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Mighty
Plan's Home
Site Map But the guru said, “Your ideas make sense and are extremely powerful, but you cannot write a book that will save the world, until you understand why it’s impossible to write a book that will save the world.” This confused the young man, but the guru continued, “Even if it takes years, meditate on what I just said, ‘You must fully understand why it’s impossible. When you understand why, then it will become possible.’ Besides that, I will give you eight things to meditate on. Come back to me when you understand the relationship of these eight things to your quest: the people’s pessimism; the gut-level impasse; the pessimism of those around the participants; critics; self-fulfilling prophecies, not giving power to the destructive; insincerity of the good, and the worst kinds of cancer. The man went off and meditated on what his guru said. He spent an entire year and did not make much progress on the guru’s mysterious words. Then he decided to talk to people and get their reactions to his vision. A year after that, he visited the guru and said, “Now I understand why no one can write a book that will save the world.” The guru said, “Speak.” “No one can write a book, because people’s pessimism and doubts are so great. I spoke to people and heard more than twenty separate doubts. Some doubts seemed unconquerable, such as ‘if Jesus, Buddha and Mohammed couldn’t do it, who do you think you are?” and “There has always been wars and suffering so there always will be doubts.’ No one will listen, if you do not address these doubts first. “Second, there is a gut-level impasse. Even if someone came up with solid arguments that would overcome all these doubts, people won’t really take their arguments seriously. That’s because on a gut-level they can’t believe there’s an answer. No one will give you enough time, nor will they take you seriously. “The third obstacle to such a book is that, even though a small number of people will use logic and take action if they think that the methods are strong, the pessimism of the people around them will kill their enthusiasm. They will say to themselves, ‘Yes this book is working for me, but it can’t really work, because most of the people I know will never give it a solid try.’ “The fourth obstacle is the critics. Even if by chance a movement of people get results, and endure the ridicule of their friends, most of the critics will surely be against it. And that’s because critics believe in any of five or six different root causes of the world’s suffering. For example, if I do not frame the root problem as spiritual, religious people will reject; similarly others will only listen if I agree that the root causes are economic; but others will instantly dismiss if the root problems are not seen as going back to the psychology and the limitations of the brain; others see the problems as essentially political and historical, but others see the roots in organizational structures and system theory. You will never please a majority of critics. “The criticism gives rise to the fifth obstacle, a self-fulfilling prophecy: People will read the reviews of the critics and most will think, ‘Well the critics don’t like it, so it must be worthless. And although some participants claim solid results, of course anything will work for a few people.’ “But let’s pretend that by some literary feat, a person manages to satisfy many of the critics. No book can succeed since the ideas and methods it presents are a form of power. Many people who are already in power will be threatened by a change in the power structure. These people will try to exploit the book’s ideas and methods for their own gain, whether for profit, power or fame. Since they are already in power, they have an advantage. “But sometimes those in power are displaced, so there is a tiny chance that a book could succeed. However, it won’t succeed because of the insincerity of most good people. Just as most critics are attached to their way of seeing the world’s problems; most decent people are attached to their way of doing good. When offered methods that are demonstrably better, most people who do good will stick with the methods that they are comfortable with. They will say, ‘My way of doing good is my calling; it’s my specialty' or ‘That’s better in some ways, but it’s not my style.’ They are like a surgeon who operates using a procedure with a 70% success rate. When offered a method that has an 80% success rate they will say, ‘That’s not too much better’ or ‘I’m more comfortable with the old way of doing things.’ This would be unforgivable among real surgeons, but it goes unchallenged among do-gooders. “Finally, a majority of people might switch to the superior methods in time, if they realized how dangerous the current world situation is, if they accepted the signs and warnings. But like some cancers, by the time you realize you have it, it’s often too late. Either you will die slowly or painfully, or too much of you and your life must be cut out and sacrificed.” The young man summed up, “Any single one of these eight reasons makes writing a book that will successfully save the world unlikely. Add the other seven reasons, and it becomes a one in a million chance that such a book could work. People are generally pessimistic about the future of the world, but had they thought about it thoroughly like this, they would realize how