Description: Ageless wisdom wielding 21st century technology
In what has been described as a “ post-truth ” political era, one helpful direction for human system reform would be to more effectively engage academia’s abundant truth-seeking expertise in efforts to address societal problems, including the complex web of “wicked” and increasingly existential ones we face today. This post discusses one potential path for moving in this direction.
The post is informed by, among other things, my experience over the past five years working with: 1) Michigan State University’s Quello Center , an academic institution focused on communication policy; 2) Merit Network , a statewide fiber optic network connecting Michigan’s educational and other community anchor institutions (CAIs) and owned by the state’s public universities and; 3) MSU’s Center for Community & Economic Development (CCED) and its sister organization, the Center for Regional Economic Inno
This post is also informed and inspired by a speech Abdul El-Sayed gave when he was a candidate for Michigan’s 2018 Democratic gubernatorial nomination. His talk, entitled The Epidemic of Poverty: The Government Imperative, was delivered February 12, 2018 at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. For those not familiar with his background , in addition to running for governor, El-Sayed is an M.D. who previously served as a professor of epidemiology and head of Detroit’s public health department.