Building Group Genius in Difficult Times

"Humankind cannot bear very much reality." - T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets

“In a dark time, the eye begins to see.” - Theodore Roethke, In a Dark Time

“You see, but you do not observe.” - Arthur Conan Doyle, A Scandal in Bohemia

Human fallibility is as much with us today as it was five hundred years ago. We just keep making mistakes, and sometimes those mistakes are very costly.

Now might be the perfect time to learn a bit of history. If we approach it the way a brilliant detective approaches a mystery, we might understand the significance of the daily news more deeply, placing our own experience into historical perspective. Depth of understanding can help with timeliness of action. It’s worth a try. Call it a Sherlock Holmes History Mystery Dialogue.

For example, a knowledge of the 1918 pandemic, of the history of virology, and of the history of vaccinations, can help us think more effectively about what might lie ahead for us, and what we might do to prepare ourselves. We could start with a documentary film about the pandemic that hit during World War I (1914-1919).

Historical documentary film of the 1918 pandemic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDY5COg2P2c&t=45s

Here’s something useful on the history of virology

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_virology

and a bit about the history of vaccination

https://www.immune.org.nz/vaccines/vaccine-development/brief-history-vaccination

https://www.britannica.com/science/history-of-medicine/Immunization-against-viral-diseases

The current pandemic arose in China, where the political response to the first warning signs has been criticized. What lessons can we learn from those mistakes?

The current pandemic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycrqXJYf1SU

How does the current pandemic compare not only with the 1918 experience, but also with other epidemics through history? How might even a casual knowledge of the “top 20 worst epidemics in history” be helpful to us right here and now?

Top 20 worst epidemics in history

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeZrzVsPZyI

There are excellent TED talks and other sources you might discover and share with us. As part of my contribution to our group genius, I’ll send an occasional synopsis of a thought-provoking book. These are difficult times. In a dark time, the eye begins to see.

Arthur

“It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.” - Arthur Conan Doyle, A Scandal in Bohemia