Let’s talk about eradicating illness and what that teaches us about how to change the world. Specifically, let’s zero in on how healthcare workers approach the different forms of rationality people and cultures use to understand their world, and from there, apply what we learn to global issues.
Imagine a dystopian world where government and huge for-profit businesses colluded to generate wealth for the privileged few. One where billion-dollar pharmaceutical companies manufacture poisons that governments force us to take, making us so ill we must buy the “cure” from those same companies. Imagine corporations so evil they use components from the tissue of aborted fetuses in the poisons they force on us.
Organizations can act wisely. They can, however, also act stupidly. The question then becomes, can we create wise organizations on purpose?
Are we a wise civilization? Can we grow wiser? Being cynical about these questions is easy. The news shows us we are always on the brink of disaster, and, let's be honest, the comments section of most social media posts does not engender a spirit of optimism about humanity's collective wisdom. Yet, consider the following.