Inspired by the book
Beggars in Spain, by
Nancy Kress...
In that book, the
Sleepless (people genetically engineered not to need sleep, and super-intelligent as a result) build a fortified commune in upstate
New York to live in; a place (called
Sanctuary) where the
Sleepless can be among each other and conduct business without being persecuted by those who are
prejudiced against them--which is a substantial portion of the population.
Eventually, the fanatics among the Sleepless see not even the commune as being safe and build a
space station named
Sanctuary, and move all the Sleepless entirely off the planet completely.
While that is
science fiction, I was suddenly struck by the thought that an
Everything Sanctuary would be a very
cool thing indeed. While we may not be persecuted (although to listen to
JonKatz talk, we are) per se, not a day goes by where something to the effect of
"Mum, Dad, I've packed my bags and I'm moving out. I'm staying at Everything2." isn't seen in a
node, in the
chatterbox, or in
#everything.
Just take a look at the number of gatherings and get-togethers that have already occurred...and in all of them, I haven't seen ONE where anyone came back and said they didn't have a great time! How often does THAT happen in *any* sort of gathering, not to mention when people from online communities meet in
meatspace?!
It's starting to happen elsewhere...the
Geek Compound of
Slashdot isn't exactly the same, but it's not exactly different either.
I have a feeling if someone from
Everything actually had the money and the inclination to build such a commune, people would come. Slowly at first, perhaps. But they would come.
Some would come just to visit, to see what it was like and to meet the faces behind the nodes.
Some would stay for a while, perhaps on
vacation or for an extended weekend.
Eventually, people might come to stay for a quiet place to
work, to share
ideas, or maybe even to
fall in love.
And it would be
good.
And yes, I know, my radical ideas about Everything2 have already occurred to others.