In the late 1990's I became fascinated with the Cultural Calculus that I had developed and the resultant expectation of the emergence of numerous intertwined global cultures. At the time I imagined, quite correctly, that a kind of 'cultural quantum' would be necessary. Christopher Alexander, et al. in 'A Pattern Language' argued that the quantum would be 'The Village of 7,000'.
This was based almost entirely upon considerations of political and civic interaction. When I began to consider other aspects, economically viable catch basins, community infrastructure, etc. I concluded that the quantum, if it was to be a true manifestation of a global culture, would likely need to be at least 20,000 and often as high as 60,000 in population.
This also happens to be the general community size preference for most Americans. They want their smaller community to be within easy reach of a large metropolitan area. However, these same expectations can be met through an aggregation of 'boutique villages.' In other words, a properly constructed web of boutique villages with a total population of a million or more and with proper traffic flows can function like a large metropolitan area while preserving the small town feel for all of its residents.
I have expected that two separate tracks will lead to boutique villages and the global intertwined cultures. The first has been moving slowly, but steadily. This is the growing tendency within developed nations for communities that are more culturally homogenous than the nation as a whole to establish local laws that fly in the face of the national laws. Examples are 'sanctuary cities' that refuse to enforce national immigration laws and cities that 'de facto' disallow abortions. On the other side we have localities that enforce immigration laws when the Federal government demands that they do not.
This is a kind of 'slow and steady' march toward the separation of cultural and geographic sovereignty. It is cultivating the soil for the more overt, intentional community that provides an enabling environment for a particular cultural perspective. I was rather hoping that we would build the first of these for Polymathicans. However, it appears Future Cities Development, Inc. may build the first such city in Honduras. The people behind FCD are the same people who have been trying to build a sea based Libertarian city. So, while cultural identity is not overtly expressed on their website, there does appear to be an underlying current of one.
In the end this will be a fascinating 'proof of concept' on boutique villages and, most likely, far from its ultimate expression. Within Polymathica and The InfoAge Enterprise Networks, our Polymathican Villages still have the best chance to be the first to express the concept fully. Polymathica is at odds with the ambient cultures. It celebrates erudition over specialization. It is dedicated to the expression of refinement in a crass and vulgar world. It is intellectual in an almost anti-intellectual contemporary milieu. While a product of the Western civilization, it is clearly distinct from any other current manifestation.
It is also, despite the difficulty I have experienced corralling Polymathicans, a population that will likely enter the Information Age Knowledge Class well ahead of the rest of society. They will express the paradigm of a Culture of Affluence and will, by virtue of Knowledge Class membership, be among the first to enjoy the 'Live Anywhere Option.' We are prime candidates to supplant Future Cities Development, Inc. as the leading force of Information Age community development.
If you are interested in pursuing this as an investor or as a participant, you should first subscribe to The Future 101. It is not possible to understand boutique villages without understanding the The Transformation in its entirety. Next, you should join the InfoAge Enterprise Networks. Once a member, you should join Polymathica Enterprises and from there you will join Polymathica Village Development. Parenthetically, I am also searching for founders of the InfoAge Enterprise Networks, which could provide you with your 'live anywhere Knowledge Class career.'
This is a very large undertaking that eventually will create hundreds of thousands of Knowledge Class career opportunities. While it will create many wealthy people, of far greater importance to most of us, we will also have created a sense of place and a cultural identity for Polymaths. This weekend I will discuss this in much greater detail within The Future 101. I hope to see you there.
Regards,
Michael Ferguson
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