Get an EDGE

Hello,

It's not often that I think David Brooks of the New York Times has something worth discussing. However, I will give the man considerable credit for his insightful opinion piece about the recent EDGE symposium.

The concept of the EDGE symposium is simple.
1. Provide a compelling question.
2. Draw on as many different thinkers as possible.

This year's question was proposed by Stephen Pinker: "What scientific concept would improve our cognitive tools?"

The results were fabulous. Here are a few results:

Evgeny Morozov, the author of “The Net Delusion,” nominated the Einstellung Effect, the idea that we often try to solve problems by using solutions that worked in the past instead of looking at each situation on its own terms. This effect is especially powerful in foreign affairs, where each new conflict is viewed through the prism of Vietnam or Munich or the cold war or Iraq.

Daniel Kahneman of Princeton University writes about the Focusing Illusion, which holds that “nothing in life is as important as you think it is while you are thinking about it.” He continues: “Education is an important determinant of income — one of the most important — but it is less important than most people think. If everyone had the same education, the inequality of income would be reduced by less than 10 percent. When you focus on education you neglect the myriad of other factors that determine income. The differences of income among people who have the same education are huge.

Stay inspired!

Cheers,
Maurice
Voice One Oy
www.voiceone.fi

Question of the Week: What if...different political revolutions had taken different turns?

I like to read the Op-Eds from the New York Times quite often. The various opinion columnists often provide some really interesting ideas or points of view. Earlier this month, Roger Cohen, ran an Op-Ed entitled "The Hinge of History" found here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/03/opinion/03iht-edcohen.html

It is a very provocative piece asking what would have happened if the protests over the Iranian election last summer had succeeded in reforming the Iranian government. Cohen sets the situation in Iran against the revolutionary events of 1989 where we saw both the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Tiananmen Square protests. To which, he asks:

"What if they had wheeled and borne down on the fissured heart of power in the instant of its disarray? What if this had been Iran’s “lucky moment?” I have no answer to my “what if?” but 1989 suggests this: One day the dam must break when a repressive regime and the society it rules march in opposite directions."

I'm not taking a political stand here. Iran has a long and complicated history and I will confess to a limited knowledge of Middle Eastern history. That said, I've always been intrigued by the "What if...?" scenario in human history. Imagine: What if...different political revolutions had taken different turns?

United States, France, Poland, Russia (1917), Soviet Union (1989), China, Ukraine, Cuba, England (1641), etc.


Or even, societal revolutions... the Industrial Revolution, the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, the Sexual Revolution, etc.

Alternative histories has been a compelling subgenre of fiction and popular culture from Philip Roth's "The Plot Against America" to Marvel Comics "What if?" series to the Sliders television series. I'm not sure if its because of the innate human instinct to regret lost opportunities, but we seem to so often revel in these compelling plot twists.

Consider how things might be different if we ask "What if...?"

Stay inspired!

Cheers,
Maurice
www.voiceone.fi