General Cybernetics — How Conversation Works

How Conversation Works
Software
About General Cybernetics, Inc.

Conversation works. We all need it to learn and to collaborate. It’s the foundation of society and culture and it makes us human. Software with conversation at its heart is more human. Let’s build Conversation Software for a Conversation Age.

Participation and autonomy

Anatomy of Conversation

What are the elements of effective conversation? How does it work?

Participant A has a goal for connecting to another in conversation.

She chooses a context, an appropriate moment and circumstance, to begin.

She also chooses a language that she thinks will be understood.

A takes the action of sending an initial message to Participant B.

Participant B is willing to enter into a conversation.

B is also willing to share a similar goal.

B engages with A about goal by responding with a reciprocal action, that is, by participating with A in an exchange of ideas and possibilities.

As a result of the exchange, agreement may be reached wherein A and B share the same mental model. Now they share a common belief, idea, value, plan, or all of these.

Agreement on a plan may be followed by a different class of actions or transactions which are coordinated behaviors that arise from the conversation. These may result in paying for a product, having a meeting, dancing together, acting as a team, and so on.

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General Cybernetics, Inc.

Participation and autonomy

Anatomy of Conversation

Conversation Software for the Conversation Age

Shared Whitespace

ThoughtShuffler

RedDrummer