ritual
the power of rituals
Sarah Drinkwater and
ritual
How to Design (and Redesign) the Practices of Company Culture
future.a16z.com
ordinary rituals:
-drying your hands all the way
-opening mail without ripping it
-putting an object back where you found it
-parallel parking
-hand washing the chopsticks
-drinking water from a glass
-actually tying your shoes
-closing the car door without slamming it
-kissing someone back
Rituals are how we make meaning, personally and together.
In games studies, these worlds-within-a-world are called magic circles. A magic circle is the space where the game takes place.
We need ritual technology. Technology designed for ritual use.
Why? Most of the software we use daily is designed to engagement-max. Social media feeds, loot boxes, compulsion loops, gang gang yes yes yes ice cream so good. You’re caught in a feedback loop with the algorithm, and you are the squishiest part of that loop.
Where social media is compulsive, tools for thought are reflective. Where social media is here and now, tools for thought dwell in the long now. Tools for thought slowly build compounding momentum through low, slow feedback loops that point us in the directions we want to develop.
The largest companies today are obsessed with generating content in a completely de-ritualized context. But content always exists in tension with form. Ritual is the form we have abandoned in our relentless quest for content.
Ted Gioia • 13 Observations on Ritual
addictive scrolling and swiping can never achieve the sense of closure and boundedness we all crave.
Insights from Byung-Chul Han:
The rise of narcissism, the emphasis on authenticity, and shallow technological experiences are eroding essential societal bonds
We need daily and lifelong rituals to help bring narrative structure into our lives
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I’ve noticed that the people who lament that we “have no rituals left” in our society are often the same people who are anti-marriage, or just go to the courthouse. Who don’t walk at their graduation ceremonies. Who don’t wear black lace to funerals. Who don’t own a suit. Who don’t send Christmas cards or take off shoes at the door or take into
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