The Obsessed Programmer

In the 1950s, NPR ran a radio series called This I Believe. Journalist Edward R. Murrow invited Americans of every description to write a synopsis of their beliefs in 500 words or less and send it in for public airing. Those who were selected were brought on the show to read their essay on national radio for about three minutes. All essays submitted were saved and submitted to the Library of Congress as a snapshot of what one American considered his bedrock beliefs at that time in history.

Before the show began, the concept was widely criticized and was considered a certain flop by others in the radio biz. Instead, it was a smash hit. Millions of Americans listened each week to hear the beliefs of their fellow Americans, and the published collection of the essays rocketed to the #2 best-selling book in America, second only to the Bible.

Dan Gediman and Jay Allison have revived the show.

Jay Allison has this to say about the need for the show:

“As in the 1950s, this is a time when belief is dividing the nation and the world. We are not listening well, not understanding each other–we are simply disagreeing, or worse. Working in broadcast communication, there’s a responsibility to change that, to cross borders, to encourage some empathy. That possibility is what inspires me about this series.”

I think this is a brilliant idea. But the task of compressing my worldview into 500 words seems impossible. I care too much about too many things to express in that few words my root motivation for acting the way that I do. My family, my church, my individual spiritual experiences, my social standing, my professional career, and my education all influence me–perhaps some more than they should.

Maybe forcing myself to explicitly declare my core beliefs will help me to use those as the moving force in my life. Sometimes I feel that life is a rollercoaster, that rushes in predefined circles–but I really believe that it’s more of a vast wilderness, and our decisions on where to turn one day may dramatically affect the rest of our stay.

Expect a series of attempts at such an essay in the coming months.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 28th, 2006 at 7:33 am and is filed under Personal, Religious. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.