Snapshot

Rather than trying to script everything out, often a few simple rules — say, “come to Wall St; bring a tent,” or “bang your pots and pans at noon” — are enough to spark a surprisingly effective mass action.

Sept 17. Wall Street. Bring tent.

— Adbusters

In 1986, computer scientists did an experiment on “emergence — where complex global behaviour can arise,” unplanned and unprogrammed, “from the interaction of simple local rules.” They created virtual birds called “boids.” (The computer scientists must have been from Brooklyn.) They put these boids in a virtual environment and threw in a few virtual obstacles. They assigned every boid the same three simple rules: fly forwards, stay a certain distance from any other boids near you, and don’t bang into obstacles. Then they threw the switch. The boids flocked together. As the flock approached a cloud, it would break up into smaller flocks to either side, and then reform — all without the idea of flocking ever being programmed into the system.

This experiment was a stripped-down demonstration of something we experience in nature and society all the time — and something activists can put to good use.

If you hit on the right rules, they can lead to a surprisingly robust, effective, and beautiful happening.

If you’re trying to organize a participatory art piece, a mass action, or a viral campaign, you don’t need to script it all out — even if you could. All you need are a few simple rules that participants can sign on to. If you hit on the right rules, they can lead to a surprisingly robust, effective, and beautiful happening.

Think of Critical Mass, the monthly mass bike rides that take place in cities across the world. The rules are simple: Gather after work on the last Friday of the month. Stick together. If you’re at the front, you decide where the mass goes next. If you’re at the back, help stragglers keep up. If you’re in the middle, just ride, or, if you want, protect other bikers from cross-traffic. No one and everyone is in charge. It’s an “organized coincidence.” And it works.

Flash mobs operate by the same logic. The call for a 2008 flash mob pillow fight on Wall Street consisted of two rules: Bring a pillow, and don’t hit anybody who doesn’t also have a pillow. Enough said!

These kind of efforts work well on social media as well. A key means of building the Occupy movement was the “we are the 99%” tumblr. The invitation was simple: Take a picture of yourself holding a sign that describes your situation — for example, “I am a student with $25,000 in debt.” Below that, write “I am the 99 percent.” The resulting tapestry of voices became an eloquent statement of solidarity.

A carnival protest might succeed with an “anything goes” rule set, because, well, it’s a carnival. A more politically focused mass street action (see: STORY: Citizens’ Posse) or viral campaign of distributed actions (see: STORY: Billionaires for Bush), however, often needs a stronger framework. The nature of your action, its complexity, and the degree of risk will determine the exact rules required.

Originally published in Beautiful Trouble.