After viewing the above video, reflect on the
following questions in a well-written post on your Reflection Blog:
Why
do you think the talk is titled 21st Century Enlightenment? Matthew Taylor provides an interesting
perspective of how he views the world through his term “21st Century
Enlightenment”. After reviewing this
video, my perception of 21st Century Enlightenment is about how we as a people
should start to think differently than in the past. We should have a higher level of empathy that
will transfer our current level of thinking beyond what we consider to be the
cultural norms. Taylor suggests that
society should rethink how we see certain perspectives of society. Some of the areas he focuses on are autonomy,
universalism, and world progress. My
problem here is that I feel Taylor has taken many liberties with his
presentation. Mr. Taylor’s views bring
several questions to mind. What culture
is Taylor speaking for? Is he speaking
for a certain generation of the population?
Is his presentation politically motivated in some way? Yes Mr. Taylor’s presentation is titled 21st
Century Enlightenment; but no matter how interesting and captivating, there need
to be an understanding that enlightenment is not a new movement and it affects
various cultures in different ways.
What
does Matthew Taylor mean when he says "to live differently, you have to
think differently"?
Taylor made a good point in how he pointed out that if individuals have
a desire change the way they live, in areas such as different principles,
values, morals, standards; individuals must be open to changing the way they
think. Even I must agree that I
sometimes get caught up in my life, not thinking that others experience some of
the same things that I do. Normal human
behavior will always wish for some type of change; but in reality we do not
make a plan to actually achieve such change. Taylor explains that to live differently, we
must respond purposely. Once we learn to
respond with a purpose, individuals will start thinking differently and
breaking the learned responses of old.
At
one point in the video (4:10), Taylor argues that we need "to resist our
tendencies to make right or true that which is merely familiar and wrong or
false that which is only strange". What is he talking about? Can you think
of an example within your company or your life that supports this point? After
listening to this quote several times, I feel it implies that humans are not
comfortable with change; internal or external.
To me, Taylor is expressing that we should not just go along with the
crowd, but we should question the status quo.
Truth be told, individuals have diverse values and traditions and we should
be careful with defining what is considered normal or right for society. Society has to break the cycle of accepting
certain practiced tendencies and routines because it has always been done that
way or even worse become like the lemur in which we do what everyone else is
doing just because. In the organization for
which I work, we fail in this area. Some
people at work never have to help with group projects, however, when the
completed project is a success everyone receives the same rewards or praise.
All of my coworkers that worked on the project new that some people did not
participate in the process, but no one ever complains. We are more reactive than proactive and you
may find yourself an outcast or even labeled as a trouble maker if you
challenge the status quo. Truth be said, we cannot be afraid of change; we need
to strive to understand and accept change.
Taylor
argues that our society should eschew (avoid) elements of pop culture that
degrade people and that we should spend more time looking into what develops
empathetic citizens. Would this be possible?
To me the answer is no, however the real question is
what would it take for this process to become reality. In today’s society, pop culture would seem to
be more popular than religion. When was
the last time a list was made of the most influential people in society and
someone engrossed in pop culture made the list.
Pop culture is engrossed in social media and technology and is
influenced by various groups of people that share similar thoughts. This movement is influenced by everything
from movies and television shows, to actors, singers, toys, games and clothes. With
so many technological advancements, we have become sponges to everything that
surrounds us and our culture is now part of us; many future generations not
only absorb it, they welcome it. The
world has changed and I am not sure if we can be as empathetic as Taylor
suggests. We should not judge each other,
but we do. Certain aspect of society still want to determine issues like who
marries whom, how everyone should look and dress, or even complain about the color
of the skin of the president. Whether or not we develop that empathetic
attitude will only be determined by the future generations. Personally, I feel younger generations; seem
to be less judgmental and more accepting than older generations of
society.
At
the end of the video, Taylor talks about atomizing people from collaborative
environments and the destructive effect on their growth. What is the implication
of these comments for organizational change efforts? I think Taylor is stating that people should start
looking at themselves when looking for organizational change. Change starts
with a few individuals; however these few can get more to follow in their
beliefs for change. Today’s business
organizations are rapidly changing, trying to keep up with technology advancements
in every way we can dream. We must
understand that if we are to kick start organizational change, we must learn
from both positive and negative results of our actions. Being accountable and living in a responsible
manner is not simply a matter of will; bottom line is we must have an in-depth understanding
of who we are as individuals and how we fit in our society or organization.
What
can you take away from this exercise to immediately use in your career? I
sometimes get caught up in the world and how my actions affect the groups and
teams I am exposed to. I need to be
aware of how these actions affect the organization and what I must do to ensure
my actions have a positive effect. Even
though my role in the organization may be small, the effects may be large in
the grand scheme of things. I am not
sure if I need to develop a sense of empathy as it relates to others, but it is
something I, at least need, to consider.
I am not sure if this will enhance my career, but if I never try, I will
never know. I do know that we as a
society are not without any empathy because we have made progress. It may not be at the level Mr. Taylor would
like, but in order to change had vision and incite beyond the norms of the
past. So I will remember Taylor’s rendition "21st Century
Enlightenment", hoping to learn from it.
Taylor,
M. (2010). The 21st Century Enlightenment. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AC7ANGMy0yo&feature=youtu.be