majestically doomed they were. Since these eight reasons forbid a coordinated solution, they must rely on the piecemeal solutions that have currently doom one-sixth of the world’s population to perpetual misery and early death. Yet, with increasing population and consumption of the Earth’s limited resources, how can the suffering not increase?” He looked at the old man, “Teacher, I see now why it was folly to think I could write such a book two years ago.” “And yet, now you can write that book,” said the old man. “Yes, now that I realize that it’s impossible, it becomes possible.” The old man gazed at him, a half-smile played on his lips. “And what makes such an impossible book possible?” The youth smiled back, “Beginning the book with a story about this very conversation. This will sensitized readers. The insights will impress them and make them look forward to a book full of surprises and more unexpected insights. They will realize open to the book’s dramatic possibility, that it may indeed contain new ideas and methods that could stabilize the world.” The older man laughed, “So you are saying that you yourself are the one man on Earth who has the plan that will stabilize the whole world, and rescue much of humanity.” The young man responded immediately. “I cannot say exactly how powerful my plan is, nor can I predict to what extent it will change the world. I can only say that if I believe that I have answers that are better than the answers that others seem to have, I am morally obligated to present these answers to the world. If I don’t, perhaps hundreds of millions of people will suffer and die, people who didn’t have to suffer and die.” The
young man paused before speaking again. “I'm strong, but I'm not strong enough to
live with that thought.”
1 Then take 10 more years for the last group to finish making their lifestyle changes, at about two a year. Of
course, there are many 'yes, buts' to a chain reaction. These are
addressed elsewhere. The thing to realize is that with a chain
reaction the solutions can accelerate and catch up with the growing
problems we face. I think the reason that leaders downplay the problems has to do with their incentives and "payoffs." Political leaders have little incentive for bringing up problems they can’t solve. It makes them look weak. It may even lose them the next election. Politicians also have little incentive for bringing up problems in the far-off future. Too many other issues are calling for immediate attention. Bringing up such global problems also troubles people. Why add to the anxiety that people already feel? Whenever politicians are failing at something, they often use the same trick: They divert your attention to what they are doing, and minimize the problems for which they have no viable plan. Many other leaders, such as activists and nonprofit executive directors, are focused on one issue. The activists concerned about the environmental fate of the world have joined the scientists in raising an overall alarm. But the greater majority of activists are caught up with other issues and other, more immediate crises: everything from prison reform, to the various genetically inherited diseases, to racism, to childhood obesity…there are thousands of other issues. The leaders of these nonprofits would not be doing their jobs if they spent their energy on the long-range overall problems. Furthermore, leaders in nonprofits are like politicians in that the must appear to be successful. If they don't. they will lose donations or grants. They must make their particular issue look urgent, but they also must make it appear solvable. But overall, the world's problems aren't being solved. Imagine the following short scene: It’s a Saturday afternoon in suburbia. A middle-aged man in his living room is watching TV from an easy chair. The doorbell rings. He goes to the front door. A young woman is there who requests a donation for some cause.—In this case, it’s protecting the rainforests. He gives her money, and she thanks him. He closes the door. He returns the comfort of his easy chair, but just then the doorbell rings again. He answers it. It’s a young man who is asking for a donation to promote literacy. He starts to say no, but the man, a teacher, makes a quick, impassioned case for literacy. He reluctantly gives again. Just as he
returns to his easy chair, the doorbell rings a third time. It’s a
stout middle-aged woman soliciting for cancer prevention. He replies,
“You probably won’t believe me, but I already gave twice to charity
today. I’m sorry but I have to say no.” The woman replies, “Okay,
but what are you going to tell the people behind me?” She motions for
him to look. He leans out his door and sees a line of people stretching
across his front lawn and down the street into the distance: Girl Scouts
with cookies, firemen, ministers, someone with a Salvation Army pot, and
many people with signs like “Save the Whales,” “End AIDS Now,”
“Fight Racism,” etc.
That
scene, I think, illustrates the overall situation. People in
nonprofits and in government are making progress and need to
appear to be doing enough, but currently there aren't enough resources
to address the problems that humanity faces. But,
if you think about that, isn't it strange? Isn't it odd that an
idea with so much potential, causes almost no strong reaction. I can't
imagine any reader really getting excited about it.
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