The New Year is here. Happy New 2004. A bunch of us went to Barbés in Brooklyn to listen to Zagnut Circus Orkestar. A small room could accomodate about 50 people crammed together so dancing was not an easy feat to perform.
Along came our friend Boris. He single-handedly converted quiet swinging bodies in the room into lively kolo-dancing, jumping crowd.
People tend to look up to one person that shows outstanding talent and leadership. One person can easily turn a boring gathering into a success party. A single person can remake a country (Ghandi, Ataturk, FDR, Hitler, Lenin). That made me think of Asimov's Foundation, where behavior of millions of people can be predicted mathematically, as long as no individuals are outstanding enough to decide the fate of the whole planets by themselves. People tend to organize in such ways that individuals or few can always influence the lives of many. Thus, I am not sure that the premise of the book is realistic.
Posted by laza at January 2, 2004 03:55 AM