Amoral establishment

I am re-reading Owen Jones (2014) The Establishment – and how they get away with it. Them and us. Scary stuff.

I missed many points on the first reading. But I have played with the ideas that I did pick up.  They include money, power, greed and selfishness. The impression is that these might be adaptive and thus a ‘good thing’. And this raises the questions, “Is democracy a good thing?” and “Is there a moral high ground in terms of evolutionary psychology?”

There have been millions of years of evolution leading up to mammals and to man. Choices were made and the fittest survived. Many did not.

Evolution works not only on individuals and groups but also on environments and ecosystems.  And it works on all of these as they play against each other all of the time. Natural selection weeds out the less effective. Survival rests with that which makes most copies of itself in the next generation. Pure serendipity.  No judges, no judgements. Unbreakable laws.

Mankind does not stand alone. Individual humans belong to cultural groups that have territories within ecosystems. Climax communities form and evolve in reaction to changes. There will inevitably be changes. “Things fall apart – the centre will not hold.”

Disasters. Drought, flood, plague and pestilence; earthquake and volcano; collisions by comets and meteorites; death and injury while foraging and hunting, and while fighting with neighbouring groups. Sickness, old age and death. Mankind is not in control.

Biogeochemical cycles. Mince and tatties become me plus some faeces that become food for the decomposing bacteria whose waste products are fertiliser for the grass that becomes cow that becomes mince again. “Round and round and round in the circle game.” We are dynamic stardust.

Ongoing churn. There are interactions between large and small plants, animals, fungi, bacteria, and viruses.  Photosynthesisers capture carbon dioxide and water and, in the presence of sunlight and chlorophyll, produce sugar and oxygen. The light energy from the sun becomes temporarily trapped as chemical energy in sugar. The energy is set free again inside cells and water and carbon dioxide are given off as waste products. The sun is the source of all planetary energy, and it will go out eventually.

Carnivores, omnivores and herbivores. Predators, prey, parasites and decomposers. All interacting and maintaining the balance of nature on Planet Earth. Breathe, eat, drink, socialise, have sex and die.

The modern scientific ‘facts’ are awesome and they contradict the myths and magic of earlier times and are therefore often ignored. But humanity may be at two tipping points:

• The need for better Stewardship of the environment is more widely felt – Green politics.
• A better understanding of the psychology of perception leads increasing numbers of people to Mindfulness and to non attachment to views. Live and let live – reconciliation and consilience.

It would be ‘nice’ if:

• More people were honest, caring and responsible regarding self, family, group, ecosystem, and planet. Socialism and social democracy.
• Fewer people were to be cruel, suicidal zealots and war mongers for whom there is only one bottom line – profit. Corporate capitalism and neoliberal free markets.

SO - “Is democracy a good thing?” and “Is there a moral high ground in terms of evolutionary psychology?”

We can make things simple by assuming that there are three world views ranging from left wing through centralists to right wing. The following table lists a few issues. The reader is invited to add other items. I have left the centralist column empty because in most cases it takes a middle way and tries to highlight the good points and avoid the bad points in the more extreme world views.

For whatever reason, most of the time, I feel most comfortable with the social democratic view. I also feel that extremists on the left and right, but particularly on the right, are nutters who must have had problems growing up. There is a failure of empathy. I cannot understand how they could possibly have such ‘strange’ views. To me the facts seem to speak for themselves and there is no alternative to social democracy. My elegant point of view is ‘Be reasonable, do it my way.’

My brain is hard wired to learn a language but it is my culture that dictates which one. My brain is hard wired to develop a world view but it is my culture that dictates which one. Before the potentials become actuals there is cognitive dissonance which is unpleasant. It elicits adrenalin based anxiety and panic. This gives motivation to change the mind so as to elicit cognitive consonance and possibly to be rewarded with a pleasing squirt of dopamine.

SO - “Is democracy a good thing?”

