Kort Explores conundrums of the human condition

It is often suggested that as individuals we each have an obligation to give back to the society in which we live. For those who possess a greater potential for intelligence than the average citizen the best contribution they can make may be to use that intelligence to address the world's problems.

However, there are difficulties in translating that basic philosophy into a specific goal for an organization like Intertel. My observation of the very diverse personalities and personal philosophies that make up organizations like Mensa and Intertel indicates that achieving consensus on what problem to address let alone agreement on what outcome would be most desirable or what means would best achieve that result, would be far harder than actually solving the world's most intractable problems.

There is also the unfortunate aspect of modern life that any advocate of any cause becomes the target of those seeking an alternative outcome. Nothing would create a better lightning rod for the fear and resentment of 99% of the population than for Intertel to officially declare that this elitist gang of eggheads had decided to "fix" the world.

However, that the members of Intertel can't agree on what problem to "fix", and the rest of the world would conspire to frustrate even the most benign of intentions anyway, doesn't totally eliminate the value we can provide in the modern connected world. It has long been said that the pen is mightier than the sword. The ascendancy of the Internet provides what is rapidly becoming the most powerful pen in human history. But in order to be powerful the pen still needs the words to write, the passions to put in its prose.

It seems to me that one of the most valuable things we can do as a group is to discuss the issues of the day in person and on the Internet. While we are usually unable to convince each other of our differing perspectives, we have at least the potential to explore more fully and eloquently the opposing sides of an issue than those of lesser intelligence.

Discussion allows us to hone our perspectives and polish our prose, refining our own understanding until it becomes clear and perhaps even convincing. We can then offer our best efforts to the connected community of the Internet. The messages I forward might only go as far as the dozen or so individuals on my list, or might be reforwarded to millions of emailboxes around the world, depending on the persuasiveness of the prose. In that way, our discussions in Intertel and on Top1 have at least the potential to in some small way provide the pen of the Internet with the powerful words it needs to overcome the too many swords seeking to drag humanity back into fear and misery.

I submit that talking is what we seem to do best, and it may just be the best thing we can do...