Mythologue: Is Wealth Inequality Essential?
Mythologue

Background

Long Finance’s Long Decisions Group consists of 30 people interested in how groups arrive at longer-term decisions in complex situations, ranging from the ‘liquid democracy’ movement to how decisions are made in the Linux community.

In 2013 Sir Geoffrey Nice (Gresham Professor of Law), in conversation with Michael Mainelli (Long Finance, Emeritus Gresham Professor of Commerce) and enlisting the support of Tim Connell (Fellow of Gresham College), Robert Ghanea-Hercock (Long Decisions), Jan-Peter Onstwedder (Long Decisions), and Giles Abbott (Professional Storyteller), raised the idea of trying to discover ways of “extracting better narratives from inquiries and commissions”.

Core Idea

We are trying to answer a wordy question ‘how do we develop a better format to have productive discussions, as part of the role civil society should play, about complex problems, so solutions can be develop that have genuine legitimacy across a wide swathe of the population, and that therefore have a better chance of being implemented’. After a few meetings, we suggest the following:

The core idea is that the purpose of the Mythologue is for the group to agree which basic ‘story’ best fits the question. Our core assumption is that we can identify a short list of narratives. The Mythologue is an interactive process helping the audience to use the short list of narratives to classify problems. Stories have historically been a good way to communicate complex issues, issues with nuances and multiple angles, and so the search for a narrative structure that can be used to start the debate. Stories, think Homer, have also been a good way to communicate complex issues over long periods of time (though perhaps the Poems of Gresham may be a subsequent stage).

Having participated, people should go away enriched by having worked together and engaged in classifying the situation to a narrative. It is hoped that, after having classified the situation to some basic plot, participants will:

  • Believe: have more understanding and be more comfortable with complex situations;
  • Explain: having worked to a convincing narrative, people should be more able to explain complex situations to others, possibly working towards solutions;
  • Inspire: by having a better overall idea of the situation and their role within it, where appropriate people may feel empowered to do something and encourage others to help.

Format

Roles:

  • Moderator
  • Timekeeper
  • “Advocate, Provocateur,”
  • “Storyteller, Bard, Kynic,”
  • “Jurors, Audience”
  1. The Mythologues of Gresham: An explanation of the event and why
    by the Moderator: 15 minutes – handout of the X basic plots (table with plot description, main characters)
  2. Specification of the Question: 2 minutes
  3. Audience votes on which narrative best fits
  4. Presentation by Advocate ‘For’: 5 minutes (emotional, and must specify which story they think best fits, and a list of ‘witnesses’ (if any))
  5. Presentation by Provacateur ‘Against’: 5 minutes (emotional, and must specify which story they think best fits, and a list of ‘witnesses’ (if any))
  6. Long Now style interview and assumption by Storyteller of the question (decoupled): 10 minutes
  7. Long Now style interview and assumption by Bard of the question (decoupled): 10 minutes
  8. sɪʟᴇɴᴄᴇ
  9. Storyteller, Bard, and Kynic call ‘For’ witnesses (if any) for joint interviews and limited audience questions: 15 - 30 minutes
  10. Storyteller, Bard, and Kynic call ‘Against’ witnesses (if any) for joint interviews and limited audience questions: 15 - 30 minutes
  11. ʙʀᴇᴀᴛʜɪɴɢ/ᴍɪɴᴅғᴜʟɴᴇss ɢʀᴏᴜᴘ ᴇxᴇʀᴄɪsᴇ
  12. Storyteller presents the story in his/her suggested favourite narrative: 5 minutes
  13. Bard presents the story in his/her suggested favourite narrative: 5 minutes (both Storyteller and Bard can agree on the same narrative)
  14. Kynic explains why no story can work
  15. Audience votes on which narrative, or none, best fits

Date
Monday, 04 April 2016

Time
8:30 - 11:00 BST

Cost
Free

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Speakers
  • Professor Sir Geoffrey Nice
    Moderator
  • Professor Doug McWilliams
    Advocate
  • Karina Robinson
    Provocateur
  • Barbara Ridpath
    Storyteller
  • TBA
    Bard
  • TBA
    Kynic
  • Jan-Peter Onstwedder
    Timekeeper
  • Rohan Narse
    Mindfulness Break
  • Dr Robert Ghanea-Hercock
    Chronicler

Location
Z/Yen Group (90 Basinghall Street)
90 Basinghall Street
London EC2V 5AY

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