Benjamin Franklin Institute Talking Communities

The View Always Depends on Where You Stand

November 16, 2003
00:15 GMT

Welcome to Global Learn Day ---- Voyage Number Seven.

My name is John Hibbs and I am the "imagineer" to an event that is sometimes described as a "Voyage of Discovery". Or, sometimes as "the Earth Day of Education".

And, sometimes as "an armchair trip around the world".

The truth is -- what we call it hardly matters.

What matters is that in the next 24 hours we will feature extra-ordinary people involved in the most important job in the world....expanding learning opportunities, worldwide.

What also counts is that they deserve more recognition than they get. In that regard, on every Global Learn Day, I ask the same question:

Why can't we generate as much publicity and applause as Hollywood does on the night of the Oscars?

Why?

Well one reason is because the business of learning is a thousand times more important than the business of the movies. Another is that for every dollar spent at the movies, five thousand is spent on education.

But that's a drum we've been beating for a long time without much to show for it. Critics say to me..."tell me something new".

What's new is that we in distance education and Internet technology now use tools which allow us to affordably reach every newspaper, radio and television station in the world. These tools will on be on display in the next 24 hours, particularly with stops in India and Ireland where we will be on television and radio. ...and where we have a good chance of reaching many tens of thousands.

What's also new is there are entities like Marco Polo who have a reasonable chance to train two to three million American school teachers to better use the power of the Net.

It's in Marco Polo's interest to be part of a big spotlight. It's in our interest to bring them a big audience.

Folks, this is all high octane fuel for a very big event....but that's for another time..., and it's years -- if not decades -- in the future --

So let's get on with the show.

First, some thanks.

Number One: Thanks to our host, the Benjamin Franklin Institute of Global Education. The heart of our Institute is Dr. Midi Cox, about whom it is impossible to say too much. Thank you Midi Cox.

From George Buys, Bob Zwick and a dozen more at Talking Communities comes the slickest, friendliest, most affordable ship we've ever been aboard. But what really makes it run are the people who operate the engines. That's Bob Zwick and George....who, by the way, is blind....which makes George's accessibility panel even more better.......

Thank you Bob. Thank you George.

Next --- We've never had a Voyage that we didn't feature Yvonne Andres, leader of the Global School House and a membership gathered from 100 plus countries. On Voyage Seven, Yvonne's brought us The Friendship Community. They do some very heavy lifting in places like Afghanistan where Liz Hinkle and Masood Roashan will tell you of efforts to rebuild a shattered country.

Thank you Yvonne. Liz and Masood.

And of course thanks to all the presenters, panelists, publicists, moderators, page pushers and telephone bridge providers. You know who you are. We hold all of you in high esteem. Thank you all...very, very much.

In a few moments I shall introduce you to Annette Stock from New Zealand. Her keynote is billed as The Art of Listening. But what it's really about is the rewards that come when you step outside of your own comfort zone.

Stay tuned for Annette; she has a lot to say.

So......while you are storing your gear and getting used to the idea of a sailing ship that can make it from Fiji to Hawaii the wrong way around -- all in just under 24 hours ---allow me to share some thoughts in the last moments before we embark.

I get to do that because even make-believe captains get special privileges.

My topic is triggered by Dr. Passi and his crew in Thailand. He calls the main body of his work a Third Vision.

I call the main body of mine -- a Third Prism.

Either way, Dr. Passi and I are on the same wave. The difference is mine is centered around events and his is centered around philosophy. But essentially, our premise is the same.

The view always depends on where you stand.

The events that forge the center of two important prisms are not hard to guess --

One is the fall of the Berlin Wall, November 1989. The other is the tragedy of September 11, 2001.

In terms of impact - and prism view - those cataclysms were polar opposites.

One signaled high hopes for a better world. The other that evil fanatics are determined to return the planet to 4th century barbarism.

Each gave us a prism through which we can now view the world. For a good many, particularly in Europe, that prism remains: November 1989.

For a good many others. particularly in America --that prism is September 2001.

What is mine?

Mine, I admit, leans toward the prism of 1989. How could it not? In Berlin, at the tender age of 20, I watched John Kennedy give his "Ich Bin Berliner" speech. I was also there when the Wall came down.

Naturally, strong memories affect one's view. Despite the horrors of Rwanda, the Balkans, Palestine and Timor, mostly, the view after November 1989 was lovely --- all the way up until September 11.

Then came the Fall of the Twin Towers, which not only gave us all new prism, it made harder to remember the prism of November 1989.

The result is that for many -- too many? -- the world is viewed through a shattered prism.

I wish it weren't so. The prism of September 11 is darkened by terror, fear, religious intolerance and armed conflict. It's as ugly as it gets.

Inescapably, those two views, those two prisms, leads me to believe that the Eurocentric world is now split primarily because each is looking at the world through two different prisms.

If so, this helps to explain the wide differences between those in Paris and Berlin and those in New York and Washington. Each, I suspect, would like you to view the world through their prism.

Time for a Third Prism?

But perhaps there is an alternative?

Maybe it's time we all looked through a Third Prism -- or, as Dr. Passi would say - a Third Vision.

The idea of the Third Prism is to offer a choice that departs from the Western view that gain comes mostly from pain; that out of conflict, competition, argument and "win-win' thinking comes a safer, saner world.

The Third Prism is different because it centers around a vision of harmony and grace, a world filled with the energy of cooperation and collaboration, shared values...and a basic understanding that at the head of the parade is my community, not me.

It's a vision - or a prism - in agreement with the brilliant author Stuart Brand. His book, The Clock of the Long Now , calls for thinking inter-generation ally. IN the book, Sturart tells us that the Indians have it right -- that taking your grandchildren to the mountain top --- and making them believe they are part of the mountain -- makes for a better world.

Read the book. It too may change your prism.

But....don't be fooled.

The Third Vision is not about soaking the rich and it's not about Marxist theories already debunked.

What it's mostly about is the stubborn fact that we are all in the same boat. Which boat to we want to be inside? One led by masters, bullies and tyrants? Or ones where we all row together? Which one is more likely to destinations of our choosing -- as vs. destinations chosen for us.

With all my heart I believe those on board Voyage Seven, as with those who have already made our global journey , that what's common is we all share the same prism.

So, now, finally, we are set, headed for Hawaii, the long way around. If all goes well, in about 23 hours Professor Bruce Best will greet us on some speck in the Pacific. Like the time spent with Dr. Crossley, you can't help but enjoy time with Bruce Best.

Sure. There will be bumps and splashes on the way, and even a knock down or two. Don't worry. This is a good crew and a good boat.

And not such a bad captain either... even if he is make-believe.

Enjoy the Voyage. And give thought to which prism is the right one for you. Click here to learn more about The Friendship Community.