The Conspiracy of Counting - The Voice

Your world today runs on counting. Individuals judge their success by counting. Nations judge their prosperity by counting. Self worth is often determined by counting.

Counting is everywhere. Across the entire planet no matter where you go people count. Money, land, success, age, intelligence, weather, time, grades, beauty, pounds, wrinkles, friends, compliments, insults, wounds, births, and deaths – almost anything you can think of is counted and assigned a value of worth.

People have jobs devoted to counting – all day long they count. Industries exist in every country to count and other industries exist to check the quality of their counting.

It was thought that the mark of an advanced civilization is the ability to count. This is not true. Listening, noticing and sensing are the mark of advanced civilization.

Consider these two examples children and leaders. They have a lot in common both determine the nature of the future.

1) Many leaders mistake counting for listening. Counting is not a surrogate for listening. Counting does not touch people. Numbers do not touch people. Stories shared from person to person touch. Witnesses sharing what they have seen and experienced in a community has great touch. Leaders count votes, approval, disapproval, competitors, dentations, wins, loses. This is very far away from the true nature of leadership. Within the nature of leaders is the quality of listening.

2) Children learn about counting at a very early age. In the world of children institutions, national institutions count the children, schools count the children, teachers count the children, principals count the teachers, institutions count the schools, parents count the children, children count themselves. Children wonder what they did right or wrong when it is declared who is best. And somewhere, someone(s) decide what is best and even more important, how to count best and everyone — the schools, the principal, the parents, the teachers, and the children decided to follow. And together everyone creates the rules about what the counting means and this too becomes a rule.

A rule we must count the children; a rule about how we count the children; a rule about what the counting of the children means and a rule about what happens to those who are counted high and low. And sometimes, another rule is made never to discuss the counting and what it means. All of this is called the Conspiracy of Counting.

When people use counting to navigate the world, make decisions, determine the natural worth of something, someone, or the worth of themselves – they lose connection. They stop listening, noticing and sensing.

Consider this practice. Notice what you count. Ask yourself what is the value you assign to the count? What opportunities are present for you to stop counting? To download a more detailed practice click here.

Received June 6, 2012

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