What does it take to be exceptional? Countless books, blogs, podcasts, and YouTube channels have opined on this particular topic, and from them what have we learned? Well, we get a very specific image of what exceptionalism entails. Exceptional people, we are led to believe, are wealthy or famous, they hold Ivy League degrees (or teach at one of those institutions), they have Olympic medals or multi-million dollar contracts in some professional sports league, they hold high office, they own corporations, and they invariably live in the coastal United States (or, increasingly, Texas), if they live in the U.S. at all. In other words, they fit a very narrow educational, socioeconomic, or geographical description.
But any reasonable person knows that can’t be the whole of it. Clearly, there has to be more to the story.
Not so long ago I sent an email to a popular personality whose podcast features such “extraordinary” people, and purports to feature “some of the brightest and most forward thinking, paradigm busting minds in health, fitness, nutrition, art, entertainment, entrepreneurship & spirituality.” I questioned whether his guest list truly represented the full potential of that promise. To me it seemed his definition of what it meant to be exceptional was very narrow, and in a way that was alienating to those who did not share the same educational, socioeconomic, or geographical characteristics listed above. I made sure to point out his program was not alone in this. Other prominent programs fell into similar behavior as well.
“Take the MacArthur Fellows Program,” I wrote. “Since 1981, nobody born in my state of Wyoming has received a fellowship, nor has anybody residing in the state ever received one. Does that mean there isn’t anybody from Wyoming who has “extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and a marked capacity for self-direction,” as the fellowship website puts it? As someone who lives in a community full of exceedingly passionate and creative individuals, I know that not to be the case. I think it’s more likely the fellowship has a blind spot. My town of Lander is home to a world-class organization called NOLS, the National Outdoor Leadership School, and it is also home to extraordinarily devoted environmental advocates working to save public lands, restore natural habitat, and protect unique regional wildlife. In the Wind River Reservation, right next door to Lander, my hometown, there are tribal advocates who’ve been striving to improve representation and fighting to preserve the dignity of their historically underrepresented, underserved, and oppressed people. Many of these individuals could easily fit the description of a MacArthur Fellow, yet for nearly 40 years they have gone unnoticed and unrewarded by the program.”
The point, to reiterate it, was that a blind spot clearly existed, and programs with such reach and influence should work to eliminate it. Indeed, due to the incredible impact they have on society at large, it was incumbent upon such programs to do so. I urged him to consider his guest list carefully, to ensure that a more inclusive notion of exceptionalism was represented.
The response?
A representative wrote back, citing the “macro point” that thousands of podcasts were available to listeners. “The pure volume the stats indicate are that the likelihood the less than extraordinary individuals some may be seeking are well represented among the more than 1 million active shows,” he wrote. [Emphasis mine.]
Clearly he failed to understand my point. I wasn’t bemoaning a lack of access to podcasting, I was illustrating the fact that programs, podcasts, and media with incredible influence and reach were failing in terms of representation. A very particular (and untrue) conceptualization was being sold to the public en masse. Additionally, he failed to understand my point about the limited notion of exceptionalism. That was clear from the way he dug in his heels with his “less than extraordinary” comment. Evidently, if you didn’t fit his limited bill, you had no business being on his podcast. Full stop.
But why does this matter?
As we become increasingly interconnected, certain brands, organizations, and individuals will inevitably gain immense influence on the public conversation at a scale we’ve never seen before. If they are not committed to true diversity of thought, they will pose immeasurable risks to the wellbeing of countless people. Narrow-minded ideas spread at scale are weapons. They can irrevocably damage economies by influencing the allocation of investments and limited resources. They can exacerbate social unrest by creating divides between groups of people. They can cause immense emotional harm by indoctrinating thousands to believe in the values of a select in-group, while leaving outsiders to wallow in grief, despair, and self-hatred.
Our notions of exceptionalism are related to all of this. If only an extremely limited group of people from particular educational, socioeconomic, or geographic groups can be exceptional, who do you think will continue to reap the rewards of that designation? How will that knowledge change the way we invest in our communities? How will that knowledge affect who we decide to endorse as a society? I fear we’ll see a viscous downward spiral here, that people will become less tolerant, less supportive, and less willing to listen to a broad range of ideas. I fear our small communities will stagnate and decline, that inequality will soar, and societal cohesion will deteriorate. I fear we as a species will become less than what we are capable of.
If that’s what exceptionalism gets us, I have no interest in it. I’d rather we all just forget about the whole project.
Or, perhaps, we should do the work to expand what we mean when we talk about exceptionalism so it represents something beyond a narrow, privileged elite.
It won’t take much, just a little more thought.
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Nick Thornburg is a multidisciplinary artist and writer. Subscribe to his mailing list to keep up-to-date with upcoming features and other news.
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