Weekly Journal #1
Tuesday August 25, 2015
9:40–11 AM (One Hour and Twenty Minutes)
I first registered for the course Ideas in Antiquity because I felt at the time that it would be a relativiely interesting course to satisfy some of my Division A requiremet. I found the course to be intrigueing mostly because the class’ title gave no real insight into the subject matter. It stood out to me in a sea of courses whose titles also served as course descriptions. Last year, I chose the Divisional A course that seemed most interesting to me. It’s name was “Classic Films in English,” and it ironically turned out to be a class about analyzing pivotal Russian films.
I decided to take a leap of faith as well this semester. I did not truly understand the meaning of “Ideas in Antiquity” until I recieved the syllabus via a Medium article. I was then informed that this course would entail learning about leadership in the ancient world and today. Immediately my interest heightened and I was looking forward to attending class the following day for the first time.
When I arrived for class on Tuesday, I was excited to delve deeper into just what exactly this leadership analysis would entail. Again, I was surprised to learn about the Seven Key numbers about human life, which includes life’s “Five Great Stories.” I found the introduction to the course to be a wonderful method of segueing into society’s need to study the humanities, and it left me excited for further discussions about leadership in the past and today.
Tuesday August 25, 2015
10:24 PM-12 PM (One Hour and Thirty-Six Minutes)
For Tuesday’s assignment of having a conversation about why we need leaders, I decided to talk to my mom on the phone. Though we may be separated while I’m at school and she is at home with California, there is no one that I would rather have an in-depth conversation with. We especially enjoy talking to each other about politics; we are both passionate about it. Therefore, I felt she would enjoy a deep conversation about leadership. My mother felt that the main reason why we needed leaders was to realize the vision of their community. Without leaders, society would be unorganized and chaotic because all participants would be acting for their own self interests. She feels that the most people are inherently followers, and search for guidance, whether it be through religion, political figures, etc. Similarly, we discussed how leaders inherently possess a special combination of qualities that allow them to gain the trust and following of their people. We spoke about the most important qualities that a good leader must have, as well. We agreed upon trustworthiness, honesty, loyalty, the ability to listen to others, and strong rationale and convictions, among others. Though we discussed many of these characteristics at length, the reocccuring theme of our c0nversation centered around a leader’s innat and unique ability to be a visionary. While it’s true that other’s in the community have desired goals to accomplish, the job of a leader is to be able to listen to his or her followers, and wittle the goals and desires to fit the majority’s best interest. This can be a difficult task which is why it takes a special — yet conflicting — discipline and humility and intelligence for a leader to be successful.
Wednesday August 26, 2015
6:06–6:54 PM (Forty-Eight Minutes)
During this time I completed my second assignment, and read about the potential advantages and/or necessities for a leaders to possess certain psychopathic qualities. The article, “Our Ancient Ambivalence Toward the Psychopathic Leader,” highlighted very interesting point about the emotional climate that a leader must maintain in order to successfully lead others. One of the most interesting points in the article truly is society’s ambivalence to these qualities in their leaders and within themselves, as well. It is important to examine and analyze these qualities for they can give us insight into the innerworkings of our society and what we demand of it and its leaders.
Thursday August 27, 2015
9:40–11 AM (One Hour and Twenty Minutes)
During this class time, we further discussed charactersitics of leaders and why they are needed in society. We also examed the interdiscplinary elements of studying leadership. This discussion was very lively and interesting, even including one the most well-known and talked-about leaders of the business world (and currently, the political arena) Donald Trump. I am excited to learn what other examples — past and present — will be discussed in the future.
Friday August 28, 2015
1:06–4:18 PM (Three Hours and Twelve Minutes)
My friend, Hillary, and I ventured to the National Gallery of Art. The following are representations of leadership. Conincidentally, they fall under central categories for leaders: Political, Religious, and Military.
