The Brightest House: Civilization and Asymmetry

Year 2003, Issue: 17, 93 - 109, 01.04.2003

Brantly Womack

Abstract

Imagine a village of glass houses at night. The houses are of various sizes and illuminations, but there is one prosperous house that is exceptionally well-lit and visible to all around. Each house has its own furniture and tastes, and the occupants are also curious about and influenced by what they can see their neighbors doing—and what they all can see happening in the brightest house. The activities observed in the brightest house are not necessarily attractive and they are, after all, the activities of other people; nevertheless they present at a distance an alternative mode of life and one that influences the whole village simultaneously. Their activities are the talk of the village and the temptation of youth in other houses looking for a life different from that of their parents. If the brightest house is as powerful as it is bright, the others will be either alarmed by its strength or reassured by its leadership.

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