Cluelessness is a big problem of our time. On Day 2, Gunther Dueck took to the mainstage to explain so-called "Cargo Cults" and even had a solution at the ready.

To begin with, he had to explain to his many listeners what a cargo cult actually is. The term originated like this: Soldiers built a tower and an airstrip in Melanesia. Then they climbed up the tower and prayed for their ancestors to send them food. These ancestors were very powerful and did indeed arrive in airplanes to answer the prayers, bringing food and supplies. The Melanesian people had seen this with their own eyes during World War II – and copied the behaviour. Build towers, pray and wait for their ancestors. That is a cargo cult: Observe correctly and then copy – but not understand the fundamental principle.

Gunther Dueck sees this happening at the re:publica TEN too. Lots of people building big towers and hoping for the breakthrough: "You take a big block in the middle of Berlin, some old factory, and say: Okay, that's going to be Google." What Dueck is saying is: People visiting the re:publica should also know what they're getting themselves into. It's important to think about the future, he said, but you have to go about it seriously, as well.

Another example: What do I want the world to look like in three years? Nobody asks that question. You'd actually have to do some work to answer that. People would rather ask the question of what we can expect in 30 years. Dueck doesn't spare anyone in his witty lecture. Kick-offs? Are like grey geese. Farmers keep geese as a guard against foxes because they make noise when foxes are near. The only problem is: They make noise even if foxes haven't been anywhere near the farm in a while. Dueck uses the example to make the connection to kick-offs, where a lot of noise is made from the get-go. And the result: nothing, or as good as nothing. "So you end up with a new logo." To wrap things up, he gave a piece of advice to the participants: Really grapple with things, don't just blather on about them – but, he warned, that's going to mean hard work.

Image: re:publica/Gregor Fischer (CC BY 2.0)