“Is xxx a good thing?” How is ‘good’ to be evaluated and by whom and for what reason? Xxx  is mind stuff with no abiding reality. Words label mental conditions. Democracy, dictatorship, truth, beauty, Allah, God, Satan, etc. Nothing to kill or die for. “Judge not lest thee thyself be judged.” Those who practice mindfulness come to know this.

SO - “Is there a moral high ground in terms of evolutionary psychology?”

‘Moral high ground’ and ‘moral low ground’ are intellectual phrases that label mental conditions. Anything goes. The phrases can help or hinder the survival of individuals, groups and ecosystems.

What are we to think about before, during and after apartheid in South Africa, the holocaust in Germany, Hiroshima in Japan, etc? Man’s inhumanity to man. There will be those who are taken in by the propaganda and justify, excuse and even applaud it.

In the Amazon basin Transnational Corporations buy off local politicians to form coalitions of those with wealth and power. Their greed and selfishness results in the genocide of the native people who   might stand in their way. Survival of the fittest.

The present global Establishment is strongly right wing and cannot see an alternative to neoliberal free markets which make the rich deservedly richer and the feckless and lazy poor deservedly poorer.

BUT this is just a passing fashion. In the UK in the 1970s, before the Thatcher revolution, the conventional wisdom was for social democracy – and the free marketeers were the nutters on the margins. We may be at a tipping point. Various renowned economists are now advocating a more                                                    social democratic agenda and there is a growing number of freelance philosophers and special interest groups breathing new life into participatory democracy.

Contention has been and will be with us always. But mindfulness training will enable wiser and more civilised policy making. Maybe!

Vocal executive presence

An edited flow of consciousness based on

a TED Talk by Laura Sicola https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02EJ1IdC6tE

and Manuel Arriaga, (2014). Rebooting Democracy: A Citizen’s Guide to Reinventing Politics. Thistle Publishing. Kindle Edition.

For further reference see my - http://www.toonloon.bizland.com/nutshell/leadersh.htm

…oo0oo…

People in a group are present for each other

There is a tendency for a shepherd/boss to stand out from the sheep/workers

Workers have operational presence ie they implement

The Boss has executive presence ie he plans, monitors and evaluates – this generates a lot of activity in the pre-frontal cortex

Boss = leader, manager, administrator with strategy, tactics, operations

Executive presence – charisma – stand out from the crowd – clothes, body posture, social skills, work the crowd, work-related conversation rather than idle chit chat, gravitas

Vocal executive presence – when your voice helps in making you stand out from the crowd. Strength, confidence, clarity. Appearance, communication skills, gravitas.

As a teacher, lecturer and public speaker I developed a commanding voice – especially when presenting to people for whom English was a second language. These days, with Parkinson’s Disease there is a loss of the fine motor control that makes a commanding voice possible. Arguably my ‘written executive presence’ is getting better but I have no objective evidence.

…oo0oo… Glossary:

Charisma: compelling attractiveness or charm that can inspire devotion in others.
synonyms: charm, presence, aura, force of personality, strength of character

Executive presence is a blending of temperament, competencies, and skills that, when combined, send all the right signals. Leaders know they must embody executive presence to get ahead, influence others, and drive results. Leadership development professionals know they must help their executives develop it

Gravitas: dignity, seriousness, or solemnity of manner.
synonyms: gravity, loftiness, grandeur, decorum, sobriety, sedateness

Jehovah cop out

I had a couple of Jehovah Witnesses at the door. My impression was that they were simple mindedly caught in a ‘story’ that had commandeered some brain circuits and set up road blocks to free-range thinking and feeling.

My impression is that my ‘story’ is superior in that it is open to new worldviews. For example the Big History worldview suggests that evolution increases the amount of choice available and works at three levels – cosmic, biological and cultural.

In the beginning, or at least not long after the beginning, there were chemicals. These begat simple living things which begat more complicated living things which interacted with their environment. Even more complicated living things appeared and they had culture which enabled even more complicated interactions with their environment. These show three patterns of responsiveness:

Most of my brain is given over to “thoughtless, mechanical, fast, reaction” to internal and external stimuli – thus I keep my body temperature steady and ride a bicycle without thinking about it.

