There are many distractions that prevent society from becoming more aware/conscious. I often fill out a NCAA Basketball Bracket at this time of year. I do a bit of research, pay my five bucks or so, and hope to win the pool. This year I am going to do something different.
In an effort to provoke thought about why we are unconscious as a civilization, I am sponsoring a competition for the best response -- in the form of an essay -- to the content of John Ralston Saul's The Unconscious Civilization. (A few excerpts from the book can be found here.) There will be only one winner. Prize money is $200 -- roughly what one would win in a small office basketball pool.
Entries must be submitted in the Comment section of this post and identified as a submission. Please label your submission in a way that permits others to reference them. Entries can be placed at another website so long as a link is provided in the Comment section of this post and it is made clear that the content at the destination link is a submission. The submission must be your own work. The response from reader's will be weighed in the judging process, but the final selection will be at my sole discretion.
The deadline for entries is noon GMT on May 1, 2006. The winner will be announced at this blog and prize money sent within 10 days following the deadline. Regardless of whether or not you submit an entry, I would like to promote discussion of the book. Please feel free to comment on the entries and to use this post as a forum for discussion of the book.
The impromptu nature of the competition is likely to lead to questions. If you have any questions, please ask them in the Comment section of this post. Clarifications, if any, will be posted in updates to this post.
Matt Holbert
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