Hi John, Thanks for the challenge, and as usual I will make an idiot out of myself.
I suppose the idea of a different operating system may work. As such it points to a set of rules of operation. Possibly a different way of looking at things. I would appeal to the sense of societal controls that all teenagers succumb to. Wearing the right cloths, saying the right thing, being invisible in a group and so forth. At this age, many teenagers are trying to "fit in". This is the world of SOM as imparted by the social level. I would point out the restrictive nature of these "rules" and suggest that there must be a balance between those "outside" rules, and the "inside" rules. This balance allows the rules to exchange and harmonize. Following the crowd is balanced by following oneself. The teenager must be encouraged to develop these personal rules which are distinct from the social rules, but may say the same thing, it is more of an "attitude". I would ask if they do things because they want to do them, or if they feel they have to do them. It is just as important to express what is right as it is to do the "right" thing. I would ask if they know what is good and what is bad without having anyone tell them these things. I would ask them if there is any way in which they could change things so that what they want to do is the same as what they feel they should do. For, to be that way is liberating from the sense of estrangement that so many teenagers succumb to. Personal Quality is one's relationship with the cosmos that is independent of the social level (oversimplification, I know, but what do you expect from an elevator conversation). Quality is being true to oneself and expressing the Good. Quality is being in tune with the universe instead of at battle with it. Quality is behaving as if everything is important and has personal meaning. Such personalization destroys objectivism. Quality is selfless action (secretely doing things for others) for one's own sense of well-being. If one gives, one gets three times as much in return (that is just simple statistics). 99% of what happens in a day is in our favor, we need not spend so much time on the other 1%. Quality is a personal sense of freedom. Quality brings meaning and dispells fear. Quality means one does not have believe in anything except oneself. So, here is the scenario: In the elevator and the 8th floor button is pushed. "So... What's this MoQ thing, anyway?" (Pause) MoQ is a different way at looking at everyday life [Floor 1] "What do you mean different?" (Pause) It is looking at things from the inside rather than the outside [Floor 2] "What do you mean inside and outside?" You create what is meaningful for you to balance what others tell you what is meaningful. Soon they become the same thing [Floor 3] "How do I know what is meaningful?" You listen to your inside [Floor 4] "What if what I find something to be meaningful, but it truly is not." The more you express it, the more true it will become. If you change your mind, do so if your inner voice wants to, not because somebody else want to. It will harmonize you with the outside [Floor 5] "Is that what MoQ is?" MoQ is based on conversations that people have where Quality (that which is Good) is expressed [Floor 6] "What do you mean Quality?" Quality is how good something is [Floor 7] "How do you know how good something is?" You just know [Floor 8] "Can we talk about this again?" Any time, I just ride this elevator up and down all day Aways ready to give my opinion, Mark On Tue, Nov 8, 2011 at 10:24 AM, John Carl <[email protected]> wrote: > Mary raised a question recently about something she calls, "The Elevator > Speech". Suppose somebody asks you a question or somehow the subject just > comes up, "So... What's this MoQ thing, anyway?" You only have the time > between floors, to answer. What do you say? > > I thought it was a good question and pretty hard to answer, but it led me > to start thinking about the subject, and I found out when I looked inside, > that I really want to know how to explain the MoQ to a 14 year old. Life's > ripest subject - teenagers. > > Poor teenagers today. Lost in a whirl of competing flash and image, with > no real impetus toward any of the classic disciplines. The three R's? > Reduced to mere technical proficiencies and punctuated with drill and test, > but how to think? That's a lost art indeed. So they need help, these > teens of today. A way to guide their tender minds, a path of mercy through > the thralls of babylon babble. A way of looking for themselves at reality > and asking, "what is best". What value system do I use to judge between > all the systems of philosophy and religion that compete for my attention? > > I believe such a question, if properly worded, would appeal to teenagers. > We live in a rather computer-oriented world, so to get them to see that the > MoQ is a different operating system than SOM, would make a connection in > their tender little synapsis, where some light could come in. And I don't > think I'd have any difficulty explaining the MoQ, even though its somewhat > still in beta, it's pretty simple to offer it as an OS which takes into > account, fundamental value. That is, that there is a reason for asking. > Life isn't just randomly generated chaos or some whimsical fairy tale > invenented by priests. > > SOM though, would be a bit harder to explain. More tedious. The idea that > we can objectively choose, is false. We can't stand apart from our reality > and judge. We are bound up and part of our reality, and our being is > dependent upon the reality we choose! A twisted tiffany indeed! We are > stuck in an endless hall of mirrors. > > And yet not stuck. There is a way of seeing through all this, and that's > why I recommend MoQ .1b Even though it is in beta and SOM 3.0 is long > tested and popularly adopted. > > That would take longer than the average elevator ride, but I think it would > get through to a 14 year old. > Moq_Discuss mailing list > Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. > http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org > Archives: > http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ > http://moq.org/md/archives.html > Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org/md/archives.html