Parts of my brain, largely the cortex, are given over to “thoughtful, organic, slow, response” to internal and external stimuli – this is where the executive system manages executive functions some of which are available to the self conscious attention centre.

...ooo… edited from Wikipedia  …ooo…

Executive functions  is an umbrella term for the management (regulation, control) of cognitive processes, including working memory, reasoning, task flexibility, and problem solving as well as planning and execution.

The executive system is a theorized cognitive system in psychology that controls and manages other cognitive processes, such as executive functions. The prefrontal areas of the frontal lobe are necessary but not solely sufficient for carrying out these functions.

The executive system is thought to be heavily involved in handling novel situations outside the domain of some of our 'automatic' psychological processes that could be explained by the reproduction of learned schemas or set behaviours. Five types of situations in which routine activation of behaviour would not be sufficient for optimal performance include:

1. Those that involve planning or decision making
2. Those that involve error correction or troubleshooting
3. Situations where responses are not well-rehearsed or contain novel sequences of actions
4. Dangerous or technically difficult situations
5. Situations that require the overcoming of a strong habitual response or resisting temptation.

…ooo… end Wikipedia …ooo…

The interaction with the Jehovahs would have ticked items 2 to 5 on that list. There was a rational response rooted in the historical evidence concerning the origins of the bible and the existence of JC. But I did not have the energy to open that memory box. And there was an emotional response in that I did not want to cause them to lose faith. They had opted for an existential cop out. Good luck to them and their simple minded and miraculous worldview.

Aha – existentialism - a philosophical theory or approach which emphasizes the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent determining their own development through acts of the will.

Put in the shortest form: Living without certainty and with personal responsibility is a nearly unbearable burden.
http://www2.webster.edu/~corbetre/philosophy/existentialism/whatis.html

BUT

Who is the ‘I’ with free will and what governs their choice?  Their worldview will be a result of conditioning due to nature, nurture and serendipity with some epigenetics thrown in. A stream of thinkers have gone before. Ancestral academics churning out stories based on myths and magic and setting up physical and conceptual boundaries.

But now we have science. It can lead us on a cosmic zoom so we know that we are stardust and part of fast churning biogeochemical cycles. The flow of matter and energy takes shape as human beings who have become conscious of their consciousness and thus of the fact that boundaries are mind made and can thus be endlessly redrawn.

I can write such things because I have sat on the shoulders of giants but I was not quick witted enough to speak them to the Jehovahs. But they did not have ears to hear – they were enculted to have faith in their well intentioned, miracle working, heavenly patriarch.

Jehovah’s cop out. Avoid conflict, let it be.

Capitalism and social animals

We are social animals. For most of the time we have been in existence we have lived in small groups of foragers in our home territories. The people outside the group are ‘them’ and those in the group are ‘us’. There is cooperation between us (we are familiar with each other) and competition with them (we are strangers to each other).

Them v us thinking is still common in the modern world in the form of racism, sexism, ageism, class, occupation, location, politics, religion, favorite football team and TV Soap etc. The difference between groups is marked by language, clothes, commodities and all manner of status symbols. As individuals we are conditioned into displaying the labels of our preferred ‘us’ and adopting its ‘grand world view’ and a host of its detailed ‘points of view’.

So why and how was I conditioned to being socialist rather than capitalist? Nature graced me with a tendency towards a particular type of personality and temperament (submissive introvert?) and it got switched on and off by specific social and environmental factors ie by nurture and epigenetics. Note that there is neural plasticity – ‘I’ can change.

I have lived and worked in six countries. The anonymity of modern, urban settings has allowed me to play many parts. But when I return to my tightly knit, natal, rural setting the imagined, watchful eye of the neighbor limits my range of possibilities.

Since the evolution of settled agriculture, division of labour has increased. Typically this has included a small group of people managing the use and distribution of common resources (the commons). These are the regulators and rulers (the elite – the 1%) who set themselves apart from the muddy boot farmers (the masses – the 99%). The elites normally developed a version of the God/King story through which they commandeer the wealth and conspicuously spend it. Monuments are popular eg the Pyramids and the London Eye.

