In the darkest days of the Iraq War, one scenario seemed constantly to replay itself: Iraqi drivers would unaccountably fail to stop when ordered to at checkpoints, and American soldiers, fearing a suicide bombing, would open fire—sometimes killing innocents. One possible reason was a devastatingly simple cultural confusion: the American gesture for "stop"—arm straight, palm out—means "welcome" in Iraq. "This and similar misunderstandings have deadly consequences," McFate wrote in Joint Force Quarterly in 2005.
This is part of one of the brief depictions of what Atlantic Magazine has called Brave Thinkers, a feature in the November issue and on the website, focusing on people as varied as Morgan Tsvangirai of Zimbabwe, Ralph Nader, Sheila Bair, Barack Obama and Jim Webb, as well as many - like Montgomery McFate, Senior Social Scientist at the Human Terrain System - of whom you have never heard.
Thinking outside the box is but one element of what these people do. And it was the above clip on McFate that got me thinking.
The piece on McFate especially caught my attention as I was paging through the 25 brief pieces: cross-cultural misunderstanding is often a problem, not only as Americans deal with cultures overseas, but even with subcultures within our borders. Perhaps it is because as a teacher I have seen too many examples of this. For example, in the dominant Anglo culture adults often demand that a child look them in the eye when the adult is correcting behavior. But for many Native American children, for them to do so would be indicating rudeness and arrogance, a refusal to accept correction. Talk about a cross-cultural conflict.
Or consider the elementary school teacher who makes a big deal of a student's birthday, only to have the parents complain because as Jehovah's Witnesses the families do not celebrate the occasion of birth any more than they celebrate Christmas - neither is acceptable in their religion.
There is an old saying that wherever there are two Jews there are three opinions. It is not just those immersed in Talmudic studies who like to argue - it seems to come with the culture. I remember telling my aunt Muriel after my Uncle Arthur (himself then a retired social studies teacher) and I had just had another of our heated arguments that sometimes whatever Arthur said I would take the other point of view just to broaden the occasion for discussion. She was horrified and told me he had just said the same thing. Arthur and I both laughed. It was not just our Jewish argumentativeness, but also our somewhat similar approach to teaching, to ensure that people considered not merely their preexisting point of view.
McFate points out how different interpretations of simple hand gestures can have tragic consequences. Giving a dozen roses in Germany is bad luck, where one always gives an odd number. So many occasions where our understanding may conflict with that of those with whom we are trying to communicate and connect.
That is part of what we need to know, which is why someone like McFate is so important.
But consider some of the others on the list. Morgan Tsvangirai has managed to avoid all-out civil war in Zimbabwe even as he has been able to begin the transition away from the dictatorial regime of Robert Mugabe. Or perhaps Thorkil Sonne, who having himself had a child with autism came to realize that some autistic people, especially those with Asperger's,
tend to be methodical, possess excellent memories, and show great attention to detail and tolerance for repetition—in other words, they might make excellent software testers. With this in mind, Sonne launched Specialisterne, in Copenhagen, in 2004. Thirty-seven of its 51 employees have autism (though most have a mild form called Asperger’s syndrome).
His company is up to $2 million in annual revenue.
Some here are already aware of John Fetterman, mayor of Braddock PA, who is turning his former steel mill town into a center for artists and small businesses, of whom Atlantic writes
He imagines Braddock—only a few miles from Pittsburgh—as a community for creative types and eco-friendly businesses, filled with public gardens and culture centers. It’s an utterly idealistic experiment in extreme urban renewal with next to zero financial backing—one that could totally fail, or perhaps serve as a model for other devastated industrial towns.
And all should know about Iftikhar Chaudry, Chief Justice of Pakistan, whose unwavering commitment to the law helped finally topple General Musharraf. The quote offered from him is one that is pertinent in our nation as well"
"We should be proud of our citizens who, despite difficult conditions and state of war in the country, are still loyal to the state and cooperating."
I encourage people to explore the 27 names. Here's the complete list:
Thorkil Sonne
CEO and Founder of Specialisterne
Ben Bernanke
Chairman of the Federal Reserve
Morgan Tsvangirai
Prime Minister of Zimbabwe
Camille Parmesan
Professor, University of Texas at Austin
Shai Agassi
Founder of Better Place
Steve Jobs and John Lasseter
Co-founder and Chief Creative Officer, Pixar Animation Studios
Montgomery McFate
Senior Social Scientist at the Human Terrain System
Freeman Dyson
Professor Emeritus, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton
Iftikhar Chaudhry
Chief Justice of Pakistan
John Fetterman
Mayor of Braddock, Pennsylvania
Arthur Sulzberger Jr.
Publisher of the New York Times
Craig Watkins
Dallas District Attorney
Henry Greely
Director of the Stanford Center for Law and the Bio-Sciences
Walter E. Hussman Jr.
Publisher of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Ralph Nader
Perennial Third-Party Presidential Candidate
Sheila C. Bair
Chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Paul Polak
Founder of International Development Enterprises and D-Rev
Trey Parker and Matt Stone
South Park Creators
Barack Obama
President of the United States
Mark Zuckerberg
Founder and CEO of Facebook
Danny Day
Founder and President of Eprida
Jim Webb
Senator from Virginia
Jeff Zucker
President and CEO of NBC Universal
Meredith Whitney
Founder and CEO of Meredith Whitney Advisory Group LLC
Alex de Waal
Program Director at the Social Science Research Council
Let me conclude with some comments about the only one on that list I personally know, my now senior US Senator, Jim Webb. Let me start with the quote offered:
"I think you can be a law-and-order leader and still understand that the criminal justice system as we understand it today is broken."
the criminal justice system ... is broken - how true, and how tragic, with the lives destroyed instead of turned around, with increasing costs for incarceration that does not rehabilitate. With a tendency to turn this fundamental responsibility of government - punishment for violation of the social contract - over to private for-profit concerns not bound as is government to abide by basic limits on what can be imposed and how far rights can be abrogated.
I do not always agree with Jim Webb. That was true even when I first sent an email to his web site suggesting he run against George Allen. I was not part of the small group (Lowell Feld, Lee Diamond, Josh Chernila) that helped persuade him to enter the race, but once he was in I was an early and vociferous supporter even when he trailed in money and support before the June 2006 primary. I saw an intelligent and caring human being, passionate about this nation, and about the ordinary folks who are too often forgotten. His interest in addressing the inequities of our criminal justice system predate by several years his decision to enter political politics. And it has been fascinating to watch him emerge as an effective senator, one not afraid of taking chances, such as meeting with the leadership of Myanmar.
Outside the box - a not very descriptive metaphor, but necessary. If we are unwilling to step back, to reconsider, to look at different possibilities, different ways of organizing, we will not progress.
Not all attempts will be successful. If some do not fail, we will not find how much we actually can do. As a teacher I have to encourage my students to take the kinds of risk that may incur some failure in order to maximize the chances of increasing their understanding, insight and competence.
Knowing you might fail - knowing what you do WILL be criticized, but proceeding despite that - Brave Thinkers is an appropriate appellation for folks like that, even if we disagree with the direction in which they head. We should be grateful that they proceed, because we might learn - either that we we right, and now know why, or that we were wrong, and need ourselves to rethink our own ideas, readjust our own sights.
Take the time. Read through the snippets. Follow the video links.
Enjoy. I sure did.
Peace.