Mad Deep Knowledge

by Ted Cleaver

Before sustainability became the biggest buzzword, I think its safe to say that diversity was the talk of the town. Not to say there weren’t any others, but diversity was a big one. Complex problems require creative solutions. Get a diverse team together and the probability that someone looks at the problem at hand differently is higher than if the team consists of all our old buddies from the club house.

The realization that diversity is not a bad idea is strongly reflected in social ambition among highly educated city-dwellers in their 20ies and 30ies. I’ve seen the research. Everyone claims to be multicultural, most however have quite the narrow social circle. Which is a shame if the underlying logic for multicultural ambitions is learning from each other and benefitting from differences.

Yesterday I won a book and a boardroom champagne lunch, mostly because of my talented team, rhetorical skill, and sexy suit. Today, or rather tonight, my MDK crewmember is celebrating his birthday. I’m psyched, it’s been a while since we shared cups. Between all the people coming, I couldn’t even begin to count how many competitions we won. Winning national championships is nice, what really counts though is the passion for your craft. Do what you love and love what you do. My friends from dancing and bboying live it.

The contrast in lifestyles of the friends I made yesterday and the friends I will meet tonight are huge. Moving between groups like this has helped me develop an understanding of society and group dynamics, and myself, that is useful in almost any situation. One of the most important lessons is that any identity can only be constructed by limiting it’s boundaries and actively excluding what it is not. More on Luhmann later. For tonight, it’s bottoms up, flips, freezes, style, and kicking it with Mighty Droengoe Kingz and fam.
Mi Dansi Krassi