Thursday: Idea Festival

The Art of Peace: Robert Sapolsky and John Stempel discussed the art of hippy-dom and how to make a profit from crafting homemade hacky sacks. Just joking, really interesting take on peace and the perspective these speakers gave made room for thought in my head. Held at the Muhammad Ali Center during it's inaugural year certainly makes sense as The GOAT has been working for peace during the last half of his life. Wish the sessions were made into podcast's as Robert Sapolsky is a fascinating speaker... his delivery method is completely from memory, and his opinion (exactly the way he has couched it up) is really interesting. John Stempel, while being a valid candidate for this topic, has been teaching too long and delivers his content as a syllabus with a reading list and a mountain of references to other people's books. Does the academic community only hold validity in the published word?

Best thing that John Stempel said was that we need to understand the other man's language. He believes that American's are far behind the curve when it comes to speaking, foreign tongues. The U.S. is at permanent war, and there is no division between war and peace. We have to behave our way to peace. As a one time diplomat to the Middle East he heard it said that "diplomacy is the art of saying nice doggie while looking for a bigger rock." In modern diplomacy we need both institutions and actors, that will allow citizens to act in concert. Knowing the other (possible conflict), but not demonizing him is critical to growth.

Mr Sapolsky had some great analogies;
1. We are in some instances the same as animals
2. Have things in common but execute them in a completely novel way
3. Exhibit behavior that is unique only in humans

Oddly enough his examples of aggression, dominance, and murder are all not unique to the human, but exhibited across many other animal species. But according to Robert Sapolsky "the only chance we have to solve this social problem (lack of peace) is to look at those examples where humans are uniquely alone in their approach - like their ability to give selflessly." His example of this is the work of some Catholic Nuns, who have worked with men on death row where they find the worst behavior in humans and give to them their absolute best. Really interesting approach from what appeared to be a real guy...he told a story of how his son was being picked on at school, and his first reaction was to kill the other kid. Instead he told his son to invite the other kid over to play. All other options seemed fallible to him, as they involved death or the involvement of a third party like the school or a counselor for his kid. I found this was an interesting approach to violence...bring it closer to yourself in hopes of creating a relationship that would supersede the action.

I would have found it interesting to have a possible third member of their panel. A military strategists to give some perspective to the obvious questions left in the room. How do we maintain the freedom's we have come accustomed too, without lording our military dominance over the world? However, in retrospect the lineup of speakers made sense in the spirit in which it was given - look for answers outside of the normal set of typical solutions. Peace is not easy.

Going Green: Steve Curwood who is an incredibly dynamic author, actor, and activist...not to mention speaker. His take on green was that our major problem in the world today is:
Population
Climate Change
Loss of  biological diversity
Chemical Contamination (which in turn could really help out in the population issue)

Good news for the Midwest is that they have room to grow. And we can grow the right way.
Best thing he said was that, "We have no more right to own nature than we had at one point to own people." He was clearly and by his own admission an Enviro-nerd, but he had some really good things to say about the green industry - and that is possibly the best way to look at the Green Movement now...is as an industry. When we think about the possible jobs that can come from being environmentally minded we could absolutely redefine our industries. Could it be that we are on the cusp of the Green Renaissance?

His whole conversation reminds me of something that Mark Cuban said on his blog a few months ago..."there is nothing new on the internet!" The Web 2.0 boom we have seen over the last few years has really come about due to one thing...bandwidth. The technology that allows you to add a friend on MySpace or share your favorite links on del.icio.us was in existence 10 years ago or more, but the cost or bandwidth was so prohibitive that MANY people couldn't experience it. With the drop of bandwidth cost, the democratization of the interaction happened. Makes me wonder if the Green Renaissance couldn't happen the same way.

Comments

[a.brain]

it was in Louisville, KY of all places. Pretty cool fest

[jo]

Very nice article. I have heard him speak a number of times and you are right - he is one of the best presenters around. The best part is that he makes you think without the "in your face" approach that tends to lead people to "turn it off". I have read many of his writings and agree with you a.brain except on the human v. animal comparisions he presented. Won't go into that long issue but there is a cognitive difference that is in play. Great article and he is very facinating!!

Where was this/?

[a.brain]

we can make that happen c...

[cancer]

I just had a great idea, how about we start an organization called "GreenPeace" and bring the themes you mentioned together? I googled it and found nothing out there, so that fruit is ripe for the picking...

Well, okay, to be honest, I didn't google it.

How about, instead, we go with the image of ripe fruit and start a company called "Apple"?

Cancer wants to eat lunch with A.Brain sometime in the not-too-distant future.