Left to “the invisible hand” the wealth of nations is captured by the elite. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. And with globalization the wealth is captured by the transnational corporations (TNC) which are democratically unaccountable to the masses. And today’s super-rich capitalist cliques operate an unsustainable system of profit making that can be labeled as neoliberal, free-market fundamentalism. This is capitalism and it calls for austere structural adjustment, deregulation, privatization, trade union bashing, buying off politicians, small government, tax avoidance, externalising the environmental damage they cause, and paying dividends to shareholders.

It was not all that long ago that those who advocated for the capitalist free market were ostracised as nutters and thus starved of funding and respect. But there has been a great reversal. Left leaning capitalism lite before Thatcher morphed into right leaning, full blooded capitalism during and after her. Care of the vulnerable, fairness in the use of resources, and stewardship of the environment were dropped from the new world view where unscrupulous greed is good and there is a single bottom line – profit for shareholders (and surreal bonuses for CEOs).

The situation today is that more and more power is being captured by the super-rich who are bent on unscrupulous profit making. This is justified by simple sound bites – “a rising tide floats all boats” and some of the wealth will “trickle down” from the rich to the poor.

In some places the exploitation and inequality created by the capitalist corporations is opposed by groups of activists who are severely punished. In other places the capitalists buy off the politicians and the academics, and control the media so that everyone comes to believe that there is no alternative to the neoliberal world view. This is elegant power. Chomsky calls it the manufacture of consent.

Before capitalism evolved in the 16^th century there was feudalism and the divine right of kings (and of the Pope in Europe). The peasants, craftspeople and merchants did the essential work of sustainably managing the ‘commons’ and the ruling elite creamed off the profits in the form of taxation.

Capitalism began to flourish with the enclosure and privatisation of the commons which could then be bought and sold on an open market. Agricultural improvements drove people off the land into towns and cities where they became wage slaves amongst the dark satanic mills of the industrial revolution.

There is no single accepted definition of capitalism. Here are some examples drawn from the internet:

• an economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state for the greatest good of the greatest number.
• an economic system in which investment in and ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange of wealth is made and maintained chiefly by private individuals or corporations, especially as contrasted to cooperatively or state-owned means.
• an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange, characterized by the freedom of capitalists to operate or manage their property for profit in competitive conditions (Also called free enterprise, private enterprise.)
• an economic and political system characterized by a free market for goods and services and private control of production and consumption. (Compare socialism and communism.)

During the last few weeks the notion of ‘alternatives to capitalism’ is being highlighted - mainly as a reaction to the suffering caused by the neoliberal austerity measures. Responses range from thoughts about how to smooth the rough edges of unregulated profit maximisation by the private sector (ie capitalism lite) through to increasing public sector control and management of the commons (ie socialism).

There is no single accepted definition of socialism. Broadly speaking it is a social, political and economic system characterised by social ownership of the means of production and by co-operative management of the economy.

"Social ownership" may refer to cooperative enterprises, common ownership, state ownership (achieved by nationalization), citizen ownership of equity, or any combination of these. There are many varieties of socialism and there is no single definition encapsulating all of them.

Classic and somewhat extreme alternatives to Neoliberal Capitalism include totalitarian Communism and Fascism, Socialism, Anarchism, and Libertarianism. More moderate systems include social democracy and various lite flavours of the above ie centre left and centre right.

BUT – the rich have power, money and therefore influence. They are thus well able to service their own exploitive and unfair agenda. Countervailing power can be exercised to supplement representative democracy with more participatory and special interest forms which enable subsidiarity to mutual and cooperative civil society organisations

…ooo0ooo…

These last few days the theme that has captured my attention is alternatives to capitalism and the idea of post-capitalism.  Paul Mason had a video about it and it was the main topic in a recent copy of the New Internationalist magazine.

