Urgent Evoke

A crash course in changing the world.

I wrote last time about leverage - the idea of a turning a small applied force into a large one. Archimedes posited that there are "3 simple machines" - levers, pulleys and screws. So the principle of leverage is one that is over 2000 years old. While nominally a term used in physics, it can act as a metaphor for behavior and innovation as well.

People are points of leverage too. A man like Ghandi, he did something much bigger than one man should ever have been able to do. Martin Luther King. Edison. All of them took an idea and turned it into change on a massive scale.

We could have a nice discussion about whether they were the levers, or their ideas were. But unexpressed ideas are worth nothing. And good ideas when they're not combined with the ability to realize them are tragedy.

So for my first Act! mission I've chosen Jane McGonigle, (one of?) the game designers behind Evoke as my hero to shadow. Oh sure, there are other amazing heroes out there, They were linked to on the mission briefing. But Jane is a lever. She's turned this idea of Evoke into something that will translate an idea into concrete action on the part of those who participate. As a result of an idea and her execution, many people will become engaged in the idea of making the world a better place. Like a single neutron in a chain reaction, her work has a multiplicative effect.

That's leverage.

It doesn't hurt that she is actually easy to follow. She has a blog, Avantgame, and twitters under the same name. Still, her desire to do more by developing games that provoke (evoke?) real action in the world is an inspiration, and I can only hope to have the same amount of influence in my life. She applies her single point of force, and the result is the application of all of our effort. We should all try to find ways in which the good that we put out into the universe can be amplified by those who are affected by us. Spread intent.

Be your own point of leverage. Ready? Push.




Views: 37

Comment by Jeff McNeill on March 5, 2010 at 4:55am
Nice use of an ancient source. We truly can stand on the shoulders of giants.
Comment by ninmah on March 5, 2010 at 6:21am
We chose the same hero. I love your characterization of the acts of these people as leverage -- I think you are absolutely right.
Comment by Ian Tuck on March 5, 2010 at 6:24am
That's so cool! I saw her speak at the TED conference last month. She was great. I can't wait for the talk to be posted on TED (although I have access to the full feed from the conference - it was finally posted today for attendees). It's nice to see what she was speaking about coming to fruition in this game.
Comment by Elastika on March 6, 2010 at 9:08pm
fascinated by the Evoke idea as well.
Comment by Nick Heyming on March 9, 2010 at 7:13pm
I've been trying to grasp how the same types of force multipliers that basic machines represent translate into natural or social systems. It seems like our society is overly reliant on the energy or h***geneity and reductionism. We plant a wh*** bunch of one thing, or we push a single culture.

When I was in the jungle, I was exposed to a different force multiplier, the energy of diversity. Diverse systems are more resiliant in the long term than h***genous ones, even if in the short run the h***genous ones can outcompete them.

Systems like permaculture and biodynamics seek to leverage diversity to accomplish a nutritive goal, while systems like Evoke and Evolver do the same with cultural diversity for a social goal. I'm excited to live in a time when these technologies are on the ascent!
Comment by Karen L. on March 12, 2010 at 7:44am
Your post is well writ and well argued.

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