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THE FUTURE OF HUMANITY PROJECT

Rachael Shoff
OGL 260: The Future of Humanity: Dialogue in the Workplace
JOURNAL STYLE
Willis C (Bill) Kierce
06/23/2023

Total Word Count: 2242 words

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PART ONE: SEVEN QUESTIONS FOR CONSIDERATION

1) 05/21/2023 (Module One) If practicing a lifelong discipline requires a lifelong learner,

then how is someone considered a master at anything?

2) 05/26/2023(Module Two) If Penfield thought that every memory is imprinted in our

brain as humans then why did he Lashley feel the need to cut up brains of mice and
experiment on animals versus humans? For a module focused on creativity, you would
think that experiments would have been done on their own species, humans.

3) 05/31/2023 (Module Three) H.E.A.R. Why is this lesson not taught in every single
elementary, junior high, or high school? This is such an important skill to learn. Really
hearing someone?

4) (06/05/2023) (Module Four) After reading “Thought as a System” how does one remove
emotions from thought? If emotions in thought can trigger blood pressure to rise or
spike, how would you learn to stop that?

5) (06/10/2023) (Module Five) Are we all truly programmed? I have never seen the matrix
before but after watching the clip in module five I am beginning to think that I should.

6) (06/15/2023) (Module Six) “The Left Hand Colum” How can managers apply this in
everyday work life?

7) 06/22/2023 (Module Seven) "The Indivisible Whole" How can Rusty the astronaut
describe seeing something that most people will never have the chance to see? We are
just one little speck on this entire planet, and Rusty was able to see that.
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PART TWO: JOURNAL STYLE

1) 05/21/2023 Entry one of my journals for OGL 260. (Module One) In Chapter one page
ten of “The Fifth Discipline” it is written “To practice a discipline is to be lifelong learner.
You arrive; you spend your life mastering disciplines” (Senge, 2006). Each module of the
class we are challenged to see or learn in a new or different perspective. How could
someone be a lifelong learner as well as a master? In my opinion that contradicts one
another. Reading further into the chapter it goes on to talk about how something can’t
be excellent and the more one gains knowledge the more ignorant they realize they are
or have been. I do believe in lifelong learning. But I do not believe that anyone can be a
master in an area. There is something to be learned every single day. In my opinion it is
impossible to have learned everything in a certain area. Especially when the world itself
has not been entirely explored. There may be more about something that has not even
been discovered yet. Maybe you will be the one who discovers or uncovers new pieces
of information.

2) 05/26/2023 (Module Two) For today’s journal entry I feel agitated after what I just read.
I very unfortunately found module two boring as I am not someone who enjoys
quantum physics. Although I do enjoy some aspects of science. Physics is certainly one
that I can’t seem to grasp. One thing I found interesting in Module Two of the class was
reading “The Holographic Universe.” I find it interesting that humans find it necessary to
test their theories on helpless animals. Especially testing a theory on memory (Talbot,
1994). Animals can’t speak to humans. If they can’t tell you a memory, then why would
they find it necessary to test experiments on memory on a creature that cannot speak
or give permission to run such tests. The fact that a rat’s brain was cut up to see if it can
still run through a maze sounds like a very torturous thing to do. Humans understand
why predatory animals that prey on humans exist, it is to create balance for the damage
humans have caused to animals. I am passionate about animals as it is my job to save
them. It is a sad reality that animal cruelty will never end, in any lifetime.

3) (05/31/2023) (Module Three) For today’s lesson I read the H.E.A.R. model. I think this is
an exceptional piece of information. I believe this should be taught sooner than just at a
college level. This should be taught in elementary school, junior high, and or high school.
Maybe if this was adopted at an earlier age then we wouldn’t have “illness’s” such as
ADHD and prescribe children something like Ritalin to focus. I believe that this is
certainly something that every person needs to work on. People always want to put
their two cents in half the time without listening to everything that was expressed or
explained. Some people also tune out what others say while thinking about how they
are going to respond. I think that social media and cell phones have also damaged this
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model. Instead of listening to a simple conversation people are now on their cell
phones. At work if someone is on their cell phone at the front desk, I will refuse to
acknowledge them until they are off their phone. It is just plain rude. When I used to
waitress, I refused to go to a table to take an order if they were on their cell phones as
well. I missed a simpler time before cell phones were available to everyone. I
unfortunately didn’t see who invented the H.E.A.R model or where to reference the
material.

4) 06/05/2023 (Module Four) After reading “Thought as a System” it really put things into
perspective as far as how thoughts and emotions can cloud one’s judgement. I never
realized how emotions can sway a thought until it was quoted that Brohm said,

“If for example, someone tells you that a member of your family is both ugly and stupid,
you will most likely have instantaneous surges of adrenalin and blood pressure that are
inseparable from your thought? ‘He is wrong! He is rude and malicious for saying such
things!’ The thought ‘He is wrong!’ will tend to justify and perpetuate the bodily surges.
Likewise, the surges will tend to certify the though. In time, the experience will fade, but
it is effectively stored in the memory and becomes ‘thought’. There it waits to be
instantly recalled the next time a similar situation is encountered.” (Bohm, 2003)

I never really thought of thought in that way, but Brohm is correct. But I do want to
know why women tend to be more emotional than men. My friends often call my cold
hearted, but I wonder if it is because I grew up a tom boy my entire life, I grew up
around boys and did everything with the boys. I of course have girls that are friends and
I often find them irrational. I still to this day have more guy friends then I do girlfriends. I
try to stay away from women. I wonder if that is because I grew up essentially “thinking
like a guy.” When I hear girlfriends complaining about boyfriends, I often find myself
thinking the girlfriend is in the wrong. I wonder if that is because I watched, heard, and
saw the emotions of men expressing things women have done or said to them. I found
this module very fascinating. Especially the “Thought as a System” reading.

