I'm thrilled that someone had the idea to create an Original Thinkers festival and put it right here in Telluride and Mountain Village during this moment of jaw dropping color and extreme weather ( including the first snowfall of the season ). I'm guessing that someone is David Holbrook ,founder and head honcho of this newest festival . Telluride is original. It's been that way for a long time. We once produced gold and silver by the bucket full, now we produce characters. It's more accurate to say we attract characters, but however they got here it's nice being surrounded by so many eccentrics. They add color to the place and give all sorts of oddballs, myself included, some cover. Eccentric characters are not exactly the same thing as original thinkers , but its in the neighborhood.
Someone really ought to start a conventional thinkers festival. Original thinkers are celebrated all the time. Right now they're handing out Nobel prizes in physics, chemistry, medicine, and literature. Every single one of those prizes goes to an original thinker. When will we give prizes to people who never had an original thought in their lives? Mediocrity deserves recognition too. We bled the sick from ancient times until relatively recently and later came penicillin. Penicillin represents original thought along with scientific rigor , bleeding was commonplace and conventional Maybe conventionality does have its limits .
Conventional thought is a branch of what social psychologists call groupthink. Irving Janis popularized the concept of groupthink in his 1972 book Victims of Groupthink where he demonstrated how this phenomenon lead to three American catastrophes, Vietnam, the Bay of Pigs, and Pearl Harbor. In each case presidents relied largely on advisors who shared his point of view and rarely disagreed or offered contrary arguments. An atmosphere of thought conformity led to foreign policy disasters. Surrounding ourselves with yes men ( or women ) may make us feel good initially, but it's bound to come back to bite us at some point. Among our thought allies we often bend to conform and extend to them unwarranted deference. It's just the opposite when it comes to the people we see ourselves at odds with. Nothing they do or say can be right, there must always be a hidden motive to their words and actions. Janis identified this as " in group " , " out group " thinking. It's human nature to form tribes and nothing unifies the tribe better than having a distinct enemy. The unity of tribe A is built on it's enmity for tribe B , and B's unity feeds on that hostility. It's a great example of a circular self sustaining feedback loop.
Does this sound anything like politics in 2018? Actually it describes politics in any era. Washington warned the nation against the rise of factionalism even as his cabinet were preparing for the political wars that would follow his departure.. Washington was successful as president because he surrounded himself with the opposite of yes men, but these strong personalities with strong opinions would be at each others throats as soon as the great man left office. Since then we've gone through many phases of increased unity ,followed by increased division. It's been suggested that the cycles last about 60-80 years. For a nation founded on the principle " from many, one" or " e pluribus unum", we haven't often offered the most shining example of that idea. We probably fit the motto best while engaged against some other nation or group of nations as in the Cold War, and World War II. Since the fall of the Eastern block we've been increasingly divided and nasty. Where we are today in that awful trajectory is as bad as I've ever seen it. If you doubt me you weren't watching the Kavanaugh hearings. Nasty on steroids!
I've just started reading Glen Beck's new book Addicted to Outrage. So far he hasn't brought up groupthink, but he does address tribalism. This being the latest incarnation of Glen Beck it's all about reconciliation and how right and left need to talk to each other and find common ground. I wonder if trends and cycles like this can be turned around so easily? The kumbaya approach works for me, it works for any of us who care to try it. It certainly works on the individual level but how many individuals are willing to try it, and how many individuals will it take to make a difference.. History demonstrates that these trends do eventually turn around, though it may take a civil war to get us there. Maybe the personal approach will do the trick, or maybe we'll just have to go to war. I hear the Chinese brushed an American destroyer in the South China sea a few days ago. There's a provocation for you. I'll consult my advisors and see if we all agree.
Someone really ought to start a conventional thinkers festival. Original thinkers are celebrated all the time. Right now they're handing out Nobel prizes in physics, chemistry, medicine, and literature. Every single one of those prizes goes to an original thinker. When will we give prizes to people who never had an original thought in their lives? Mediocrity deserves recognition too. We bled the sick from ancient times until relatively recently and later came penicillin. Penicillin represents original thought along with scientific rigor , bleeding was commonplace and conventional Maybe conventionality does have its limits .
Conventional thought is a branch of what social psychologists call groupthink. Irving Janis popularized the concept of groupthink in his 1972 book Victims of Groupthink where he demonstrated how this phenomenon lead to three American catastrophes, Vietnam, the Bay of Pigs, and Pearl Harbor. In each case presidents relied largely on advisors who shared his point of view and rarely disagreed or offered contrary arguments. An atmosphere of thought conformity led to foreign policy disasters. Surrounding ourselves with yes men ( or women ) may make us feel good initially, but it's bound to come back to bite us at some point. Among our thought allies we often bend to conform and extend to them unwarranted deference. It's just the opposite when it comes to the people we see ourselves at odds with. Nothing they do or say can be right, there must always be a hidden motive to their words and actions. Janis identified this as " in group " , " out group " thinking. It's human nature to form tribes and nothing unifies the tribe better than having a distinct enemy. The unity of tribe A is built on it's enmity for tribe B , and B's unity feeds on that hostility. It's a great example of a circular self sustaining feedback loop.
Does this sound anything like politics in 2018? Actually it describes politics in any era. Washington warned the nation against the rise of factionalism even as his cabinet were preparing for the political wars that would follow his departure.. Washington was successful as president because he surrounded himself with the opposite of yes men, but these strong personalities with strong opinions would be at each others throats as soon as the great man left office. Since then we've gone through many phases of increased unity ,followed by increased division. It's been suggested that the cycles last about 60-80 years. For a nation founded on the principle " from many, one" or " e pluribus unum", we haven't often offered the most shining example of that idea. We probably fit the motto best while engaged against some other nation or group of nations as in the Cold War, and World War II. Since the fall of the Eastern block we've been increasingly divided and nasty. Where we are today in that awful trajectory is as bad as I've ever seen it. If you doubt me you weren't watching the Kavanaugh hearings. Nasty on steroids!
I've just started reading Glen Beck's new book Addicted to Outrage. So far he hasn't brought up groupthink, but he does address tribalism. This being the latest incarnation of Glen Beck it's all about reconciliation and how right and left need to talk to each other and find common ground. I wonder if trends and cycles like this can be turned around so easily? The kumbaya approach works for me, it works for any of us who care to try it. It certainly works on the individual level but how many individuals are willing to try it, and how many individuals will it take to make a difference.. History demonstrates that these trends do eventually turn around, though it may take a civil war to get us there. Maybe the personal approach will do the trick, or maybe we'll just have to go to war. I hear the Chinese brushed an American destroyer in the South China sea a few days ago. There's a provocation for you. I'll consult my advisors and see if we all agree.
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