ABOUT THE SERIES
Throughout history, thinkers from ancient Greece to China have practiced the art of contemplating different perspectives, in order to gain a more comprehensive view. Meanwhile, in America today, we can hardly engage with different perspectives, let alone integrate them. Our viewpoint diversity has become a weakness, rather than a strength.
In this spirit, Faces of X is a series of short videos that integrate different perspectives on divisive social issues — like capitalism, gender, and race.
First, each video steel-mans different perspectives on the issue. (Steel-manning articulates the strongest version of a perspective, as opposed to straw-manning which articulates the weakest.) Then — in the triad of thesis, anti-thesis, and synthesis — each video attempts to integrate the steel-man perspectives into a synthesis view. A synthesis then becomes a new thesis in our evolving understanding of reality.
Faces of X features cultural influencers who can hold seemingly opposing views — a feat in a media environment that drives binary thinking. The stars aren't neutral. No one is. They're also not paid actors, so their willingness to work on this project demonstrates their commitment to synthesis.
And, like anything, synthesis can be weaponized.
Some perspectives are inherently un-integrate-able. ‘Abortion never’ and ‘abortion always’ don't play well with other perspectives. Other perspectives are morally unwelcome. A meaningful synthesis on race isn't between anti-racism and racism, but between the anti-racism proposed by Ibram X. Kendi and the color-blindness proposed by Coleman Hughes. We must be discerning about which perspectives we’re integrating, and how we frame the sides of the debate.
Ultimately, it’s unlikely that one side is entirely right. It’s also unlikely that all sides are equally right. It’s more likely that most of us are partially right, but some of us are more right than others. That doesn’t make for a great tagline, but it avoids the pitfalls of tribalism and both-sides-ism in pursuit of a more comprehensive view. Our view will always be partial, and we can always strive to see more faces of the diamond that is reality.
It is said that the root cause of our interrelated crises is: our inability to see reality as a whole. It’s our inability to see that our department stores are stocked amazingly…due to sweatshop labor and polluted air, and that the values of choice and life…give each other meaning. We live in a media environment that divides us into warring tribes, and fragments reality into seemingly disconnected parts. Our media environment was itself developed by a fragmented consciousness that prioritizes short-term profit at the expense of other values. In its own small way, Faces of X seeks to cultivate our capacity to perceive the wholeness of reality.
To watch the Faces of X videos and read the scripts, visit Current Videos. To learn about how to integrate perspectives and write your own script, check out the Learn posts. To learn about what inspired creator Stephanie Lepp, scroll down to the Artist Statement. And after you poke around…share Faces of X with someone you’d love to find synthesis with.
Faces of X is brought to you by Synthesis Media — an independent production studio led by producer and storyteller, Stephanie Lepp. To support our work, join us on Patreon or be in touch.
LINKS
Find Faces of X and creator Stephanie Lepp on other platforms:
BIO
Stephanie Lepp is an award-winning producer and storyteller. She's the former Executive Director at the Institute for Cultural Evolution, a non-profit think tank devoted to transcending polarization through culture. Before that, she was the Executive Producer at the Center for Humane Technology, the organization at the heart of the Netflix documentary, The Social Dilemma. Today, she runs Synthesis Media — an independent production studio devoted to accelerating cultural enlightenment.
Stephanie’s work has been covered by outlets from NPR to the MIT Technology Review, supported by institutions such as the Mozilla Foundation and the Sundance Institute, and exhibited throughout the United States and Europe. She won two Webbys for Deep Reckonings — a series of explicitly-marked deepfake videos that imagine morally courageous versions of our public figures.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Faces of X was developed with the generous support of individual donors and small family foundations, including: Mediators Foundation, the Mistler Family Foundation, Kevin Waldman, Lisa Sternlieb, and David and Lani Mariel Yadegar. Guidance on the project was graciously contributed by: Jay Hirschton, Jonah Sachs, Andy Mills, JD Heyman, Jeff Salzman, Carter Phipps, Greg Thomas, Stephen Hawkins, Greg Johnstone, and Justine Simons. The contents of Faces of X do not reflect the views or speak on behalf of the funders or contributors.
