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Friday, April 13, 2012

C'est Le Weekend: Conference of Sheep

Yesterday we had a work outing.  A whole theatre was reserved to stimulate our minds to be more innovative and inspired.  
Keynote speakers, cabaret, lunches, coffees, freebies, even a plant (for sustainability!!) to take home.
I can't help but mention that, as inspiring as it might have been, it was actually an annoying experience (bar the few original souls).

Certain words are best avoided in my company after the overload I had yesterday.
They would include:
Inspiring, collaboration, sustainability, future, progressive, vision, innovative - to name but a few.



A super philosopher was the keynote speaker - Bas Haring.
What I appreciated most about him, was that he complained about our university.  
How we do things, how we think.  
That kind of thing.
And he did all this with a certain humility.  
Not prescriptive.  
Just questioning it. 
After his speech, the other speakers kept referring to what he had said - but what they failed to see was that it was only that Bas Haring questioned the status quo- he didn't define it as such.
One shouldn't treat a question like a definition.

It's that flock-o'-sheep-kind of behaviour:

One person (supported by loud applause and some fame) says something and the sheep subsequently latch onto his/her idea and run with it.

Aaah, Tennessee Williams wrote that one should question everything, that there is nothing else.

I'm not an original person.
I don't have original opinions.
But I'm not a sheep.
Never will be.




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