Experience suggests that the optimal number of participants for an interesting session in a reasonable time frame is about seven. We call global score of a relation the sum of all the scores of one relation among the participants. The global score matrix is the sum of all the matrices generated by all participants. To each global score is attached a standard deviation measuring the inter-participant consistency of the global score of the relation. Experience shows that this phase may take between thirty minutes and one hour.
Writing involves loose ratification.
Generated viewpoints are more or less specific episodes that can be subsequently endorsed or contradicted. As the GEM progresses in time, participants start to write for the others instead of writing for themselves by adapting their own language to what they have just read. Participants need to understand the needs and abilities of the others if they want to communicate. The difference between talking and writing lies in the fact that they have more time and opportunity to express their viewpoints in an undisturbed atmosphere. Positive reinforcement contributes to the validity of the viewpoint.