Culture Shift
The IAQ CultureShift deck is most useful for questions about the world ‘out there’. It is best used with news stories, new technologies, political and corporate intrigues and fast moving developments that affect our collective journey. The questions are broad and cover a range of social, moral, environmental, political, spiritual and practical issues.
Choosing the cards is an intuitive process. Quietly focus your mind. You don’t need to formulate a specific question; however if you prefer to then it is best to phrase your enquiry in terms of “What do I need to know about…” or “Is there something else I should be considering about…” (see Hints & Tips).
The cards below are generated randomly from the larger IAQ InnerQuest deck every time you log on or refresh the page. Click on the arrows or use your mouse scroll wheel to slide through the deck in either direction until you feel drawn to choose a card. Clicking on that card will reveal the question. Once turned over, the card will remain that way to allow you to choose further cards if you wish. A maximum of three cards is usually best.You can look at the questions singly, but it can also be interesting to look for relationships of thought between them.
Clicking on it a second time will turn the card back over and generate a new one in its place. However, it is usually more interesting to work with the questions you are given – even if they don’t seem to immediately make sense.
- Is it the product of cynical thinking?
- To what extent does it redefine reality?
- How does it affect quality of life – as opposed to standard of living?
- Does it inspire self-love or self-loathing?
- How does it affect health?
- Does it concentrate or equalise power?
- What skills does it require?
- What is its role in social change?
- What are its hidden costs?
- How much and what kind of waste does it generate?
- What story does it tell about us?
- Does it undermine personal authority?
- What comes to mind when you approach it symbolically or metaphorically?
- Is it the least complex solution to the problem?
- What are its effects on interpersonal, community or global relationships?
- What is its impact on human creativity?
- Beyond capital, what kind of investment does it require?
- Is it ugly? If so, in what ways?
- What is its purpose?
- What aspect of the inner self does it mirror?
- Where does the money for it come from?
- Does it make you feel part of something important?
- Does it work with Nature or against it?
- Does it make you feel excluded?
- Does it preserve or destroy environmental diversity?
- In what ways might it suppress others' spiritual beliefs?
- What feelings does it provoke – and why?
- Does it enhance or degrade the meaning of work?
- Can it respond to changing circumstance?
- What are its effects on the most vulnerable person in the group?
- Does it foster peace or conflict?
- Is it a short-term or long-term solution?
- How might it alter our way of seeing and experiencing the world?
- What group or groups are promoting it?
- Does it affirm or deny a sense of place?
- Does it affirm undermine the concept of community?
- What values does it foster, uphold or distort?
- What are its benefits beyond the ability to serve the individual?
- What aspect of the past does it reflect?
- How does it colour our perception of our needs?
- Whom does it benefit?
- Is its reach local, national or global?
- Does it extend the gap between the haves and the have-nots?
- Is it toxic? How?
- Does it inspire curiosity?
- What is its mystique?
- To what extent does it allow us to evade personal responsibility?
- Does it make you feel powerful or powerless?
- Does it commodify knowledge or human relationships?
- Does it require bureaucracy in order to function?
- What is its total impact – its 'ecology'?
- How does it reflect spiritual beliefs?
- Does it incite rage? In what way?
- Does it represent change for change's sake?
- Does it exhaust or energise us?
- Does it preserve or destroy cultural diversity?
- Does it further empower global corporations?
- Does it sound too good to be true?
- How will its human and economic impact be measured?
- Does it inspire collective action? In a positive or negative way?
- Does it have clear goals?
- Does it foster a diversity of forms of knowledge?
- How long will it last?
- Does it require conformist thinking or behaviour to work?
- Who could be harmed by it?
- Does it prey on human weakness or fear?
- What kind of pace does it set?
- Is it reproducible across diverse cultures & geographies?
- Does it express love?
- What is its potential to become addictive?
- What does it allow us to deny or ignore?
- Has it happened before?
- Does it require a vocabulary that excludes others?
- Does it direct resources away from people or places that need them more?
- Is it part of a cycle?
- How complicated is it?
- How long will it take?
- What stereotypes does it reinforce?
- What happens if you ignore good intentions and focus on potential outcomes?
- Do you trust the integrity of the people involved?
- Who or what are the vested interests?
- What role has the media played in this – for good or ill?
- Who is excluded from the conversation?
- What would happen if we did nothing? Be honest.
- What aspects of the past does it deny or abandon?
- Does it use the law in a cynical way?
- Does it encourage diversity or monopoly in business?
- What, if anything, is wrong with the system or technology it replaces?
- Does it feel like a conspiracy?
- Does it dilute the human skill and knowledge bases?
- Does it encourage or depend on mindless consumerism?
- Is there too much heat and not enough light?
- What sort of leaders does it require? What are their qualities for good or ill?
- What is its likely effect on human behaviour/interactions?
- How will its impact be measured?
- What role do ritual and habit play in its perpetuation?
- What myth underpins it?
- Does it come from the top down or the bottom-up?
- Is it inspirational, or just provocative?
- What are the consequences if it fails?
- What assumptions does it depend on? Are they correct?
- Where, and to whom, do the profits go?
- Does it enhance or serve military purposes?
- Does it enhance or serve political purposes?
- Does it reflect fundamentalist or totalitarian thinking?
- How necessary is it?
- How different would it look through divergent or non-linear thinking?
- Is it an expression of ‘service’ in the purest sense?
- Why here and why now?
The IAQs concept, cards and this website are all copyright © Pat Thomas 2011.
No content may be reproduced without express permission of the author
Card artwork is copyright © Alexander Savage 2011
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