Selector: MAIN Your LERN
There are two basic structures in the Builders of the Ark game.
One structure is that of TRIADs which are relationships that you form with individuals.
The other structure is the organizational/administrative structure of the game called the LERN.
Here we will explain and discuss the LERN.
In the real world LERN stands for Local Economy Recovery Network or Local Economy Resource Network depending upon whether it is being applied in a disaster recovery situation or a peacetime situation.
In the game, your LERN is your node on the network of resources that you have to accomplish whatever goals you wish to achieve by participating in the Builders of the Ark.
Your LERN should consist of between 100 and 200 participants, ideally around 150, who have a similar objective. You can be a member of only one LERN but you may change LERNs.
Choosing a LERN
In the game you are initially assigned to a Welcoming Village LERN, but you can at anytime choose a different story and/or a different LERN.
Each LERN is associated with a location:
a. City
b. Suburb
c. Town
d. Village
e. Farm
The particular project that you are interested in may be in just one of those locations or there may be so many people interested in that project that there are several similar locations dealing with it.
Some LERNs are open to you to freely join and for others you have to ask permission.
In the real world it will not likely be possible to form LERNs while other systems of government are functioning. In the real world a LERN is tied to a specific geographic area and all the members would be your actual physical neighbors. However, in the game, the LERN is in cyberspace and the other members of your LERN may be anywhere in the real world.
A much fuller description of LERNs in the real world is given in the book Society AFTER Doomsday, and while many of the principles carry over to game, and in deed it is one of the purposes of the game which is for people to learn and practice those principles, we will not go into real world details here.
Operation of the LERN
In the game we simulate the operation of a LERN. To speed up the game, activities which would take a year in the real world are reduced to a week in the game.
Election of the Council
In the real world there might be 7, 9, 11 or more on a Council, but in the game we restrict the number of members to five. In the real world, members usually serve on a council for three years, but in the game we restrict them to five weeks.
Each week a new member is elected to the council into week/chair position one. Each of the other members have 'moved up a chair' and the member who was in the fifth chair is dropped off. They will not be eligible to be voted for again for one week so that, for even a very popular council member, there will be a week without them on the council.