Fandom+and+the+Real+World

What if there was a company that made giant, housecleaning robots that were powered exclusively by liquefied rainbows?

What if that same company decided that they would advertise their product solely by hiring stunt-jet pilots to sky-write the name of their company over major metropolitan areas?

What if this company decided that their customers could pay for their product with packages of bologna?


 * What if this company could actually exist?**
 * Right?**

//**Well...**// There are certain aspects of fandom that have great potential to be applicable to other aspects of society-- particularly in the corporate and educational sectors. One of these aspects is the practice of writing "craak", or "crack" fan-fiction (or more simply, crack-fic). Basically, the idea is that in crack-fic, anything is possible. Anything can happen, no matter how impossibly improbable the odds are that would ever happen in the source-texts of that fandom or, as the case may be, in the real world. Creating is part of human nature -- no matter how ridiculous the creations may be.


 * What could that possibly have to do with businesses or schools?**

Crack-fic has the potential to be used in businesses and in schools as a means of inspiring creative, critical thinking and team building, and could help inspire employees of businesses (from large corporations to small mom-and-pops) to take an active roll in helping improve company practices and help students become more interested and involved in the classroom.


 * How?**

Ok, so lets say that there's a professor of business or economics (or a CEO looking to inspire employees), and he has prepared a lesson plan involving the costs of building a business starting from the ground up. He could spend the class time/meeting lecturing the students/employees, giving dry, real world examples and figures that probably would cause a few of the students sitting in the back of the room to fall into a deep slumber.

//**OR...**//

He could tell them that he would like for them to submit suggestions for a business they, the class/company, could create. But not just any business -- an impossible business -- based on the most insane things they could think of. Their business could manufacture or supply anything for anything and by using whatever method they want. The more ridiculous, the better. To start things off, the professor could suggest that their business could be a manufacturer of giant housecleaning robots that were fueled by liquefied rainbows... (sound familiar?).

Once the foundation for this impossible business has been laid out, the professor/CEO would then ask the students/workers to find ways to make this business a reality. Apply it to the real world. Make them ask questions like: what real-world raw materials would it take to build a giant robot? How much would that actually cost? How many employees and how much space would their factory need? How much would //that// cost? Is it worth it? Maybe liquefying rainbows is impossible, but what other forms of 'green-energy' could the students/workers think of that would be able to power a giant robot? etc... etc...

Not only would option two be considerably more interesting to sit through, but it encourages creative and critical thinking. It will allow people who are creatively inclined to express themselves, whereas before, they may never felt like they had the opportunity. Not only will these people express themselves, they will express themselves in a way that can potentially boost productivity. If they go to work or to class knowing that they won't have to sit through hours of tedious busywork and can instead expect having a little bit of fun while at the same time getting things done, they will WANT to come in and do their best work. Crack-fiction can usher in a new era of education and business, where people enjoy the prospect of going to work or writing a paper or studying for a class.


 * Crack is good. Crack is the future.**


 * For more information on fan-fiction and how it pertains to real life situations, see:**

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http://fandomstudies.wikispaces.com/Can+Fandom+be+used+in+Education%3F