The Creative Class's Karass

In “Who Loves Ya, Baby?” (April, Discover) Steven Johnson says that in Cat’s Cradle, “Kurt Vonnegut explains how the world is divided into two types of social organizations: the karass and the granfalloon. A karass is a spontaneously forming group, joined by unpredictable links… A granfalloon, on the other hand, is a ‘false karass,’ a bureaucratic structure that looks like a team…”

At SxSW, Richard Florida mentioned that “the average length of a job today” is “three years,” and that the “geographic place and community have replaced the company.” I’d say that makes a karass considerably more influencial and the granfallon less so.

Great notes for Florida’s keynote by Heath Row.