What does it mean to maintain humanity?  - To practice the forgotten art of being the ordinary.  - We are ok as the messy, complex meat machines we were born with. Don’t have to be personal brands. Don’t have to elevate or project or photoshop.  - Reverence for the base model.
- Technology does train us, regardless of what we think about that.
- Have an understanding of the basis of what we have as a human.
- We’ve lost the drive to imagine apart from entertainment and convenience.
- We don’t have a vision of what a profile of a graduate looks like.
- We need imagination for education, housing, energy.. the areas that would benefit ordinary people the most  - 9 beatitudes of media technology
- “Let’s just wait until the data is conclusive”
- Kayfabe vs. Collective journey
- Jerry Springer - Brilliant politician in Cincinnati.
- Personal brand prohibited him from being a good politician
- Hero’s journey is tiring.
- Collective journey doesn’t have heroes. It has conductors: Ted Lasso, Encanto, and Barbie.  - Teams taking down misunderstandings, and systems.
- Not individual villains. People perpetuating those systems are redeemed not banished.  - It’s a lot easier to ban an avatar.
- Let’s teach kids new modalities. Don’t perpetuate the hero’s journey. Create collective journeys.

About CJ Casciotta

CJ Casciotta brings more than a decade of experience as a results-driven creative strategist and award-winning media producer.

Seen by many as a trusted voice on 21st-century cultural shifts, he’s consulted and developed campaigns for presidential candidates, IPOs, startups, and Fortune 500s alike, partnering with notable brands such as MGM Studios, Delta Airlines, Sesame Street, Lululemon, and The United Nations Foundation. An accomplished media producer, he’s collaborated on projects with leading culture-makers like Ira Glass of This American Life, Seth Godin, and FoodNetwork’s Maneet Chauhan.

A sought-after communicator and TEDx alumnus, he’s traveled globally speaking to creative professionals at venues like Creative Mornings, Charity: Water, and STORY. In addition, CJ’s work has been featured by Forbes, Salon, CBS, MTV, and TechCrunch. He’s the author of the book Get Weird: Discover the Surprising Secret to Making a Difference (Hachette, 2018). His next book, The Forgotten Art of Being Ordinary, releases in 2023 with BenBella Books.

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