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Five Fields of Co-Intelligence

I see five broad fields, or spheres of operation, within which co-intelligence manifests and can be exercised and increased. I like the word "field" because it connotes a number of different things that I want to embrace all at the same time. Each of the five fields is or could be:

• an area of human interest and activity (like a professional field)
• an area of formal study, research and teaching (like an academic field)
• an area within which a force or influence is at work (like magnetism in a magnetic field, but in this case it is co-intelligence at work)
• an open expanse, where our attention can wander (field of vision), through which we can explore (like a meadow), where we can grow things (like a field of wheat) or where we can engage with each other (like a sports field).

All these meanings of "field" combine into the rich, subtly nuanced reality I want to convey with the idea of "fields of co-intelligence." In each of the five fields described below, I see many human activities and interests... much study and research... many co-intelligent dynamics... much exploration, growth and engagement... and potential for more of all of these things. Each of the fields of co-intelligence provides a panoramic expanse which extends far beyond what we can see. These are vibrant and fruitful fields within which we can do much to enhance our lives.

The five fields within which co-intelligence operates, and within which we can study and exercise it are:

1. developing the potential and wholeness of individuals
2. creating healthy human relationships
3. building intelligent social systems
4. working with nature
5. moving with "the Dance of the universe."

As with all fields, there is a certain artificiality to this division of reality. In practice these fields interpenetrate each other. For example, our individual capacities are developed in relationships and cultures, and are intimately bound up with the natural world and the co-creative dynamics of the universe as a whole. Likewise, there is a limit to how far we can understand or improve an organization or society without taking into account the role of human individuals and relationships in it, the place of that organization or society in the natural world, and whether it is "working with or against the grain" of the universe. It is part of co-intelligence, as we have seen, to acknowledge the interconnectedness of things.

But for the purposes of analysis, it is clarifying to consider these fields individually, to notice how co-intelligence manifests differently in each one, and to consider projects in each field through which we can build more co-intelligent lives and cultures. So in each of the brief descriptions given in the links above I will include

• a central inquiry to guide initial explorations of that field
• a note about which form(s) of co-intelligence are particularly associated with it (although all the forms play some role in all the fields)
• a few of the things people are doing to develop that field (things which we could all do more of) and
• some general comments on how I, personally, view the challenges and opportunities involved.

If you follow the links above, you will get a good sense of the broad scope of the co-intelligence paradigm. There is, indeed, something here for each of us and all of us...