Second class collaborative element

This article is a part of the collaborative research project to develop a general theory of collaboration. If you have edited this article, you may wish to sign your name here to receive credit in future publications.

Second class collaborative elements have been identified by Meta Collab's collaborative research in the development a general theory of collaboration (GTC). The GTC's hypothesis states that a set of observable (second class) dynamics exist parallel to and/or nested within first class elements (first class elements being common to all human collaborative scenarios). Therefore, these components may appear in some but not all collaborative situations. The hypothesis also states that second class dynamics and components exist and arise as collaborative scenarios branch and diversify in their applications, contexts and complexity, and that first and second class dynamics and components may be different for collaborative scenarios enacted by non-human participants (i.e. computational agents etc).

It must be noted that these dynamics are not to be seen as less worthy or secondary to first class dynamics in any way other than that they are not evident in all collaborative situations. In fact, they may predate many first class dynamics in terms of collaboration’s biological evolution, with social negotiation being a necessary component of all face-to-face collaboration, and experiential sharing providing pre-verbal collaborative dynamics. These insights provide a rich area for further research in investigating how, when and why collaboration emerged in humans, and if collaboration can be found to exist in other non-human animals. Such research might also shed light on all other existing elements of collaborative theory, as well as the nature and development of the human and animal group and individual psyches in general.

Second class collaborative components

No second class components of the collaborative process have yet been identified.

Second class collaborative dynamics

Second class components of the collaborative process include:

• Social negotiation
• Experiential sharing

For a summary of these components, see the general theory of collaboration's collaborative research page.

See also first class collaborative elements.