Viewpoints

TIME TO STRATEGY EXECUTION: 81 DAYS

I spent another day in Region 35 and tried to imagine how a typical person would be able to apply the global strategy without access to information or guidance like I had with Sally and WICO’s experts. The rules came to mind, but even I wasn’t convinced I could remember enough to use them in real life.

Having spent time in a variety of places, I have a fairly reliable base of knowledge and rules of thumb that work in most situations. I’m usually not even aware I’m using them unless a new situation forces improvisation that involves mixing what I know with what can be learned on the fly (asking questions and testing the answers), coupled with good old-fashioned trial and error in the application. It occurred to me that with we would be asking most people to become like children again, questioning or outright discarding previous knowledge and viewing every experience as if it was a totally new one, because that’s what we are all going to be literally creating. Creation of a new world, I thought. We’ve been looking at the goal all wrong.

As I walked the streets of the city, that insight translated into a dynamic mental vision of an alternate world that occupied the same space. In the place of tall buildings made of concrete and steel, my mind’s eye saw a mix of forest and open areas that functioned as connections between habitats and were interspersed with simple yet secure dwellings made of natural materials. Homeless people I found camped out around buildings and under bridges would occupy dwellings like those, along with everyone else who could count on safe spaces and access to basic needs within walking distance of wherever they were. 

That was my view, but it was just a start. The vision triggered thoughts about how to make it a reality that began with what was present in its place and what could be learned from the others who would share the space. 

At one point after realizing this, I took out my phone and called Sally. This time, I didn’t ask for guidance. “We need to have a conversation about the end state,” I said.

Reality Check

My father was my ideal of a teacher because he was always learning, and learning how to learn. When I was in my teens and twenties, in an effort to find a better way to teach, he tried learning math purely by observation, imagining himself on a deserted island and using just what was around him to discover all the math he would ever need to know. In many ways he succeeded. Decades later, he is gone but I continue to follow his example and share it where I can. This post is a direct testament to that experience as I seek a different goal aligned with the same basic desire to help make the world a better place.