An open conversation about open societies

Watch our interview with Johan Norberg, author of Open: The Story of Human Progress.
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Opensource.com

Throughout the course of human history, why have some societies endured and evolved while others have struggled and disappeared? According to author Johan Norberg, being "open" might have something to do with it.

Norberg is the author of Open: The Story of Human Progress, a book several members of the Open Organization community found so compelling that we decided to publish a four-part series of reviews on it.

Happily, we were recently able to sit down with the author and continue our discussion. We wondered exactly what "being open" is in the context of global governance and international relations today. And how might we locate guidelines and approaches that will move everyone toward a greater good for the entire global community?

We recorded our conversation, are delighted to share it, and hope you find it as insightful as we did.

Check out the articles below to read the series.

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Bryan Behrenshausen
Bryan formerly managed the Open Organization section of Opensource.com, which features stories about the ways open values and principles are changing how we think about organizational culture and design. He's worked on Opensource.com since 2011. Find him online as semioticrobotic.
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Ron McFarland has been working in Japan for over 40 years, and he's spent more than 30 of them in international sales, sales management training, and expanding sales worldwide. He's worked in or been to more than 80 countries.

2 Comments

In my article the path to an open world begins with inclusivity, I mention six steps to promote inclusivity in societies, namely, 1-Recognition, 2-Respect, 3-Understanding, 4-Tolerance, 5-Optimism, and 6-Patience. In this discussion two other concerns were mentioned:

The issue of overcoming fear of others is another concern that should be address.

Furthermore, the issue of values also came up. Based on our personal values, there are societies or even communities that we don’t want to be a part of. This could be included in those steps I write about.

I really enjoyed this conversation and hope we can do it again some time!

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