Last month, on my flight to Armenia, I read a terrific book - Blueprint by Nicholas Christakis, which made me think a lot about love and family. The book explains that we (humans) have evolved to work together and be social (not on social media!) This sense first developed because it made us more likely to live longer; our need to form a group has had a meaningful impact on our collective human history.
The book explains that our ability to construct societies has become an intuition. It is not just something we can do - it is something we must do of course. And this ability has led to eight common traits that we can find in every society on earth: Individual identity, love for partners and children, friendship, social networks, cooperation, preference for our group, some kind of order, social learning, and teaching. The book spends a great deal explaining how each of these traits is found in seemingly diverse people (from the Roman Empire to Kenya's Turkana communities). Our world has gone from being a small group of hunter-gatherers that were strongly related to the modern world where we can live in a big city with millions of other people. And the fact that social order has remained the same notwithstanding those changes is simply amazing. If we really want to explain human behavior, the social order alone is only part of the narrative. A lot is going on! We have the genetics we were all born with. We have hormones running through our bodies. We have our childhood and how that shaped us. We also have learned behaviors - the understanding of what's allowed and what's not allowed that is passed to us through societal norms. In Blueprint, the author focuses mostly on the last part - person-to-person communications. The book is a refreshing read. In fact, one of the things that makes it so readable is all of the fascinating examples and stories that the author relates to. The beginning of the book looks at a bunch of shipwrecks that caused people getting stranded on remote and deserted islands. Each group of people had to develop their own form of group or society, and some were more successful than others. Interestingly, the groups that performed the best - meaning that a high probability of its people survived to be rescued - included some or most components of our social order. The groups that didn't' have these elements fell apart fast and even devolved into cannibalism. One of the most exciting sections in the book was about comparing bonobos and chimpanzees. Chimps are actually really hostile with each other and sometimes they will kill members of their own group to asset dominance. On the other hand, Bonobos are mainly peaceful and playful creatures. They are one of the only species other than us - humans who engage in sexual intercourse for pleasure, not just for reproduction ends. The book talks about a few theories for why the two types of apes are so different, even they really look the same. Chimpanzees are more likely to share territory with gorillas and have fewer access to food than the bonobos; therefore, aggressive chips might even have a better chance to survive. And maybe bonobo females - like us humans - evolved to value cooperation over-aggression when choosing a mate. It's actually surprising to learn that the field of comparing the social behaviors of humans with other animals is actually not really a developed as I thought. Blueprint gives an excellent basic level understanding of it. I agree with the scientific conclusion of the book; that every one of us on earth has more in common than not. It begs the questions, like how we can leverage that commonality to get things done. Can we get our seven billion people to work together and solve big global problems like climate change? Can we argue that our similarities are powerful enough to overcome our few differences? Well, the book really doesn't answer these questions, but it indicates that the answer is yes by showing us that we have an innate capability and need to cooperate. The truth is that a lot of us are fascinated by the differences between us - but the differences are actually pretty small compared to the similarities. The book gave me a sense of optimism. Nowadays, it is easy to feel down reading news headlines every day about how polarized we are becoming. I found Blueprint to be a refreshing reminder that, when we say we are all in it together, it is not just a motto - it's evolution. So we are all in it together!
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Over the weekend, I watched a fantastic Netflix documentary - "American Factory."
The story of Chinese billionaire Cao Dewang that in 2016 started its first American division of Fuyao - the giant global auto-glass producing organization, not too far from Pittsburgh, in the former General Motor - GM factory in Dayton, Ohio. GM closedown the Dayton plant due to collapsing SUV sales, in 2008 while the US was going through the financial crisis. The plant was named GM Moraine Assembly Plant; and its closure forced thousands out of work, during the same time that the Federal government launched its massive bailout of the auto sector. The GM's Dayton factory remained abandoned until Cao Dewang announced that his company was taking it over, investing millions of dollars and hiring hundreds of local Ohio workers. "American Factory," tells the tale of the plant and its new Fuyao operations. I found the description of the documentary rather complex, provoking, timely, and elegantly created, crossing between China and America as it gazes at the past, present, and likely future of American labor and even Chinese labor. By the way, this is the first movie that Barack and Michelle Obama's company - Higher Ground Productions has released on Netflix. The film begins with a brief, glance back at the plant's closure that sketches in the past and implies even the difficult times ahead. It starts in 2015 between the optimistic bustle of new beginnings - Fuyao presentation for Dayton area job seekers and capturing a range of emotions in the big room, and Fuyao representative was delivering his pitch for the new plant and employment opportunities. By the way, this is is how Fuyao Glass America got off the ground in the film. It was simply amazing; the optimism of the workers was unmistakable. It took several years to make this engaging documentary. It is visible as a commitment that is evident in the film's layered account and the trust the filmmakers earned among the factory workers. It was terrific how Americans and visiting Chinese workers alike opened their homes and hearts to the camera. Stories of love, separation from family, work, commitment, hope, lack of it and many others in an emotionally and politically dynamic narrative of capitalism, propaganda, contrasting values, and labor rights and cultures. In the course of the story, and as the plant ramps up, optimism gives way to unease, disagreement, and anxiety. Some workers are hurt, others face danger; glass breaks, and tempers fray. Chinese and American plant executives and managers complain about production and particularly about the American workers who, in turn, seem mainly grateful for a new chance. But over time, many of these local Dayton workers struggle with the Company's demands. The story also takes us to China for a visit to Fuyao's headquarter by several of its American managers. It was evident that Fuyao's American subsidiary was losing money, and Mr. Cao, or as he's called Mr. Chairman in the film or Chairman Cao was not really happy about it. His frustration and how he portrayed it was considered unusual as you'll see in the film. As Mr. Cao's dissatisfaction mounts, the temperature grows colder, and management appears to become openly hostile. For those of us that have not been inside a Chinese factory - like me - these scenes of Fuyao HQ - with the discipline, team-building exercises and gung-ho style of modern management style are very eye-opening. "American Factory" really struck a chord for me. It is political without being preachy or even offensive. The story did a fabulous job connecting the sociopolitical dots brilliantly. Not to mention the documentary didn't insult anyone. It also left me with so many emotions and questions, as American and Chinese men and women - whose enthusiasm and disappointments give the story its emotional theme. One of my favorite parts of the documentary was toward the end when Mr. Cao recalls that the Chian of his youth was poor: now he is according to Forbes Magazine, one of China's richest and his hobbies - very much like other billionaires include golf and collecting art. The Chairman's self-reflective monologue was merely fantastic and thought-provoking. "American Factory" is a profoundly empathetic documentary, one that's able to provide a holistic look at an organization while still make a larger argument about capitalism, politics, America, China, love, family, hope, dream, and so much more. I hope you watch this documentary. |
AuthorRoozbeh, born in Tehran - Iran (March 1984) Archives
April 2024
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