Every organization needs an influx of new ideas
While the title sounds glaringly obvious, we tend to take the obvious for granted at times. We don’t really think about how vital the influx of new ideas actually is. It’s critical to find a way to widen one’s Weltanschauung by getting new ideas from all sorts of sources. Sometimes – from others, sometimes – by sheer happenstance, sometimes – as a result of introspection, musings and aha! moments. Possibly divinely inspired. Who knows? When we don’t explore new possibilities at all, we not so much evolve, but devolve.
Look at nations. There must be an aim that unifies the nation, its raison d’état and raison d’être, if you will. Then, there are the smaller aims that contribute to the fulfillment of the fundamental aim that unifies the nation and gives it purpose. The aim guiding the nation is the sine qua non of national cohesion. An influx of new ideas helps with the grand scale and the small scale of things, aside from the national myths and such, of course. Now, when you defeat the enemy, by all means, use the enemy’s ideas to your advantage. Project Paperclip is a classic example. German scientists were brought over to Texas after the Second World War to work on the US missile and space programs. No visas, no official documents. It’s almost as if we’re talking about one of the earliest cases of extraordinary rendition.
Now, let’s flip the script. We’re in charge of a group or a cult, some kind of pyramid-structure organization. These thought experiments help us understand the kind of a world we live in. Instead of just criticizing cults and similar groups, let’s try to imagine their inner workings. Every organization degenerates over time without an influx of new ideas and new members who are also outsiders. Organizations that have the pervasive mentality of a besieged fortress aren’t going to survive the test of time, no matter how much people belonging to these groups would like to be shut off from the world, some kind of contact with the outside must be there. North Korea might be isolated from the world, but the top levels of the regime know exactly what’s going on across the world.
As such, converts can be valuable assets for all sorts of reasons.
Converts bring with them a new perspective of an outsider that those in an organization, cult, whatever it is, have lost long ago. They likely never had that perspective in the first place if their family ties to the group go back, say, several generations. At the same time, too many converts can cause an organization to be tainted ideologically, be taken over by hostile forces (psychopaths, for example) or get mired in chaos and collapse. We might even see a mergers and acquisitions scenario unfold. A clever and calculating leader knows who’s a worthy convert candidate and who’s not. There’s always risk involved in accepting converts, but no risk, no gain. The children of converts become initiates, cult natives, so to speak, speaking the organization’s or cult’s language, and understanding all the nuances their convert-outsider parents don’t fully grasp or weren’t even told the nuances to begin with. It’s tricky, indeed, and can lead to all sorts of intriguing and unforeseen consequences in interpersonal relations.
Dear reader, if sci-fi writers can do it, then what’s stopping you from forming your own cult? Lots of inspiration floating around. Kidding, of course. An ex-cult member, wrote on a Reddit thread – Fully leaving a cult’s psychological grasp is like exiting a house you’ve been held captive in, only to be now free falling off a cliff. Everything you knew to be absolutely true is now in question, and it’s really scary.
A powerful statement. Works for any cult, regardless of its ideology, tenets, doctrine or creed. When I was working in China, I tried looking up Tiananmen Square protests and massacre on Wikipedia. Known in China as the ”incident.” The page wouldn’t load. Culty.
More than ten years ago, in an attempt to expand my perception to new perspectives and ideas, I got involved in a group investigating the unexplained. What a wild ride it was. We became quite popular and had all sorts of people contact us. From all walks of life and levels of society. And, as you can imagine, we had religious radicals attacking us all the time. Their obsession was, of course, ETs being demonic or fallen angels. That’s where the magical block button came in handy. They can believe what they want but we didn’t want to hear their sermons. Anyway, aside from ETs (extraterrestrials), there are ultraterrestrials. They are alleged visitors from other dimensions. Israel has so many intriguing stories about the unexplained.
Back to Earth. North Korea is also known for acquiring foreign talent, so to speak. Casey Lartigue, my long-time acquaintance, knows a lot about North Korean defectors – including high-profile ones – because he helps them learn English in South Korea. When I asked him about the LDS missionary in China possibly abducted by North Korea, Casey replied, ”Adam, anything is possible with North Korea.” Yep. Casey isn’t interested in the inner workings of the NK regime but he appreciates my questions because, ”they make him look closer at what’s going on in North Korea.” I love asking questions and learning. People asking me questions? Not so much. It annoys me. You’re nodding, I see. You’re just like me, huh? One-way-street? Welcome to the club.
Even hell needs new ideas. When you think about it, hell is a reform school. In a way.
Hebrew Hell’s (let’s call it Gehenna – גיהנום) overlords want to try out the Electric Slide Line Dance torture, for example. With wailing violins in the background, it’s only going to make all these high heel sounds even more ominous for the new arrivals. Even writing is a great distraction in such a place. Every organization needs an influx of new ideas – ya, even hell.
