I've had a chance to mull over the trip without the advantage of the notes on my wayward computer. So I'm skipping a few names and links for now. But these are stories and points that will be featured in Global Conversations.
- A young, talented Belgian photographer studied for a time in Israel. When she was there, she got a group of Israeli and Palestinian teenagers to start blogging to each other about there everyday lives. They wrote about their clothing, about preparing for holidays, about school. Over time they learned that they were more alike than they had believed. It seems to me that this is among the most powerful stories that I yet have heard. It is a shining example of how social media can transcend even the harshest of borders. If these kids grow up understanding the similarities they share, they will be much less likely to wish war and terror on each other.
- A couple in Edinburgh, Scotland has been experimenting with Second Life as a teaching instrument. They've had successes with autistic children, as well as inner city kids in Brooklyn as well as European students. The unfulfilled promise of virtual reality has been lurking around for about 20 years now, but Second Life is indicative of where it might take us in education. Think of virtual tours of ancient Rome or an African camera Safari or a visit to observe the American Civil War. Compare that with the way you learned your dates and names in classroom. The implications are enormous.
- The former and perhaps future Estonian Prime minister is credited with being the major influence in making the small country among the two most advanced in e-government. His favorite tale dates back to the 1500s when Tallinn, the capital city was divided into two cities, one landed, but poor, the other populated by a merchant class without property, but of some financial strength. A feudal lord from the landed class, executed a resident of the former city, without apparent reason and certainly without due process of a trial. When the feudal noble stepped down into the lower city, he was arrested, tried, convicted and beheaded. This caused a wave of fear to run across Europe's nobility. Peasants with the presumption of law on their side and as their protector was indeed scary. The prime minister, who is also an historian thinks the tale depicts the Estonian spirit and describes why the country's e-government is designed to give the people access to government more than the reverse.
- In Saudi Arabia, young people of the opposite sex are never allowed to be alone. Vigilant chaperones take severe precautions to ensure that there is not even a hint of sexuality in talk or appearance. The kids have developed a workaround, however, in the form of phone chat. According to Joe Farrelly, a US State Department employee who was stationed there, boys and girls send each other very racy words and pictures. I have heard similar stories about kids in Scotland and South Korea. In any culture, there is a natural process in adolescents. No laws seem capable of fully suppressing them.
- The late Frank Oppenheimer, younger brother to J. Robert, was founder of the San Francisco Exploritorium. He said he founded it with the belief that " human understanding will cease to be an instrument of power... for the benefit of a few, and will instead, become a source of empowerment and pleasure to all." I think the statement, which predates social media by nearly 40 years, captures what it is all about and what Global Neighborhoods will be about more than anything else.
How does this tie together into a book about business? I'm not yet certain. But I think the wise business person will immediately see the relevance to them when they look at where the world is heading. Whether Global Neighborhoods remains primarily a business book or not remains to be seen. What is clear to me is that I am being exposed to some wonderfully interesting, and valuable stories that show the similarities and differences of people all over the world.
