The Diagnose
A Leaf In The Wind
People are boring.
Well, most of them are. Same ideas, same values, same thinking patterns. Standardization brought wealth to humanity but now it seems that we're stuck and most of us don't even notice it.
As usual the conversation that is in the mainstream misses the point. People talk about issues of diversity, equality and other hollow buzzwords without even scratching the surface of the solution.
It's not a lack of smarts. Not a lack of knowledge. It's much deeper yet much simplier than that.
It's a lack of acceptance.
Acceptance of what? Quite Simple.
Our flawed understanding of the world and the people in it, is based on our reluctance to accept fundamental things about ourselves.
Right, wrong, good, bad - We created way too simple metrics to judge people, their actions and their ideas. It's a glaring example for our mental laziness. Thinking in black and white is the norm.
It used to work but now...it's impractical at best. Our lives became faster. The tools we've created evolved like crazy. We on the other hand didn't.
Don't get me wrong. I understand that we've come a long way from hunting and gathering. But we still have to catch up. Not with some nation or some company but with the people we can be. With our potential.
It might sound cheesy but it's true. We can create a great world instead of maintaining an ok one.
But to do so, we have to accept. Accept a lot in fact.
We have to accept that we aren't as smart as we think we are to allow different ideas into our minds.
We have to accept our innate flaws to be able to use them.
We have to accept that the romantic ideas we have about the world are useless.
In a nutshell we have to accept a minor amount of reality to mold the majority of it.It's only when you know where you are, you can possibly know where to go. Idealistic bullshit just leaves you clueless about your position in life.
A leaf in the wind.
The Cure
The Circus Of Ideas
Solving the problem of ever same thus flawed thinking is simple in theory but hard in practice. All that has to be there is diversity.
No, not the one you hear about online or from your social justice warrior friend.
The only diversity that matters is the diversity of thoughts. Bringing together very different people from all walks of life is the only way to achieve progress in this world. And I don't mean the "let's gather some black, asian, hispanic and gay people" approach.
Much rather I am talking about people from any social position, any industry, any level of experience. The best ideas are created in a diverse context. Not in a homogenous one.
Given the right context and a minimum viable dose of rules we could create it. The circus of ideas.
Amazing human feats, things you've never seen before as well as freaky stuff. All for the sake of progress.
The avoidance of boredom.
A cocktail of people and thoughts bouncing off each other again and again. Creating, mixing and remixing more and more ideas.Ideas become projects.
Projects become progress. Straightforward.
But what is the right context? What are the right rules? Who are the right people?
The context part is simple. A diverse group of people gathered in a room. Slightly drunk. Encouraged to talk to each other. Also known as: A party.
The most relaxed of contexts deliveres best ground for new ideas.
The rules part is as simple:
1. Accept that we all - including you - are flawed. Don't judge. It's useless.
2. Every idea is valuable in some shape or form. Even a bad idea can spark a good one.
3. No discussions of politics or religion. Believe whatever you want but don't try to convince the rest of us.
4. Think in solutions. Not in problems. (As cheesy as true)
Now we come to the tricky part: The people.
It's always hard to evaluate people effectively. That's why the only thing we should go for is the one thing that seperates people immensely. Curiosity.
People who want to know by definition accept that they don't know. That's a good position to start from. It's the people who are interested in the world and the people in it are the people who can change both.
I don't care if you are a scientist, an athlete, a pornstar or a fuckup just like me. As long as you are curious about this world, you can bring something to the table.
Think of it as the Illuminati for the cool and curious. A hub for every curious person in every major city.
A common platform for uncommon people.
We will adjust along the way. Tweaking rules, tweaking the context.
What matters right now is the idea itself and how many people are interested in it.
Maybe I'm wrong and everything should stay as it is. I doubt it but it's possible.
But if it is doable. If we can bring together all the curious people in every city around the globe, we can build it together. A place where everything and anything is possible. The place that cannot be.
Utopia.
p.s.: If you want to understand where my idea came from:
Steven Johnson's "Where Good Ideas Come From" TED Talk