Community Quorum Sensing

The future will be determined by how much quorum sensing turns into common sense

Have you ever been to an Acres U.S.A. event? Or any kind of conference that left a significant impact on you? There’s something different about gathering in person. I believe it’s because when we are in person, we can much more easily quorum sense. 

What in the world does that mean? Well, in the process of exchanging ideas, stories, insights, and experiences, we invariably get a sense of each other, and we react in accordance with the new information. In nature, plants can signal to each other in times of stress or perceived threats — the reaction to the signal is evidence that they sensed something, and then, because they reacted as a group in a similar way, we call it “quorum sensing.” 

Bacteria do this, too, but as with everything microbial, they do it faster, so it’s easier to observe. Recent studies have even shown that bacteria utilize pulsing AM frequencies to coordinate behavior. They start to match the timing of their reproduction. 

We see something similar in studies of people. When we gather in groups to sing and stand shoulder to shoulder, our hearts and breathing synchronize. What is happening when we come away from a conference filled with new ideas, insights, and stories? Are those just signals? Are those feelings in part from being in alignment with a community you know to be regenerative and positive? Are we sensing the community, and are we reacting?

It is out of this community-wide reaction to knowing itself that common sense can result. That means that common sense is community-level metacognition: thinking about thinking, but, in this case, primarily subconsciously assigned and arranged, while being dispersed throughout the community. We attend, participate, and absorb most of this effect if we are in the moment, enjoying it, and interacting with others. It can be from experience and shared experiences as well, but these commonalities are anchors for quorum sensing when we meet each other in person, and the principle behind the common experience tends to become the common sense that guides that space or principle. 

(There is also the danger of quorum sensing being hijacked for nefarious purposes — whipping up a mob or spreading propaganda or lies. This is unfortunately the world we live in. Instead of quorum sensing for the benefit of the community, well-designed narratives generated by dangerous, determined, and unscrupulous organizations and groups of people control the minds of a large portion of the public. This is one reason regenerative agriculture struggles to make more headway in the public forum.) 

You can increase common sense and quorum sensing by being more conscious of this effect and the process — this is what great interviews and podcasts provide — but they are so much more effective and potent in person. “I was there” has so much more power when relating than “I listened online” or “I watched it on YouTube.” This is why I am speaking more in person these days. You may “know” someone for years through the internet, but meeting them in person will always be your strongest memory of them and will define your relationship with them. 

That being said, information and training often require more commitment than we can give in person. Just because we can’t go back in time and be there at all the prior Eco-Ag events doesn’t lessen the value of the information and perspectives to be found in those videos or in prior Acres U.S.A. publications. When we combine information, research, and peer discussion (even digitally) with metacognition (whether you are mediating or just taking and reviewing notes or pondering), we can generate “personal” quorum sensing of the community or of an individual’s perspective. This may draw us into a circle of higher-level common sense, even if we are dislocated from others in time and place — especially if we take the time to verify and test everything we are learning. This is arguably how I learned so much on my own and through my network of mentors and peers. It’s also harder and more prone to error, though, unless you are very conscious of what you are learning (this is why I write books and develop working frameworks of understanding). 

Quorum sensing is a combination of our own preparation to be sensitive to the messages we receive and being in communities to immerse ourselves in. Here are seven steps to increase quorum sensing at the next event you attend!

1. Practice. If you want to learn about compost, practice composting. Farming? Practice farming.
2. Study. Read books, watch YouTube, listen to podcasts, etc.
3. Prepare. Study up on specific people or concepts before the event. Be ready to bring your notepad and your pens (and hydration!), but also your business cards and/or samples of your work/product. This could also mean being in the right place mentally, physically, spiritually, and emotionally. If you are seeking to impact others or to feel impact yourself, your state is essential. 
4. Be present. When you attend Eco-Ag or any event, bring your entire attention. Don’t catch up on work while John Kempf is explaining the relationship between boron and plant health.
5. Capture the insights. Take notes. Draw diagrams. 
6. Discuss throughout. Ask speakers and panelists questions! But also, talk to everyone in the halls, at meals, etc. Keep the ideas flowing and follow your trains of thought — even if you have to write them out.
7. Review. Take the time to review what you wrote and try to find the “common sense” in it. How can you apply this to your own practice? What principle does this expose? And then, if you really want to encode the learning, reflect on your gratitude for it all and then gratitude for things in specific as much as you can. This is a master technique if you practice it enough.

Now, if you’re taking notes and attending some conference talks, you might want to rewatch it. This is why Acres films its events. And people these days take lots of photos with their smartphones of powerpoint slides during presentations. But beware of this — it takes us out of the present moment when we watch real-life in real-time through the screen and not just with our eyes. Use what you capture later to trigger the full spectrum memories you create. That’s going to give you the best experience, the most learning, and the most common sense. 

Does this mean that online learning is subpar? No — there’s not enough time for a 20-week curriculum to occur in person: that’s why I do online courses with audio, video, and in-person Zoom sessions — to get as close as possible to in-person. But we need those in-person quorum sensing anchors for our common sense to be recognized and for us to see and feel that recognition. The same is true of other real-life experience. We need to test, verify, and witness the things we base our common sense on. The danger of quorum sensing without real-world experience is an echo chamber. 

The internet is in many ways a generator of echo chamber effects — some are accidental and some are purposeful, for someone’s or some group’s particular gain. You likely know exactly what I’m referring to: we are seeing the erosion of common sense. We are seeing division, confusion, and malice. There are no doubt bots in every mix, but it is having effects on real people — at the very least by taking the time and bandwidth of too many. 

The way we get beyond this is by meeting in-person, by developing relationships with real people we’ve met, and by reinforcing our common sense so we can call out the crazy online when we see it and stand strong knowing our community has our backs. That is common sense! And we have the real-life examples to prove it. We have the evidence for regeneration. We are living it. We are not alone. There are people like us all over in all sorts of communities. We are the seeds for a regenerative future, and our community is growing in strength, numbers, and understanding as we quorum sense.