Judging of the submissions to brilliantworld.org is nearly complete.
That in itself was an interesting exercise as we had to first of all work out the basis on which the judges were assessing.
In order to determine that, we had to be mindful of the main purpose of Brilliant World. That is, to encourage original thinkers to come forward and articulate various ways in which our world can be (re-)structured so that we can live on Earth to our greatest potential. The idea being that once we have enough of those ideas, we can collectively begin to formulate a blueprint for a utopian world. To the best of our knowledge, this is not being done elsewhere and yet, it is precisely what needs to be done at this time.
We the organizers have to take some responsibility for the fact that, for this first round of judging, the criteria for assessment were not specifically spelled out, so submitters did not have a clear picture of what we were and will be looking for.
We are not looking for a statement about what utopia looks like, but rather for ingenious ideas about an aspect of the structure of utopia. The opportunity is there for us to come together and formulate the nuts and bolts of better ways of every aspect of living here.
These ingenious ideas are out there. In most cases they are not being implemented because they do not fit the agendas of those who seek and hold power.
If they are to be implemented, they have to be understood, supported and insisted upon by a critical mass of people in any given community, be it local, national or the world as a whole. The vital ingredient here is human emotion; passion!!!!!
Collectively speaking, we have allowed ourselves to become the apathetic victims of the powerful elite; guilty bystanders as all the values we cherish as human beings are stripped away from us.
It is very difficult to become passionate about something that doesn’t exist; or is vaguely defined; or is airy-fairy, impractical and incapable of implementation.
We are effectively inviting you to look at life on earth, with all it’s failings and come up with brilliant plans (rather than ideas) that can turn it around. In much the same way that a management consultant would look at a failing corporation, determine the key problems, then restructure in ways that will get the stakeholders in that corporation believing in themselves again – turning hopeless into hope full.
Brilliant World was established to provide a forum for plans that will get humanity believing in itself again; plans that will enable us to constructively work and play together in the interests of the greater good.
So we are going to publish the directions given to the judges, which will be helpful for those entering the next round of competition, closing on June 30th 2010. We hope that this will encourage serious thinkers to articulate their ideas on what will develop, with time, into an international forum.
As we have stated before, it would give us great pleasure if other organizations offered similar opportunities, so that we can all develop and nurture a vital culture of creative social thinking.
Criteria for judging
Assess each submission on the basis of it’s ability to satisfy the 5 core values:
- Originality/inspiration. We are not looking for philosophies or ideologies; we are looking for original, well-formulated ideas that have the potential to transform the world we live in.
- Empowerment. Does the idea have the capability to awaken people to their potential and does it motivate them to live to their potential?
- Open co-operation. Does the submission engender a sense of community, bringing people together to co-create better realities?
- Self-sufficiency. Does the idea facilitate self-reliance within small and large communities?
- Sustainability. Is the idea environmentally friendly, or does it facilitate policy making that will enhance our relationship with the environment that supports us?
There was a delay over confusion with one entry and the final assessments will be posted on Monday 11th.
Summary of judging
For this first round of judging, because the judging guidelines had not been clearly defined, the prize money will be allocated to the 3 best entries as follows:
- “Forum government”, $4000
- “The apple in the seed”. $500
- “Grass roots mass transformation for the new society”, $500
The authors of those entries will be contacted to see how payment can be made.
All entries and the judges’ comments will remain on the website, if the submitters are agreeable, as a guide to future submitters. Whereas prior to judging, there is a limit of 5 adjustments, round 1 entrants are invited to keep upgrading their plan as often as they like.
We hope that in the next round there will be a number of submissions relevant to many parts of life where some original thinking can contribute to the creation of a blueprint for a better world.