain knowledge by opening up her act to an audience before being tweaked by some specialists? Undoubtedly so. But that was inherently one way communication. Did she help her environment? I question that, and am more likely to say ‘no’ than ‘yes’. There was no interaction that benefited the greater good. It was more about the “me”, than about the “we”.
Now: is YouTube a possible platform in which this could take place? Absolutely, but any interactive medium could suit that goal. The reach of YouTube as such a platform is much bigger than any individual weblog could be, so I think that YouTube could actually become an important tool for communicative self-steering. Especially if you view it from a meta-perspective.
Is the knowledge that Esmee gained freely available to others? Yes. Could they apply it to their own situations? Yes. Could therefor her environment grow? I guess so.
Back to Arjan’s observation about the similarity between Cornelis model and Senge’s. I agree with you that the three steps in Senge’s model could be similar as the phases Cornelis describes…on an individual level. But Cornelis also sees this development as a society. In fact, he states that we have entered the phase of communicative self-steering in the 21st century….come to think of it, it might actually apply on a societal level as well. Senge’s model than develops from ME, to THEY, to WE…?
So I was thinking of examples of people who have used communicative self-steering not only to enhance themselves, but to enhance society as well. Bono and the likes, seem to me to be the right examples here. During their careers they have developed themselves in new ways and new understandings. And especially Bono has used his ‘knowledge’ to try to create a better world. What do you think?