In my old fashioned way I have been herding other people’s cows. This calls for understanding what the other people are saying, recording it accurately, and thus staying true to the cumulative tradition.

My subjective problem is in getting my head round the fact that most of the rich and powerful people actually believe in Neoliberalism and the beneficence of the invisible hand in the free market.

I am conditioned into believing that some kind of social democratic middle way is best. Some stuff is managed better by the public sector and some by the private sector.

But human nature is not to be trusted. There is need for regulations and for checks and balances to ensure that exploitation and inequality are minimised.

It might be useful to recognise a three stage process:

PRE CAPITALISM --- CAPITALISM --- POST CAPITALISM

But that can be a project for another few days.

Quiet introverts – 2

I have finished reading Susan Cain (2012) “Quiet: The power of introverts in a world that can't stop talking” Penguin Books Ltd. Kindle Edition. Well written in a chatty way. But she does not say anything particularly new and her coverage of neuroscience is disappointingly slight.

She stresses the importance of parenting and schooling in ensuring that individual kids are handled sympathetically. Their development is shaped by a combination of nature and nurture and both of these are plastic enough to be changeable by taking thought.

My thought trains: Sympathetic handling demands rejecting the ‘one size fits all’ way of thinking.  Kids are of mixed ability and aspiration.

An unenlightened, formal education system acts as a sieve that uses a common curriculum and national examinations to separate the academically inclined from the rest.

An enlightened, formal education system has a core curriculum with extensions to meet the learning needs and styles of youngsters with different personalities and temperaments. Howard Gardner  introduced the theory of  multiple intelligences which include - musical–rhythmic, visual–spatial, verbal–linguistic, logical–mathematical, bodily–kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalistic, existential and moral. This led to the production of student profiles instead of academic report cards.

Given that she seems to have been systematic in covering the related literature I was disappointed that she did not give more attention to meditation and mindfulness. She notes that evolutionary psychology has the potential of uncovering the roots of human types but she does not develop that line of thinking.

“This book is about introversion as seen from a cultural point of view. Its primary concern is the age-old dichotomy between the “man of action” and the “man of contemplation,” and how we could improve the world if only there were a greater balance of power between the two types.

It focuses on the person who recognizes him-or herself somewhere in the following constellation of attributes: reflective, cerebral, bookish, unassuming, sensitive, thoughtful, serious, contemplative, subtle, introspective, inner-directed, gentle, calm, modest, solitude-seeking, shy, risk-averse, thin-skinned.

Quiet is also about this person’s opposite number: the “man of action” who is ebullient, expansive, sociable, gregarious, excitable, dominant, assertive, active, risk-taking, thick-skinned, outer-directed, lighthearted, bold, and comfortable in the spotlight.”

Cain, Susan (2012-03-29). Quiet: The power of introverts in a world that can't stop talking (p. 269). Penguin Books Ltd. Kindle Edition.

Conclusion: she does not deliver on her hype but she has some attention grabbing stories and I read her cover to cover in only a few sessions.

Quiet introverts - 1

Amazon suggested that I might be interested in a book by Susan Cain (2012) “Quiet: The power of introverts in a world that can't stop talking” Penguin Books Ltd. Kindle Edition. I downloaded a free sample and saw that it was good so I now have the complete book to read over the next few days.

I first came across Jung’s concept of extraverts and introverts while studying psychology at Aberdeen in the 1960s. We were split into groups of three so that we could run psychometric tests on each other. I rated as a fairly extreme submissive introvert.

Jung’s ideas were carried forward by the Myers Briggs group and they influenced those who designed the Keirsey temperament sorter. I have used the sorter in workshops at various times because it is user friendly, comprehensive and free. An online questionnaire calculates your type. I am an INFP and the explanation of what that means rings uncannily true to my self image. (See below)

As an educator bent on changing minds I have played with the topic many times over the years. Some recent thoughts can be found in these pages:

http://naesaebad.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/different-strokes.html

http://naesaebad.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/think-for-change.html
Note that Cain covers the thoughts of many more cutting edge thinkers on the topic. They reach back not only to the ancient Greeks but also, via evolutionary psychology, to our foraging ancestors. The idea is that the extrovert/introvert continuum is an adaptive feature which has been created and is maintained by natural selection.

