We Must Achieve Permanescence by 2030, Which is to Say, Perfection
Our goal, as soon as possible, should be perfect systems — not some artificial gambit
With Miroslaw Manicki
It is clear to most that populism — the most prevalent response to deficiencies brought on by extreme capitalism — is not going to work. Populism is fueled by social media to be sure, but its real stimulus is failure. The failure that spurred on populism’s original sin is the failure of governments — most particularly modern, advanced, and wealthy countries — to take care of their people (Eichengreen, 2018).
Politicians and others make the sorry case that such failures are inevitable, that they are an outgrowth of human incapacities and failures. The populist mantra in essence is that as long as there is going to be incapacity and failure, it might as well be the manifestly unprepared among us that make the mistakes, call the shots (in many cases, literally), and divide up what meager gains there are to be had.
One major problem with populism is its tendency to self-select autocratic leaders. If the answer to governance woes in our times is one or a few geniuses, populism is not going to find them for us and put them in charge. Populism as a movement constitutes a race to the bottom. There are many examples of this currently.
However the countries of world want to organize their authority structures, it is clear that some form of formal sponsorship of experts is needed. We need a race to the top. Actually, we need more than a race; we need to find out how to get there together and how to stay there.
This may sound unusual to the point of delusional, as the public discourse has been poisoned in this regard; there are many who question whether knowledge can even exist. This is one of the populist articles of faith; we are all doomed to political corruption and violence to some degree — as everyone only has an angle. This is all zero sum — one person or group can only benefit at the expense of another.
Knowledge can exist. It does exist. There are ways of taking advantage of this, and for the general good, not just for the benefit of ‘generals’ and their troops.
Music is the great example of this. The music performance model as we enjoy it is singular among human performance institutions in conquering one aspect of nature, the audio spectrum. Symphonic music is the pinnacle of music performance, as seen below, but all aspects of music are integrated into the same model and can be readily integrated together — a necessary element of such a governance and performance model.
Understanding how this works can lead to understanding of how similar success can be achieved and maintained. This is the union of ‘head, hand, and heart’ as we recently proposed to G20 country leaders in Bali, Indonesia (Tingey and Manicki, 2022).
We will use one composition among many as an example of this. It is Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. As demonstrated by Leonard Bernstein to children in 1954. This was a masterclass among others intended for children and youth, but it was expertly carried out by Maestro Bernstein in a way that is instructive for all ages. He considers perfection in particular at the 11 minute 53 second point in the discussion.
Bernstein emphasizes the struggle of Beethoven the master, as he worked out variations of the music that were ultimately identified as of maximal satisfaction and meaning. Making use of the musical notation model, itself having been crafted to support nature’s requirements of sound in dependable, repeatable ways, Beethoven created a work that continues to be considered masterful and perfect. As such, it has been performed countless times over the 215 years since it was first written.
I was able to participate in the miracle of this symphony as a youth. I was fortunate to have been raised in Logan, Utah USA in a rare and wonderful musical community. It represented educational excellence in all aspects of music. Most particularly, there was a strong band tradition under Max F. Dalby and an excellent string instruments education program, extending to the elementary schools by Barbara Miller, Warren Burton, and Raymond Haslam. As the elementary string students matured, a renowned symphony conductor was brought in, Ralph Matesky.
I was fortunate to play first trumpet in the Northern Wasatch Youth Symphony, which was brought together to play the symphonic classics. Maestro Matesky was a very strict, very formal, and serious ‘old world’ symphony conductor and educator. He brooked no nonsense in his rehearsals and in our performances.
In one of the first few years of the orchestra, arrangements were made for the group to tour the leading cities of Mexico. We had about nine months to prepare for the tour, which would take place in June of the year, 1969, as I recall. There were several musical pieces to be performed; central among these was Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. This was to be the full symphony with no redactions or simplifications.
The Maestro began with one cardinal rule: We were to play it perfectly from the very first day. That was the bad news. The good news was that this was to be done by playing it very, very, very slowly. All of the string bowings had been worked out. At a very slow pace: Dat dat dat daaaa, dat dat dat daaa became daaaaaaaaaat daaaaaaaaaat daaaaaaaat daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. daaaaaaaaaaaat daaaaaaaaaaaat daaaaaaaaat daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, etc. We couldn’t believe it.
I was tempted to point out to the Maestro that the method didn’t really work for the trumpets and possibly the other brass players — the horns and the trombones — as it made us extend notes beyond any idea of our breathing capacity — especially on high notes. Ultimately, I thought the better of it. It probably didn’t hurt our efforts.
What it did do was cause us to memorize the whole thing. Week after week, month after month, he slowly brought the speed up to normal rates and beyond. As we shall see, the notes became etched in our minds and insinuated into our bodily movements — I can’t say for all time, as I am ill-prepared to repeat them all now, fifty-odd years later. The method was very effective.
We performed the concert in several major Mexican cities — typically in their main opera houses. We performed in Mexico City Opera House, the Guadalajara Opera House, and in Salamanca. The performances were also on the radio.
The time came to perform in the Guanajuato Opera House, named the Teatro Juárez. It is a beautiful facility — not as big at the others, but grand nonetheless.
We warmed up as usual. The house was full, or at least substantially so. We played through the initial part of the concert. This was toward the end of the tour, so we had particular experience with the repertoire and could play it well.
We came to the 5th Symphony. We started out fine and progressed well. There is a mysterious segment between the third and fourth movements that breaks out into a recognizable fanfare. In that segment, the lights of the hall went out — all of them. Everything became black as pitch.
This was about a hundred of us — ages between about fourteen to about nineteen. Undaunted by the darkness, we just continued on playing as we always had. The lights were out for a considerable period — several minutes. No matter, we just played along, including tempo changes, dynamics changes, etc.
When the lights came back on, we continued playing, with extra fervor. The Maestro was resplendent by this time. Obviously, he had enjoyed a remarkable transformation — certainly a confirmation of his methods and his career.
The audience? Well, they responded as you might imagine.
So, what can you say? What are the prospects for human performance?
Perfection. Yes, perfection.
The point is, like the challenge faced by Beethoven, there is a way to achieve perfection in the design of processes of all kinds. This is true in particular in the complex fields of nature and science. Look it up; at least show a little curiosity. The stakes are high.
We hear a good deal about artificial intelligence, or AI. What is this? Some kind of declaration of defeat. Sure, computers can calculate, sort, and list things quickly, and they can facilitate quick communications and distribution of various media — but subsume our thinking?
We think not.
References
Eichengreen, B. 2018. The populist temptation: Economic grievance and political reaction in the modern era. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Margetts, H., John, P., Hale, S., and Yasseri, T. 2016. Political turbulence: How social media shape collective action. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Tingey, K. and Manicki, M. 2022. Capacity development in enhanced multilevel governance based on a tripartite “head (cognitive), hand (digital), heart (music performance) model. Bali, Indonesia: G20/T20 Summit, September 2022 (https://www.t20indonesia.org/publications/capacity-development-in-enhanced-multilevel-governance-based-on-a-tripartite-head-cognitive-hand-digital-heart-music-performance-model/).