5) 06/10/2023 (Module Five) I have never seen the movie the Matrix, but I really think that
I should after being in this class. Even just watching the short three-minute clip today I
was fascinated. One thing that I liked that the oracle said was “We’re all here to do what
we’re all here to do (The Matrix 1999).” I thought it was an interesting concept that the
oracle goes on to talk about how birds, trees, and wind are all programmed. And how
the things that protect them are invisible in the sense. Everything has a purpose to it. It
is strange to think that we are all programmed to do something. I feel like I was meant
to work with animals and here I am programmed as a Licensed Veterinary Technician,
very fascinating to think about. Are we all programmed to do a certain thing? Were
humans programmed to be on the planet earth? How would someone respond to this
question when it comes to being religious. I am not a religious person, but I know when
speaking to them they tend to want to rub their god in your face. Are they just
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programmed to say that God created everything such as birds, trees, and wind. Ugh, I
just got grossed out thinking about religion, barf.

6) (06/15/2023) (Module Six) Today in module six we read about the “Left Hand Colum” in
Chapter Eight of “The Fifty Discipline” I found this exercise to be helpful. After reading
the "Left-Hand Column" I found that I really enjoyed the exercise example between the
manager and Bill. I think it is a smart exchange as the manager asks open ended
questions to challenge the associates without telling them what they did wrong. Asking
them for their own opinion with questions like "How did it go?" They are either going to
tell you how they really feel or try to avoid the matter in my opinion. I think it is smart to
ask questions like the example in the book because it challenges the person to use the
knowledge they have and see how they will respond to it. In the example in the book, in
my opinion Bill was making excuses rather than taking ownership for the poorly given
presentation. Instead of saying things such as "the presentation needed improvement"
or maybe "the viewers seemed disengaged" he avoided the subject by saying things like
"it is too early to tell" or "let’s wait and see what happens". Although I am sure deep-
down Bill knows that the presentation was not a success, he may not want to admit it
out loud or he also may want to avoid the consequences. I would like to start practicing
asking this type of open-ended question with my associates to see how they might
respond. I think it is important to put it back on the employee. As the manager I think
you are supposed to help coach them, but you cannot coddle your associates and do the
thinking for them. I do also believe that it is okay to fail, that is how we grow and learn. I
can't tell you how many times I have failed. But I have learned from my mistakes, and it
has made me a better person as well as a better manager.

7) 06/22/2023 (Module Seven) After reading Chapter Eighteen, "The Indivisible Whole" of
Peter Senge's The Fifth Discipline; I imagine it was very difficult for Rusty Schweickart to
describe what he had seen in space. I was unaware that astronauts struggle with
describing what they seen and how they felt about their expedition when they came
back to earth. It makes sense, how do you describe what you witnessed when the
person you are describing can't relate? How do you describe something not only so
large and beautiful but also something that 99.9% of the population may never see in
any lifetime? It is normal for humans to relate to a conversation and put something of
their own life experience in connection with what someone else is saying. How can
another person who has never seen earth from the outside relate to that? I imagine that
Rusty felt he lived a boxed in type of life after witnessing the entire earth from outer
space. I could not imagine seeing everything from the outside like Rusty Schweickart
had. How beautiful to see countries like Greece, Africa, Asia, and the United States. I
also wonder what it was about states like Arizona, and New Orleans that Rusty paid
attention to too. I could understand Florida as he described it stuck out like a Peninsula,
and Texas because of its massive size. I appreciated it when he discussed why we were
fighting a war in the Middle East over an imaginary line. Earth is so much bigger than us.
Earth is our home yet as humans we destroy it daily. We take our planet for granted. We
are all people and should all live in harmony but like Rusty mentioned in "The Indivisible
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Whole", "And you wish you could take one from each side in hand and say, look at it
from this perspective. Look at that. What's important? (Senge, 2006)". Seeing the planet
earth from the outside had to have been not only emotional but also so entirely
beautiful. We as humans are just so small compared to the floating rock we live on in
outer space. I imagine that Rusty described planet earth as "It was like seeing a baby
about to be born. " (Senge, 2006) Because it was like seeing a new life. Rusty is lucky to
have a perspective that most of us will never have. There is not a photo that can be
taken that does not have the same emotion as if you were there yourself.

References

 Senge, P. M. (2006). The fifth discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning
Organization. Random House Business.
 Talbot, M. (1994). The holographic universe. Shunjusha.
 Bohm, D. (1994). Thought as a system. Routledge.
 Wachowski, L., & Wachowski, L. (1999). The Matrix. Warner Bros
 Bohm, D. (1996, December 5). On Dialogue (L. Nichol, Ed.)