She promises to match the longstanding topic to the recent findings of neuroscience. I can hardly wait!

…ooOoo…

Kiersey Temperament Sorter –  www.kiersey.com

The four temperaments: Guardian, Artisan, Idealist and Rational

Idealist – Teacher, Counsellor Champion, Healer – INFP

Idealists (NFs), as a temperament, are passionately concerned with personal growth and development. Idealists strive to discover who they are and how they can become their best possible self -- always this quest for self-knowledge and self-improvement drives their imagination. And they want to help others make the journey. Idealists are naturally drawn to working with people, and whether in education or counseling, in social services or personnel work, in journalism or the ministry, they are gifted at helping others find their way in life, often inspiring them to grow as individuals and to fulfill their potentials.

All Idealists share the following core characteristics:

• Idealists are enthusiastic, they trust their intuition, yearn for romance, seek their true self, prize meaningful relationships, and dream of attaining wisdom.
• Idealists pride themselves on being loving, kindhearted, and authentic.
• Idealists tend to be giving, trusting, spiritual, and they are focused on personal journeys and human potentials.
• Idealists make intense mates, nurturing parents, and inspirational leaders.

Idealists are sure that friendly cooperation is the best way for people to achieve their goals. Conflict and confrontation upset them because they seem to put up angry barriers between people. Idealists dream of creating harmonious, even caring personal relations, and they have a unique talent for helping people get along with each other and work together for the good of all. Such interpersonal harmony might be a romantic ideal, but then Idealists are incurable romantics who prefer to focus on what might be, rather than what is. The real, practical world is only a starting place for Idealists; they believe that life is filled with possibilities waiting to be realized, rich with meanings calling out to be understood. This idea of a mystical or spiritual dimension to life, the "not visible" or the "not yet" that can only be known through intuition or by a leap of faith, is far more important to Idealists than the world of material things.

Highly ethical in their actions, Idealists hold themselves to a strict standard of personal integrity. They must be true to themselves and to others, and they can be quite hard on themselves when they are dishonest, or when they are false or insincere. More often, however, Idealists are the very soul of kindness. Particularly in their personal relationships, Idealists are without question filled with love and good will. They believe in giving of themselves to help others; they cherish a few warm, sensitive friendships; they strive for a special rapport with their children; and in marriage they wish to find a "soulmate," someone with whom they can bond emotionally and spiritually, sharing their deepest feelings and their complex inner worlds.

Idealists are relatively rare, making up no more than 15 to 20 percent of the population. But their ability to inspire people with their enthusiasm and their idealism has given them influence far beyond their numbers.



Healers present a calm and serene face to the world, and can seem shy, even distant around others. But inside they're anything but serene, having a capacity for personal caring rarely found in the other types. Healers care deeply about the inner life of a few special persons, or about a favorite cause in the world at large. And their great passion is to heal the conflicts that trouble individuals, or that divide groups, and thus to bring wholeness, or health, to themselves, their loved ones, and their community.

Healers have a profound sense of idealism that comes from a strong personal sense of right and wrong. They conceive of the world as an ethical, honorable place, full of wondrous possibilities and potential goods. In fact, to understand Healers, we must understand that their deep commitment to the positive and the good is almost boundless and selfless, inspiring them to make extraordinary sacrifices for someone or something they believe in. Set off from the rest of humanity by their privacy and scarcity, Healers can often feel even more isolated in the purity of their idealism.

Also, Healers might well feel a sense of separation because of their often misunderstood childhood. Healers live a fantasy-filled childhood-they are the prince or princess of fairy tales-an attitude which, sadly, is frowned upon, or even punished, by many parents. With parents who want them to get their head out of the clouds, Healers begin to believe they are bad to be so fanciful, so dreamy, and can come to see themselves as ugly ducklings. In truth, they are quite OK just as they are, only different from most others-swans reared in a family of ducks.

