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So often I hear people warn the pitfalls of curiosity, saying the over quoted “Curiosity killed the cat”, however I would like to remind everyone the whole rhyme

Curiosity killed the cat
Satisfaction brought it back

Always, I repeat, always remember the second line.

I recently watch Grizzly Man with my Brother and Vanessa, I find myself in slight awe of Timothy Treadwells story. I believe what some see as one mans struggle to be a Bear, is everyones struggle with life. The only difference between Timothy and Us, is he was willing to say it out loud and on film. “I will die…”

Society around us, gives us the ability to cloud the truth. We have savings accounts and stocks, credit cards and mortgages, multi vitamins and fad diets: All saying, live for tomorrow. And in doing so they take away our power which is seeing the truth and the beauty of life which exists in each moment.

For Timothy he was willing to die for the animals, for which he ultimately did. But imagine what could be accomplished if everyone found what they would die for.
Now imagine what could be accomplished if we found what we would get fired for; loose our lover for; our trucks; our houses; our blood for. That is a passion that everyone should have.

What would you get fired for?

In my own search for coming to understand what a generalist is, I came across yet another definition for a versatilists. The idea coined from Gartner is that this “new” breed has the ability to bridge the gap between thinking and doing. “Versatilists, in contrast, apply depth of skill to a progressively widening scope of situations and experiences, gaining new competencies, building relationships, and assuming new roles.”

At first thought I seemed intrigued by this word. However, the more I thought, the more I concluded all in all I think it’s a bad title for something that’s been around forever. What I realized is that a versatilists, or at least my understanding of it, is another fancy term for teacher. Ever day teachers go into a classroom and no matter who the audience is, whether 5 or 65, they have the constant battle and challenge to put things in context that can be understood. They have a talent for putting things into a perspective or light that wasn’t seen before. Teachers are found in more places then just the classroom. Teachers do not always stick to curriculum and tests. Teachers often know a lot more then they let on. Teachers know a lot more than just one topic. Teachers bridge the gap between concept and application. Teachers can do a lot more then just “teach”.

This new term so far is focused primarily on the IT industry, and if you look at it in terms of a teacher, it makes sense. The gap in knowledge and culture between the doers and thinkers is so vast it makes the grand canyon look small. Programmers don’t understand marketing, and visa versa. The company I work for tries to use the all powerful Business Analyst, but these people just end up being isolated by both. So no wonder it would take a teacher who understands in depth the world of programming, to effectively “teach” and advise those who don’t know. This person can subtly educate the Board of Directors so they can truly understand the extent of a technology based proposal.

With today’s abuse and lack of acknowledgement of the educational profession in the western world, these people with this talent need to survive. They sure as hell aren’t going to go into the classroom, so why not the boardroom. I say call these people who they really are and by a name that they should be proud of - call them Teachers.

What a quote…only George can get away with saying that in the news.

But in seeing this, it makes me think just a little. Could something like that happen with today’s generations? This is a secret that was kept by 4 people for 30 years. It would have been easy for the reports or the editor just to stand up and give it away, but they “promised” to keep the secret.

I sure as hell don’ have an inkling into an answer, but I sure will ask the question. Do promises and vows still exist?

After reading the Massive Change site, I woke up to some interesting thoughts about society. I shared one on the site about Social Architecture and my other one is this.

• Native myth and folklore teach values like communication and community
• Greek mythology teaches things like free will and astrology
• Viking stories teach values like exploration and battles

Now look at their societies.

If you look at these cultures, all of their core values are ingrained in their myths and stories. The largest religious revolution has one of the greatest collection of stories, The Bible.

Take a loot at the United States. What are their myths and legends? Independence Day, The Civil War, The Wild West, all of these collection of stories are based around the fight to choose, the fight for freedom, the fight for money, the fight for oneself. It’s no wonder that it reflect in their social culture.

Now how about Canada. What about us? Look at our Greatest Canadians. I see inventors, Socialists, Athletes. I think of things like the Montreal Expo. I think of stories like the underground railroad. Where did that lead to? Canada. Now look at our social culture in comparison.

Now it’s the chicken and the egg thought. Do we choose these myths and legends because of our society, or is our society driven by these stories. I say that if we can introduce the right heros, the right legends and the right myths into our society we can effectively make change to its values.

What are your myths?

Got my recent iconoculture in the mail. They had a peice about thinknets: cyber communities of thinktanks. In particular it refernced Massive Change which is stiving to be one of these. Their forum has some interesting topics. I don’t think it’s at the super “thinktank” level yet, like the conscious city or anything like that, but it has good potential. I’m keeping a watch on it. Maybe make a post or 2.