What is community?



  • Community has multiple meanings


  • Community differs from audience

  • "Community is a complex network of human relationships over time." -- Cliff Figallo

  • Community follows a pattern of evolution. Author M. Scott Peck identifies four stages:

    • Pseudocommunity (friendly, but faking it)
    • Chaos (struggles for social structure and power)
    • Emptiness (disillusionment)
    • Community (genuine complex social dynamics and belonging)

    Note: If this last stage of community fails to come together, expect more regimented substitutes, as in a cult, classroom, workplace or a bureaucracy.


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