Here’s a list of resources to get you started on building something like a fractal. We also recommend taking one of our future bootcamps! (sign up for the newsletter at that link to hear about it)
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What is a fractal? It's a microsociety with three components: village, campus, and culture :
- Village → We live within a five-minute walk and help each other raise kids. (example)
- Campus → We build things together—startups, research groups, nonprofits—and explore new fields through a community-run university. (example)
- Culture → We throw legendary parties, make music, host salons, and generally cultivate aliveness, beauty, and meaning. (example)
It’s kind of like a neighborhood and kind of like a campus, so sometimes we refer to fractals as “neighborhood campuses.”
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Things a fractal is not:
- 🚫 Ideological: like a friend group, fractals are based on relationships, not on ideas or political alignments. No “shoulds!” This is for fun & realizing the good life! A fractal is not an enclave for only one subculture (such as: effective altruists, Game B people, leftists, cottagecore conservatives, meditators, authentic relaters, etc). You can, eg, use your community of neo-post-Marxists as a jumping off point, but there is no such thing as a neo-post-Marxist fractal.
- 🚫 Centralized: like a neighborhood, there are no formal roles, rules, or boards. These things can (and probably should) exist for organizations within the fractal, but the fractal itself is just a name for an informal collection of friends, family, and colleagues.
- 🚫 Separatist: like a civic society, a fractal is not a commune that breaks away from civilization. A fractal is a scene that integrates and contributes into an existing municipality. Relatedly, fractals are multicultural. They should be able to integrate everyone from your mom to your college best friend without too much friction.
Resources to build one
Below highlighted the resources we think are the most important in each category in case your time is short.
If you want to take our full bootcamp for starting a fractal, go here: fractalcampus.com
🚀 Getting started
🥘 Dinner party
🏘️ Co-living and neighborhood building