Zooleo: If You Could Ask Candidia Cruikshanks Just One Question

Fascinating new technology for bubbling up questions from  ordinary people to  extraordinary people.  Soren Gordhamer,

If you could ask Muhammad Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank, just one question related to social entrepreneursim, what would that be? If you could ask Bill Drayton, founder of Ashoka, just one question related to social entrepreneursim, what would it be? If you could ask Pierre Omidyar, founder of Ebay and ON, one question related to social entrepreneursim what would it be?

The questions are rated by users, then Soren will ask the leading lights to answer the highest rated question. The leading lights may or may not respond.  I am impressed with the technology, so I asked the Happy Tutor for his thoughts. As usual, he was quite a jerk.

Phil, if a drop cash box were included perhaps Soren could get our elected representatives to respond to one question from "we the people."

Perhaps with Zooleo Peter Karoff at "The World We Want"  could get the big donors in his book to answer one question from we the little people.   

My question for the bigshots is, "Why in a democracy should we the people not confiscate 100% of your wealth at death and distribute it to the people, as in Monopoly we put all the money and properties back in the box at the end of each game? Why should wealth, power and privilege be hereditary, since the world we want is not an aristocracy?"

Well, that is Tutor for you. He obviously has not read Adam Smith. I doubt his questions will "bubble up" in Zooleo or get an answer if they do.  In working with wealthy people I have found you get better results with honey than with vinegar. My generous patron, Candidia Cruikshanks, when I question the world she wants says, "Kiss my boots," and I have to respect that.  Whatever she says we want is fine by me. 

Comments

[Kombinat!]

I did ask Muhammad Yunus one question. It was "would you like more tea?" and he said "No, thank you" and that was that. I asked him this question in 1996 in Dallas, TX. - What is completely useless (but yes, very fascinating) in this "bubbling up the questions technology" is that it has been assumed that the so-called "extraordinary" haven't answered them yet, yet they have been answering most of the questions anyone would want to ask for many years now. The analysis of this situation is pretty simple: the so-called "ordinary people" have been unwilling to hear the answers. Now they have a new technology for asking questions which will create a new unwillingness to hear the answer. I belive this Zooleo contraption could be called the new exciting technology for bubbling your unwillingess to hear the answers thingy. There. You. Have. It.

Muhammad Yunus liked the tea.

[phil]

Nice, K!. I suspect that what people want is not "the answer," but acknowledgement of their standing to ask and be answered. Mothers hold their babies out for politicians to kiss - very unhygenic, but very common nontheless. So in ancient times, the gods moved among humanfolk, fathering wars, children, and cults.

[Kombinat!]

Right on Phil. The acknowledgment is what's missing the most. As I was walking in the public park, a beautiful small forest with ponds and rose gardens along the river, I was thinking of the infantile conversation I might heave inside my head about The World We Want. It might go like this:

Question: So, there is a World you Want, right?

Answer: Yes, there is a World I Want.

Question: Tell me WHO knows it? WHO in this World Knows that there is a World You Want? Who acknowledges it?

Answer: I think other people know it just as I know it. I hear others speak about similar things they want.

Question: But who have you told about the World You Want? and if you did tell them that did they acknowledge it? How did they acknowledge it?

Answer: Well, I actually haven't really talked to anyone about it yet.

Question: If there is a World You Want and you actually haven't talked to anyone about it then how would they know what is The World You Want? If you are the only one walking around thinking about it and you are not letting other people know about it then how would they ever know and acknowledge it?

Answer: well, I haven't really thought about it this way. I thought we all somehow share this vision of the World We Want because I hear others speak about it.

Question: If you hear others speaking about it do you then acknowledge them? Do you tell them that the World You Want and the World They Want is the same World? Maybe you should open your mouth and start speaking with others. If you were to do that what would you be saying to them about the World You Want?

Answer: I would tell them about The World I Want.

Question: If you were to tell them how would you know that they listened?

Answers: They would tell me if they also see it the way I see it. They would either tell me that this is also the World They want or they would tell me that they don't want the world I want. They would tell me perhaps the World They Want which may not be the World I want but then They would know the World I want and I would know the World They Want.

Questions: Then you would be communicating and finding out what they want and letting them know what you want?

Answer: Yes, I would.

Question: And if you were to find that The World They Wanted was also the World You wanted then what would you do?

Answer: I would acknowledge them for the World they Want and I think they would acknowledge me for the World I want. We would share same World We Want.

Question: And after you communicated that to each other and acknowledged each other what else would you do? Is talking about it enough to have the World you Want? If you want this world then will you have it by just talking about it and finding out that others want it as well?

Answer: No, it's not enough to talk about it but it is important, perhaps the most important to talk about it.

Question: But speech is just noise making. As you talk with others words are coming out of your mouth and they happen to match the words coming out of their mouths. You and they are making very similar noise and you call it sharing vision of the World We Want. Would this noise create the World You Want?

Answer: It depends on how we use speech. You can use speech to describe things and you can ask people to make actions, to realize the World We Want.

Question: If you were to ask people to make actions then you can just ask them to keep talking to more people about it. That would only change the amount of people that talk about it. What else would that change?

Answer: Well, hopefully this conversation would spread and more people would share our Vision for the World We Want and maybe some of them would create that World. They would be compelled to act.

Question: But what's the use. You are leaving the creation of the World you Want to chance and hope that someone would act to create it. Are you not responsible for starting the conversation? Are you not the one who should act? If there is a World You Want then when will you have it?

Answer: It's not that easy to answer when I will have it. I said you can ask people to make actions, to realize the World We Want. We can use actions in time to create results. Results would be the World We Want.

Question: But what if you never achieve any results? Is it then useless to take actions but be uncertain if anything will result from them?

Answer: I don't know what will result from actions we'll take. We will take actions and see what results. Maybe we will not get the results of the World We Want but we will take actions for the World We Want.

Question: What actions then will you take and will you take those actions knowing that they might not result the World You Want?

Answer: I don't have an answer for that yet.

Question: When will you have it? What are you waiting for?

[phil]

Added your dialog to the list of World We Want essays in the sidebar. Also blogged it. Thanks, Citizen-K!.