That's not how Latin works: the singular of scenia would be scenium, the plural of scenius would be scenii. No such word exists in latin: if you are looking to say "scene", then the word would be "scaena" or "scena", plural "scaenae" or "scenae".
Interesting content. I am partial to physical proximity, but I am exploring what makes some places on the web (Reddit above all) more akin (at least in my mind) to physical places where I would see my interests nurtured.
I'd like to toss another consideration point out there in response to this section of your post:
"If scenia have given us many of the greatest moments in the history of art, ideas, and technology, shouldn’t we do everything we can to make more of them? And if we’re now to embrace forms of life that see us live and work principally online, and forgo physical proximity, then will we reduce our chance to form scenia, and so impede our collective progress? Are we cancelling our own future?"
I feel there are two assumptions in here that are worth questioning: (1) that remote work means we'll also be living principally online and (2) that the greatest moments of ideas occurred at a workplace scenia environment.
What if remote work gives us back time (time we lost during commutes, for example) that we will use to form different scenia socially based on shared interests or altruistic activities, or among professional peers who do not work at the exact same company? I see more people getting involved in interest groups (cycling clubs, hiking groups), in volunteer activities (beautification projects), and shared working spaces with non-colleagues.
I can imagine that these less formal moments of interactions among individuals with different jobs, experiences, and backgrounds would lead to even greater innovations because we get inspired by different activities, we create new and different cognitive connections, and we get exposed to ideas outside our work bubbles. Maybe those moments don't have to center around our employers or mammoth businesses.
Thanks for reading Brooke! I think this point about less formal moments of interaction is really crucial. My instinct is that you're right that what fuels scenia isn't only, or maybe even primarily, the bringing together of talented professionals in shared formal workplace environments. It's likely at least in part about the hard to define energy and informal contact that happens outside those environments. That accords with research, which I've written about before, that shows that its constant streams of informal communication – and not formal communication inside meetings – that is the best predictor of team creativity and innovation.
It's also true that remote work may give people back more time that they're free to spend informally with those around them. I think the question then becomes: for a true scenia, do you need both formal and informal time together? That is, do you need a scene in which people are thrown together and there's a lot of informal chit-chat and serendipity, but they also then take that inspiration and energy into formal work settings where others are present and all that energy gets, as it were, applied? Or can you take formal work settings out of this equation, and still see the emergence of true scenia?
I find all these questions fascinating. I think all we really know at the moment is that the magic that creates a true scenia is really hard to pin down, and it's an open question what impact the shift towards remote work will have.
By the way, we're having a great discussion of all this in the NWSH Slack if you're keen to get involved there!
That's not how Latin works: the singular of scenia would be scenium, the plural of scenius would be scenii. No such word exists in latin: if you are looking to say "scene", then the word would be "scaena" or "scena", plural "scaenae" or "scenae".
Interesting content. I am partial to physical proximity, but I am exploring what makes some places on the web (Reddit above all) more akin (at least in my mind) to physical places where I would see my interests nurtured.
I'd like to toss another consideration point out there in response to this section of your post:
"If scenia have given us many of the greatest moments in the history of art, ideas, and technology, shouldn’t we do everything we can to make more of them? And if we’re now to embrace forms of life that see us live and work principally online, and forgo physical proximity, then will we reduce our chance to form scenia, and so impede our collective progress? Are we cancelling our own future?"
I feel there are two assumptions in here that are worth questioning: (1) that remote work means we'll also be living principally online and (2) that the greatest moments of ideas occurred at a workplace scenia environment.
What if remote work gives us back time (time we lost during commutes, for example) that we will use to form different scenia socially based on shared interests or altruistic activities, or among professional peers who do not work at the exact same company? I see more people getting involved in interest groups (cycling clubs, hiking groups), in volunteer activities (beautification projects), and shared working spaces with non-colleagues.
I can imagine that these less formal moments of interactions among individuals with different jobs, experiences, and backgrounds would lead to even greater innovations because we get inspired by different activities, we create new and different cognitive connections, and we get exposed to ideas outside our work bubbles. Maybe those moments don't have to center around our employers or mammoth businesses.
Thanks for reading Brooke! I think this point about less formal moments of interaction is really crucial. My instinct is that you're right that what fuels scenia isn't only, or maybe even primarily, the bringing together of talented professionals in shared formal workplace environments. It's likely at least in part about the hard to define energy and informal contact that happens outside those environments. That accords with research, which I've written about before, that shows that its constant streams of informal communication – and not formal communication inside meetings – that is the best predictor of team creativity and innovation.
It's also true that remote work may give people back more time that they're free to spend informally with those around them. I think the question then becomes: for a true scenia, do you need both formal and informal time together? That is, do you need a scene in which people are thrown together and there's a lot of informal chit-chat and serendipity, but they also then take that inspiration and energy into formal work settings where others are present and all that energy gets, as it were, applied? Or can you take formal work settings out of this equation, and still see the emergence of true scenia?
I find all these questions fascinating. I think all we really know at the moment is that the magic that creates a true scenia is really hard to pin down, and it's an open question what impact the shift towards remote work will have.
By the way, we're having a great discussion of all this in the NWSH Slack if you're keen to get involved there!