Conincidentally, this was one of the first paintings I encoutered. It has a very overt “representation” of leadership, as it depicts various representatitves convening while possible listening to the Speaker of the House (my interpretation). Though this painiting is very obviously depicting one of the core aspects of leadership in American politics, there are interesting levels of the leadership depicted here. It is true, that all representatives are meant to serve their constituents. However, there is a large disconnect between those consituents and the true occurences in Washington (e.g. the meeting depicted here). Whether representatives have good intentions or not in leading their constituents, there is an inherent hierarchical system in American politics that cannot be challenged. Yes, Representatives have the political power to vote either in their constituency’s interest or not; however, they must also be influenced themselves by the leaders above them: the Speaker of the House, the Senate, the Vice President, the President, the Supreme Court, and so on.
I found this painting to represent the experience of religious leadership. Though the painting depicts not much more than worshippers of assumedly holy skulls, there is much to infer about how this relates to religion and leadership. It is possible that this painting is depicting a legitimate religion that centers around an afterlife, or something similar. However, what is interesting is that the skulls are influencing their followers to physically bow down to skulls. This is similar to the intangible guidance that a vast amount of religious members follow. There a finite few, if any, religions that show a physical response to their followers. In many ways, religious leaders like priests, rabbis, and the Pope are able to have power and lead others not just because they have been chosen to do so, but becasue they have been divinely chosen and called upon to lead and Believers believe this to be true fact. This phenomenon is interesting because the followers of any religion hold the power within to submit to this leadership or choose not to.
Finally, I found this sculpture depicting the type of leaders in the military. This type of leadership also intertwines with the aforementioned political leadership message. This is because there are obviously various rankings of leaders within the different military branches. However, there is also an interesting occurrence where the military can lead its country in and out of warfare. There are rarely true interactions between civilians and military members, yet there is a strong reverance for their leadership, bravery, and heroism. This relationship is interesting and odd in that the military is meant to serve.
Something that all of these leaders have in common is their ability to be the center of the attention of the followers. They are able to influence them to the point of sacrificing the time and attention of their followers and using it to serve the leaders’ purposes. While I am a persuasive person myself, I do not particularly enjoy being the center of attention. Nor would my spoken words be able to bring much effectivness about in accomplishing a goal. I am personable, and able to understand and, to a degree, manipulate the emotions of others; however, for me, this is best done through written word. I am my most persuasive on paper.
If I had $100 million dollars to create a museum centered around leadership, I would love to produce an experience (as visceral as possible) akin to a good documentary on the National Geographic Channel or the History Channel. Watching documentaries about historical politics is one of my favorite pastimes; they are at their best when they are able to evoke the feelings of the time they are reflecting upon. My museum would focus on a topic that is often spoken about and written about in history, but in little detail: revolutions and social movements and changements. Topics like the French Revolution, the American Revolution, and World War II are often covered in textbooks; however, the effectivenesss in understand the feelings of the people during these times is really left to the ability of the teacher. I also think that truly understand these events is useless without understand the feelings of the times and how and why people felt the need to follow leaders such as Hitler, FDR, or George Washington. I think the most effective way to instill the understanding of the populations at the time is to curate the strong influences in whatever media were popular during these specific time periods. For example, how did word about the American Revolution spread throughout the colonies? Were there messengers? Pamphlets? I think it would be valuable to recreate these mediums as close to the originals as possible. Of course, televsion and the internet are the most popular mode of communication today, but what about how President Roosevelt closely communicated with his people through Fireside Chats in the 1930s? This method was obviously an effective mode of communication during his leadership, as it was part of his being elected for three terms in office. All of this media would be nothing without detail. This is why I would spend a large amount of money “setting the stage,” so to speak, for the different time period that the museum goers with visit. This will help them feel the changes int he movement and really understand how the leaders during these times were able to move their people through social upheaval. The end goal of this project would ulitmately be for the vistiros of the museum to find themselves with the desire to follow these leader as well.
Sunday August 30, 2015
6:52–7:53 (One Hour and One Minute)
Today I read parts two and three of the series on psychopathic leadership. I found them to be extremely interesting. The comparisons between present day politics and ancient leadership helped to hone on the point. I am excited to further the discussion in class on Tuesday.
