That
UCP's "Life Without Limits" vision applies to people with a whole spectrum of disabilities has me wondering.
Including multi-stakeholder networks, I've identified, for classification
purposes, five (5) CP-fighting sectors. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to
locate the orgs and indivs within them along various spectrums / spectra or continuums / continua -- so that they'd be closer to or farther from "focused
on CP," closer to or farther from "operates in the health arena,"
closer to or farther from "provides direct care," and so on?
That's
just one thing I'd like to be able to do. More generally, I'd like to be able
to quickly and easily manipulate my data. (aka the folks I'm following on Twitter and what I know about them) How come? To see what the landscape would look like
if it were rearranged in various ways. To look for patterns. To gain insights
about relationships, etc.
Enter mind mapping.
A mind map is a graphical way of expressing what's in your head; a means of displaying the connections your mind makes.
(From the play Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, I always remember George, one of
the two main characters, jokingly referring to an abstract painting as "a
pictorial representation of the order of [his wife] Martha's mind.") By definition, a mind
map is a visual thinking tool
that helps you structure information and better analyze,
comprehend, synthesize, recall and generate new ideas.
I'm in the process now of transferring
my Twitter "Following"s into an online mind mapping program so I can structure
them as I see fit. I'm using my five-sector framework as a basis for grouping. I've also started to add Web site links to some, thinking that this could be useful / powerful down the road.
MindMeister.com is the service provider. As it says on
its site, "It's very hard for two people to write notes on the same piece
of paper, but it's easy for them to share a digital mind map. Mind maps are
open and friendly and invite input from everyone. If you're working on a
complex project with a large team of co-workers, you can create a mind map,
share it with them and encourage everyone to annotate it."
The real
potential lies in this idea of using maps collaboratively. Like I said
before, my map is crude at this point; only a hazy beginning. The new formula for getting better faster, however, is to put things like it out in public and to invite
others to use, make comments, etc. Mine isn't public in the sense that others can add notes or make changes, but those capabilites are there.
If you'd like to take a closer look at
the actual map, here's a direct link:
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