All I can say is God help us if our Leaders and Captains of Industry are our modern day Shamans! We haven’t got a hope. Heavens what a depressing thought. LOL All the more reason I guess for apparently “ordinary” people with their heart in the right place to step up or at least speak out.

You’re right about the evolutionary thing… but I wonder if “following” is just another learned behaviour? A bit like Pavlov’s dogs. If people avoid the self service check out for fear of ridicule perhaps it’s modern day social conditioning which is causing us to fall into line… and then stay there. No-one wants to be the odd man out?

Still pondering that one… (grin)

I have long held, Jean, that most people are genetically disposed to be compliant followers. It’s an evolutionary thing, just as there are worker ants. Going back to prehistory, the shamans were genetically different, born to their roles as intermediary between the world of the flesh and the world of the spirit. Our modern day leaders and captains of industry no longer fulfill a role that serves the group, as the shamans did (and do in some cultures). Now the tendency is to exploit the group to make their own lives better.

Very much relevant to this discussion is the death last week of philosopher-anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss at age 100. It was he who created “structuralism,” that posited the notion that so-called primitive societies did not differ intellectually to a great extent from modern ones. (I would post a link, but apparently my computer doesn’t want me to — a Google search will turn up plenty.)

I remember that cartoon John! And yes… have to admit I had never heard of sign spinning. It’s a “total unknown” here which speaks volumes I guess! But the concept of someone taking what they do… and doing it in an extraordinarily different way really captured my attention. Dan’s right. If each and every one of us thought about what we do (day in day out) in a completely new and different way… (coming up with innovative solutions and debunking age old assumptions)… imagine the outcome for the planet? Call me a dreamer

Interesting that Dan Miller wrote about “spinning.” More than a year ago I did one of my favorite cartoons about it. A man in Arab garb is spinning a sign in the shape of an arrow, and when he stops we see it is pointed toward “MECCA.” Very few people understood it because, I learned, it was unknown outside of Los Angeles. Remarkably, even here very few people got it, because even though the spinners were ubiquitous (less so now), most Angelenos were so wrapped up in their cocoons they didn’t notice them.

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More reaffirming messages on this topic. A little more on the commercial side but nonetheless… I swear the force is with us! LOL

Night all…

I went to see that movie “September Issue” the doco about Anna Wintour (Vogue Editor in Chief) and found some of the concepts really confronting.

One scene showed one of her executive editors (forget the exact title). He was a somewhat overweight middle-aged-ish man who had been instructed to take tennis lessons to lose weight and get fit. So “affected” was he… he surrounded himself with so many Louis Vuitton accoutrements (tennis racket cover/sports bag/glasses/coat you name it… it had a name on it) to make him seem entirely ridiculous. I just felt sad.

Don’t get me wrong… I think it’s great to own beautiful things… but the “things” should not own us.. (or usurp our unique identity)

And yes… society unfortunately works by grouping people according to “type” and channelling them together for convenience. You are quite right in saying it starts in schools (not to blame teachers but more the system itself) and then flows on from there.

The occasional few are able to differentiate themselves… but others remain behind… locked in by the system… some (many?) content to blend in and go with the flow.

This is all fine until one day… “empty and aching and not knowing why” (in the words of Paul Simon as he counted cars on the New Jersey turnpike *wink*) the world comes crashing in with the realisation that we really only get one chance at this.

One chance to be who we’re meant to be. Ourselves. Fully functioning independent individuals with a purpose and a real voice!

Everyone has something to offer the world at large. Every single person large or small rich or poor man woman or child. It’s our job to find out what that “something” is and bring it to the table however humble. The rewards may not be great… and the recognition probably negligible… but there’s something about having stood up for something we believe in that makes life so much more worthwhile.

When I look at all the long sad faces on the travellator of life… the kids with nothing better to do… it makes me sad that not everyone can find the one sure thing they can do that will make a difference. And of course… the biggest difference will be (within) themselves. If anyone else notices… it’s a bonus. But not essential to the wellbeing of the individual and the difference that will automatically bring to the world at large.

I just took a break to watch the Melbourne Cup. It is afterall the race that stops the Nation. Wow. I’m in awe. So many reaffirming messages coming my way just lately. Here’s an owner of a spectacular horse that has just won a world renowned horse race (one of the pinnacle horse racing events of the year)… a humble man from… yes… you guessed it downtown Cairns in little old tropical North Queensland. He says if he can do this ANYONE can. And you know what? I believe him!

Sheesh… I’ve written another article! (((LOL)))

Perhaps in hindsight… a bold statement not all might appreciate… but for some reason I simply had to get it out there!