**Pattern Name:**
Cave Drawing
**Introduction:**
I imagine an elder pointing to a cave drawing and explaining or describing the scenario and its meaning to a younger member of the clan.
**Illustration:**
Cave art from India, Wikimedia commons
**CONTEXT:**
We live in narratives, stories. If we are to live in the same world we need to live in shared stories. That means we need to have conversations about the same experiences. Pointing at a relevant painting or diagram is a way of converging on the same story.
**PROBLEM:** We operate from our mental models - these are the assumptions we (often unconsciously) make about the way the world works. These assumptions can cause major disagreements if not made explicit.
Imagine a group of friends who want to go to the beach together. Each of them could be thinking of different beaches and different ways of getting there. Perhaps one wants to go to the local beach and walk. Another wants to go to the Maldives by plane and boat. Another still wants to sail to a beach on a remote island.
In order to go together we need to agree on the destination and how we are going to get there. To do that we need to map the system in a causal loop diagram. This will reveal our options.
We will not achieve common goals if we don't have them!
**Forces:**
**THEREFORE (SOLUTION):**
**Actions:**
**Consequences:**
Simplified and abstracted to the essentials only.
Salient community systems (models).
**Known Uses:**
Our earliest recorded history.
**RELATED PATTERNS:**
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Diagrams Rich Pictures Photo Journeys Etc.