Meeting of Minds
Yogi Berra once said, “You can observe a lot about people just by watching them.” Unfortunately, if all you get from the experience is simply another notch in your belt of recorded events, if you don’t learn something from it, if it doesn’t stimulate ideas within you, then you have wasted a precious opportunity. Sadly, we in America have become very good at this dubious pastime.
Nearly thirty years ago, one of the best television programs ever made was Meeting of Minds. It was the brain child of the multi-talented Steve Allen. The format was an hour-long dramatized discussion of social issues that was moderated by Allen. His four panelists were appropriately costumed actors portraying some of history’s greatest figures who would become engaged in witty dialogue while discussing their ideas and beliefs that influenced their actions. Imagine a debate between Attila the Hun, Martin Luther King, Susan B. Anthony and Plato!
Inspired by this program, I used to invent my own discussion panels with all sorts of significant influential characters but my list was more expansive and included: cartoon characters such as Calvin, Charlie Brown, Tarzan; past and future family members like my great-great-grandfather and my niece’s great-grand-son; and some people/family who I know or knew but tried to visualize at different stages of their lives (what were my father’s dreams for me when he first held me?). I did a lot of research on my guest lists and tried to ensure that the conversations would be provocative and fun. I learned a lot from planning those meetings and found the process stimulating and rewarding. I even remember that Leonardo Da Vinci was my first guest and that later, while reviewing the list for each month of the first year, it was surprising to discover that I had no sports icons and only a few women (Sacajawea and Joan of Arc come to mind). Subsequent lists were more diverse and opened up more opportunities to explore.
While such mental games can be fun, you eventually realize that IQ is overrated. Of course, brains matter but in today’s competitive world Emotional Intelligence, Curiosity Quotient, and Passion Quotient are even more critical and need to be nurtured if the U.S. is to retain the lofty position of dominance that we take for granted. I’m pretty sure that Thomas Friedman wrote or said that – In China today, Bill Gates is Britney Spears whereas in America, Britney Spears is Britney Spears – and that is our problem. It’s not going away anytime soon. This country is not producing home grown intellectual capital. The future generations of engineers and scientists is coming from China and India not California and Massachusetts. And they no longer have to come here to get that quality education because they now have world class institutions closer to home. While we invest millions on stadiums for athletic venues or border walls that foolishly keep the vital infusion of creative new blood from strengthening the economic engine that sustains us, the brain drain continues as our talent leaves this country to seek opportunities in hungrier and more open markets.
We need political leadership with vision that can inspire us. We need politicians who are more than sound bites and self-promoting campaigns that denigrate an opponent or criticize a neighboring city. We need political will to adopt and promote long range plans that will give us confidence in the future. We don’t need to continue the mind-numbing rhetoric that offers quick-fix, band-aid solutions to big picture problems (like last month’s Florida’s Legislature’s idea-of-the-week tax-break solution). It would be a great start to have our leaders engaged not in orchestrated press conferences but in real-life Meetings of Minds on issues of relevance. To be effective, participation would have to be limited to people not up for reelection or posturing for a higher office or appointment. A thirty day isolation before and after the meeting from the news media, political parties and influence groups might also encourage the participants to actually research the topic themselves and reveal where they really stand on an issue.
Oh well, imagining the impossible is where great things begin. Challenge your mind. Dare to Imagine!
Slainte!
John Kelly