I’m starting to get into podcasts more, and the last
submission from Catalyst was a good ‘un. They had author Tim Sanders on speaking about upcoming culture and social change. This is a paraphrase of some of my highlights:
On emotional intelligence as it pertains to future generations:
We live in an emotional world. The amygdala, the emotional part of the brain, has (on average) grown 1% since World War II, because the brain adapts to environments, you know. The neocortex (the logical part of the brain) has shrunk, on average, .5% in that same span. What does that mean?
20 years ago the emotional brain was 25 times more powerful than the logical brain
10 years ago the emotional brain was 35 times more powerful than the logical brain
Now the emotional brain is 50 times more powerful than the logical brain
Financial freedom to kids today translates into freedom not to suffer emotional abuse
On Spirituality in America:
The author of the book “Mega Trends 2010” makes an argument that Spirituality is probably the greatest trend in America. If you took a look at the number of CEO’s that
would answer, “Yes, I am churched and spiritual”, you would find that the number is significantly higher today than it was in 1990.
On his 9/11 research
Different changes in our lifetime have caused us to have different values, and those new values have prioritized where we put our resources. Of all the things that have happened in the past 10 years, (and there’s been a lot) this is the impact of 9/11 according to Harvard professor, Robert Putnam says
9/11 influenced kids because it was a teachable moment; everyone understood that we live in an interdependent world where one day we’ll have to depend on the kindness of strangers. That feeling of interdependence leads to an incredible feeling of social responsibility.
Virginia Tech for this generation was the equivalent of a 10 year old being diagnosed with diabetes. As catastrophic events happen the thinking goes from “I’m going to live to be 70, to I’m going to live to 60, to I’m going to live to be 50. As perceived life gets shorter, pur
pose gets bigger.
On Social change:Researchers call 1 out of 4 educated college graduates an “ethical advocate”. An ethical advocate believes that the money does not trickle down, a company must be worthy of their patronage and that the for profit sector is not as good as the for benefit sector.
The number of ethical advocates graduating college will double every 5 years, and they will scrutinize every product they buy, every job they apply for, and every stock their fund manager buys – to see if the company generates or takes out social value. They will punish the ones that don’t and reward the ones that do.
There’s a ‘sin tax’ (like that on tabacco) bill on the floor of legislature in Oregon right now that, if passed, would place a 120% tax on paper.
Fun stuff that probably only interests me:Top 5 most likable leaders in U.S. history (in no order, from different social sectors):
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Bill Clinton
Ellen Degenerous (ahead of Oprah interestingly enough)
George Foreman
George Clooney
Gallup said every election since ’76 has had a tip, in an undecided state, toward the BBQ test: “who would you invite to a BBQ on Sunday?”
-Ethan
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