I never thought of that
I often listen to podcasts, Ted Talks, books or talks by spiritual teachers such as Pema Chodron, Eckhart Tolle and Anne Lamotte while I am at the gym exercising or doing some chore at home which does not require all my attention. I do this because I want to be open to more creative thinking in my personal and professional life.
This morning one of the Ted talks to which I listened was on the fighting behavior of octopuses. Another was a talk by Brett Henning. His talk asks the question: “What if we replaced politicians with randomly selected people?” He, among many others, believe that the current system of career politicians is not enhancing the democratic system of government. Yet, he and many others still believe that democracy is the best way to govern. He states: “Our politics is broken, our politicians aren’t trusted, and the political system is distorted by powerful vested interests.”
Mr. Henning reminds the listener that in ancient Athens, the birthplace of democracy as we think of it, most political posts were filled by individuals randomly selected with a machine called a kleroteria. In modern society one would want to stratify the selection to make sure it “matched the socioeconomic and demographic profile of the country and was truly representative of people.” He goes on to suggest that decisions would then more likely be made based on evidence based solutions. He further says that “We can experiment with sortation. We can introduce it to schools and workplaces and other institutions, like Democracy in Practice is doing in Bolivia. We can hold policy juries and citizen assemblies, like the new Democracy Foundation is doing in Australia, the Jefferson Center is doing in the US and the Irish government is doing right now.”
I encourage the reader to listen to this and other ted talks and to read books such as The End of Politicians: Time for a Real Democracy by Bret Henning. There are several other books on this topic.
My main point in writing this blog is to remind myself and the reader how easy it is to lock ourselves in small boxes of thinking. For example, even though I have a degree in Philosophy and have read extensively about ancient governments I either missed or did not remember that early Athenian governing representatives were basically randomly selected.
Daily, it seems my narrow way of thinking and of problem solving is exposed for the tiny framework it is. I am reminded of the many discussions and debates I have had during which I only allowed for a very limited number of possibilities.
I have said many times that I rely on my friends, colleagues, as well as current and ancient authors to challenge my limited range of thoughts and solutions. The advent of the internet has brought thousands of new challengers into my life. Program such as Ted Talks and various podcasts join books, Radio and google minions to tickle my mind while I am at the gym, driving, or cleaning house nearly any place in the world.
There is no excuse for me to assume that I know either “the solution” or “the range of solutions”. There is always another possibility. Daily I am reminded that I can be an open, learning, active member of the world community.
Written August 3, 2018
I often listen to podcasts, Ted Talks, books or talks by spiritual teachers such as Pema Chodron, Eckhart Tolle and Anne Lamotte while I am at the gym exercising or doing some chore at home which does not require all my attention. I do this because I want to be open to more creative thinking in my personal and professional life.
This morning one of the Ted talks to which I listened was on the fighting behavior of octopuses. Another was a talk by Brett Henning. His talk asks the question: “What if we replaced politicians with randomly selected people?” He, among many others, believe that the current system of career politicians is not enhancing the democratic system of government. Yet, he and many others still believe that democracy is the best way to govern. He states: “Our politics is broken, our politicians aren’t trusted, and the political system is distorted by powerful vested interests.”
Mr. Henning reminds the listener that in ancient Athens, the birthplace of democracy as we think of it, most political posts were filled by individuals randomly selected with a machine called a kleroteria. In modern society one would want to stratify the selection to make sure it “matched the socioeconomic and demographic profile of the country and was truly representative of people.” He goes on to suggest that decisions would then more likely be made based on evidence based solutions. He further says that “We can experiment with sortation. We can introduce it to schools and workplaces and other institutions, like Democracy in Practice is doing in Bolivia. We can hold policy juries and citizen assemblies, like the new Democracy Foundation is doing in Australia, the Jefferson Center is doing in the US and the Irish government is doing right now.”
I encourage the reader to listen to this and other ted talks and to read books such as The End of Politicians: Time for a Real Democracy by Bret Henning. There are several other books on this topic.
My main point in writing this blog is to remind myself and the reader how easy it is to lock ourselves in small boxes of thinking. For example, even though I have a degree in Philosophy and have read extensively about ancient governments I either missed or did not remember that early Athenian governing representatives were basically randomly selected.
Daily, it seems my narrow way of thinking and of problem solving is exposed for the tiny framework it is. I am reminded of the many discussions and debates I have had during which I only allowed for a very limited number of possibilities.
I have said many times that I rely on my friends, colleagues, as well as current and ancient authors to challenge my limited range of thoughts and solutions. The advent of the internet has brought thousands of new challengers into my life. Program such as Ted Talks and various podcasts join books, Radio and google minions to tickle my mind while I am at the gym, driving, or cleaning house nearly any place in the world.
There is no excuse for me to assume that I know either “the solution” or “the range of solutions”. There is always another possibility. Daily I am reminded that I can be an open, learning, active member of the world community.
Written August 3, 2018
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