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Precepts of The Global Dialog Project | About Us Who are we, and what do we stand for? And why do this website, this project, this organization, anyway? We are a group of 'ordinary' people - writers, artists, parents, scientists,teachers, activists, concerned citizens - that are taking responsibility for the cultural, political, spiritual, mental, and emotional climate we live in. That means paying attention to the large-scale changes sweeping our country and the world - and the small clues that point to foundational problems that must be first acknowledged, then understood and addressed. That means understanding that we have power, and taking it seriously. We have power as individuals: to catalyze, awaken, remind, inspire, and teach as well as learn. We have power as groups of people, because coordination and cooperation are the essence of teams, of shared goals, of supportive aim at the directions and the paths that we want. We have power as concerned citizens - concerned enough to speak out, to speak truth to power - and to act from very real principles and hard-gained wisdom. And we have power as an organization - power to create infrastructure to support communication, bring together important information flows, synthesize our knowledge and perspectives, organize and coordinate efforts, and amplify the voices of those that are not heard. We believe in creating spaces for crucial discussion, creating center ground for civil discourse about the problems that face us, the solutions we see, and the values we share. Because somehow, the important things are falling through the cracks - how our culture is evolving, what direction humanity is taking, how we make choices and decisions about the deep future before us. Because it seems the more important something is, the less opportunity we have to talk about it - because the spaces to talk about important things, to compile our knowledge into coherent forms, and to apply it to the world around us, are slim. We can change that! The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes. Marcel Proust We believe that it is not 'big names' or big money that are important - but innovation, new ways of seeing, and new concepts, that can change our way of thinking and open new paths for us as individuals, organizations, and cultures. We believe the time is ripe for an expansion of the American mindset - and more importantly, the human mindset. We believe that the major issues are staring us in the face, through everything from pop culture, movies, games and music, to our politics, our personal actions, and the perceptions that shape our decisions and affect people around the world. We believe that the world we live in - our reality - is far too complex an entity for individuals or even individual cultures to completely grasp on their own. What this means is that there is not a 'right' way to view the world, but multiple perspectives that overlap in validity, truth, and insight. What this means is that 'outsiders' - those not in the majority, those who hold non-dominant views of our culture, times, or events - may hold essential keys to understanding our world. What this means is that indigenous cultures, women, and minorities (whether physical, political, perceptual or even spiritual), have unique views that need a place in our shared understanding, to help us complete our knowledge and our perspective. What this means is that we need to invite the voices of the silent to speak, and to give them a place to do it. What this means is that the time has come to weave our knowledge together. Only then can we complete the picture, and construct a more accurate basis from which to assess our reality, our actions, and their far-reaching consequences. We believe it is time for the Big Picture to take center stage. How things are connected, what different fields of endeavor have to offer each other, how consequences and actions and decisions refract and feedback, creating each other - these things and so much more must be deeply understood. In our world of specialized experts, we lack the education, training, and experience to do this solely with the infrastructure and approaches we currently have. Our task is to offer some new avenues : toward training and education, infrastructure and understanding, and most importantly, approaches to the new world of potential before us. We ask you to join us!