OUR INITIATIVES
Cancer Diplomacy
Embracing Neurodiversity: A Journey Towards Unity and Innovation
As I navigate the profound challenges of a recent Stage IV cancer diagnosis, I find myself compelled to address the critical issues facing humanity today—from health disparities and violent conflicts to the pressing climate crisis. It is within this context that I invite you to join me on a journey to find the Simorgh, the Persian mythical bird symbolizing the quest for unity. This journey is not merely symbolic but a call to action, urging us to reimagine how we tackle these complex problems through the lens of neuroinclusivity.
Neurodiversity -- different combinations of brain wiring – can be critical for unlocking solutions to intractable problems. As Harvey Blume aptly stated in The Atlantic, “Neurodiversity may be every bit as crucial for the human race as biodiversity is for life in general. Who can say what form of wiring will prove best at any given moment?”
Facing my ultimate existential challenge, I see an opportunity to leverage our collective lived experiences, insights, and networks towards a shared vision. This vision is a bold experiment designed to showcase how neurodivergent individuals cannot only thrive in a neurotypical world but also strategically use their unique talents to drive innovation and collaboration.
We must transcend the purely personal aspects of our pain and suffering to join forces in healing humanity’s collective wounds. How do we inspire society to reexamine its priorities amidst escalating global crises? How do we fight cancer and not each other? The answers lie in grand strategies, epistemological shifts, and the creation of new conceptual spaces.
A pioneering approach to neuroinclusivity presents a transformative opportunity. By embracing and integrating neurodivergent perspectives, we can address the staggering costs of failing to build an inclusive system. This initiative lays the groundwork for significant funding, such as the MacArthur Foundation’s upcoming $100 million grant, to support these efforts.
Time is of the essence. I am optimistic that many will join me on this journey toward the legendary Simorgh. Your participation in a series of dialogues will contribute to building a collective vision and a transformative space where neurodivergent and neurotypical individuals collaborate, solve problems, tell their stories, innovate, experiment, iterate, fail, succeed, and grow.
I eagerly await your response to this invitation. Let us connect with others in a series of exchanges, beginning with a virtual meeting. Together, we can embark on this crucial journey towards unity and innovation.
Discrimination
Housing Crisis
Food Security
Mass Incarceration
Social Exclusion
Cognitive Bias
In The Conference of the Birds – a Persian poem by Sufi poet, Attar of Nishapur – the birds of the world gather to decide who is to be their sovereign, as they have none.
The hoopoe, the wisest of them all, suggests that they should find the legendary Simorgh. The hoopoe leads the birds, each of whom represents a human fault which prevents humankind from attaining enlightenment. The hoopoe tells the birds that they have to cross seven valleys in order to reach the abode of Simorgh, the mythical bird.
Valley of the Quest, where the Wayfarer begins by casting aside all dogma, belief, and unbelief.
Valley of Love, where reason is abandoned for the sake of love.
Valley of Knowledge, where worldly knowledge becomes utterly useless.
Valley of Detachment, where all desires and attachments to the world are given up. Here, what is assumed to be “reality” vanishes.
Valley of Unity, where the Wayfarer realizes that everything is connected and that the Beloved is beyond everything, including harmony, multiplicity, and eternity.
Valley of Wonderment, where, entranced by the beauty of the Beloved, the Wayfarer becomes perplexed and, steeped in awe, finds that he has never known or understood anything.
Valley of Poverty and Annihilation, where the self disappears into the universe and the Wayfarer becomes timeless, existing in both the past and the future.