A Celebration Society

Category: Organization

  • The Brangelina Fallacy

    The Brangelina Fallacy

    As I was watching The Late Show with my wife, the topic of the Brad Pitt/Angelina Jolie divorce came up on the show. I realized that this is a traumatic event for many people. Then I wondered why.

    The only explanation that makes sense to me is that people longed for this to be a fairy tale romance; happily ever after, an exemplary life, a role-model relationship. Many people crave such examples. It’s why popular stars are looked to as leaders, and often held to a higher standard of behavior than the rest of us. (There are some exceptions.)

    People need role models. Kids look to their parents and elder relatives to teach by example. The values the elders embody become those the kids embody. Embody twisted values such as ethnic hatred, and the kids grow up sharing such. Teach evidence-based thinking, skepticism coupled with open-mindedness, and kids grow up with such.
    Many of us don’t cease seeking role models when we become adults. We look to popular figures in movies and music to serve as such. Or we look to political figures. Or sports stars. Or business tycoons.

    In most cases, these are merely people who happen to be superior in some dimension of life. They are not superior in other dimensions, though they often display more extreme tastes and behavior. They usually appear larger than life, and so people want to emulate them.

    It’s a poor society that elevates such people as its role models. We would do far better, and get far better long-term results, if we instead elevated people who have demonstrated an enduring commitment to service for humanity and the world. I am thinking of people like Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela (a rarity among politicians), Albert Einstein (who used his scientific standing to lobby for a better world), and Buckminster Fuller, to name a few.

    By celebrating the contributions of such people, as well as those who are as yet less known but who show similar potential, we will uplift and inspire other people—especially young people. That, in turn, will stimulate more such contributions.

    This is a key principle of a Celebration Society and the main reason why I want a meritocratic Royalty established as a fourth branch of government, alongside the Parliament, Judiciary, and Administration. With the lead Royal as designated Head of State, yet lacking any real power, we will gain the benefits of continuous inspiration without the harmful conflation of power and adulation, or wealth and adulation, that today plague so many societies.

    There remains the risk of conflating fame and adulation. I am, however, hopeful that by making the attainment of Royal status a challenging process devoid of personal gain, it will attract and cultivate people of truly exemplary character; people who attain the status of Royal not for the sake of fame but as a higher opportunity to be of service.

    Like all systems in a Celebration Society, it will be imperfect, and some Royals may think themselves superior due to the adulation. But I expect that, over time, the Royalty itself will devise checks and balances to assure that such egotism does not arise often and, when it does, that it is controlled.

  • A collaborative creation (more thoughts)

    A collaborative creation (more thoughts)

    I’ve always viewed a Celebration Society as a collaborative process. After all, if people don’t collaborate in its creation, how will they feel any sense of ownership?

    When I wrote the book, it was basically the pulling together of a lot of different ideas from a lot of different people. I didn’t really create very much myself. I certainly don’t ask anyone to blindly agree with me, nor do I seek followers. I seek allies.

    So, I was surprised when a Twitter user accused me of creating a cult. When I asked him why he thought that, he replied with a lot of invective and nastiness. Rather than engaging with this behavior, I sat back and thought about what might have precipitated it. I realized that I hadn’t properly understood Twitter culture, and needed to make some adjustments to how I was tweeting. (I was mentioning the book in almost every Tweet.)

    So far, I’ve written most of the content at this website. I’m hoping that’s going to change. Yes, I started the process… But it’s become quite clear in the past few months that there are many other thoughtful and knowledgeable people who share this vision, or who want to.

    As I’ve often said, my knowledge of technology is very wide but shallow. I’ll rely on others with expertise in the many relevant disciplines to shore up my limited understanding. That’s how it should be.

    The collaborative model is increasingly being proven to be a highly effective alternative to pure competition. I’m not saying competition is bad, I’m saying that it should be balanced with cooperation. Each should be used when and as appropriate to produce the best results.

    A woman named Devora Belilove one told me the wisest thing I ever heard. It was, ” we all have the drawbacks of our virtues.” Another thing I have always loved is the statement “we’re all ignorant, just in different areas.”

    If one puts these two statements together, and takes them to heart, the inescapable conclusion is that if anything great is to be accomplished, we really need each other. We need great alliances.

    That’s what I’m hoping to co-create: a great alliance of people with interlocking strengths, and the maturity to each know our weaknesses and seek help from others who are strong where we are weak.

    Little of note happens in the world from the solitary person. As has been said, even Einstein, Edison and Tesla had teams supporting them. Individually, we’re weak. But together, we can be mighty.

    I’ve never cared much for the hierarchical model, though it has its place. In my view, its biggest risk is that the flaws of the person at the top are magnified, and can lead to downfall. (This has happened with both corporations and nations.)

    That’s why I’ve proposed that the Celebrationist government be one in which no one holds power for more than a decade, all power has multiple checks and balances upon it, there is high transparency, and the head of state is a person of great influence but little power (as was the case in the Venetian Republic.)

    Are you an ally of Celebrationism? If so, what do you have to contribute? Where do you excel, and where do your passions lie? Please share that on the forum, so that other Society members can begin to appreciate who you are and how we may all play together.