At work, Healers are adaptable, welcome new ideas and new information, are patient with complicated situations, but impatient with routine details. Healers are keenly aware of people and their feelings, and relate well with most others. Because of their deep-seated reserve, however, they can work quite happily alone. When making decisions, Healers follow their heart not their head, which means they can make errors of fact, but seldom of feeling. They have a natural interest in scholarly activities and demonstrate, like the other Idealists, a remarkable facility with language. They have a gift for interpreting stories, as well as for creating them, and thus often write in lyric, poetic fashion. Frequently they hear a call to go forth into the world and help others, a call they seem ready to answer, even if they must sacrifice their own comfort.

..oo0oo..

worth writing about

This morning William the witness had plenty of thoughts, feelings and moods (TFM) to observe passing through the attention centre. But most of them were trivial and ephemeral. He is now waiting for something to turn up that is consequential and worth writing about.

I could have sat quietly doing nothing but that did not have much appeal so I watched the BBC news on my tablet, read about epigenetics on my Kindle and, produced another doodle.

Aha - an existential mist concerning the purpose of life has appeared. My main world view has deep anarchic roots. I am anti-authority. I suspect that the root cause lies in early childhood sources of hypocrisy in the family and in the community. The good and great, my elders and betters, did not always practice what they preached, and they did not always agree amongst themselves. My reaction was to hide away from authority and read books. After an exotic working life trying to find better ways to be human I am again tucked away reading books … That is one of the standard stories from the memory archive. Here are some others …

A lot of stuff happened between those early years and now. From 1967-72 I studied Zoology and from 1972-85 I taught science and biology in secondary schools. Along the way I also studied archaeology, anthropology, sociology, and psychology. I approached these subjects from an evolutionary perspective and I came to appreciate the role that politics and economics play in the use and abuse of power related to the accumulation and use of resources.

Note in passing that in 1972 more than twenty honours graduates in Zoology considered their possible careers. We could clearly see the problems that nowadays underpin ‘Green’ politics and it was obvious that solutions demanded campaigning so as to change minds and policies. Few of us were attracted to that option. Most were inclined to bird watching in the Hebrides.

In the late 1980s I gave up classroom teaching and became an education management advisor specialising in curriculum development.

In the late 1990s I gave up educational advising and became a freelance advisor on community and social development.

In the late 2000s I burned out and gave up freelance work. I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in late 2010.

In between times I arranged for my continuing professional development by studying for two Masters degrees and by taking time out for five between-job, year-long retreats where it was a case of teacher teach yourself to be a lifelong learner.

And now I am retired with a pension. It is another retreat. I read, think, meditate, and write a blog every other day. The content areas remain about the same but the method has changed. The illusory nature of a self conscious ‘I’ is appreciated so the unconscious muse is given a free reign to churn out it’s mind stuff (TFM) from the default mode network (DMN). This bears witness to the truth of the subjective impression that the mind has a mind of its own.

SO – was it worth waiting? Did something turn up that is consequential and worth writing about?

In the serene minds of men

I was up at 6:00 this morning and listened to Joseph Stiglitz outlining problems and possibilities regarding globalization, and to Noam Chomsky talking about the perniciousness of propaganda and the manufacture of consent.

I then had a non-egoic session of hoovering which created mental space for my default mode network (DMN) to churn and think about what the two big men had been saying relative to what I already had in memory. I am now sitting at the computer hoping to capture some of the thoughts, feelings and moods (TFM) that arise.

I was a school teacher for many years. My up front role was to fill the empty buckets with facts about science and biology so that they could sit exams and be graded; this made it easy for employers to know who to recruit.

There was also the hidden curriculum. Schooling in the UK involved setting a social and moral atmosphere which undid what the family and community had done. Youngsters were arranged in uniformed, peer groups and became docile, rule bound, obedient, time conscious, conservatives.

On a more positive note, the motto for Juba Day Secondary School was “bright hope for the future”. This was in the S Sudan in the 1980s. Secondary education was limited and greatly valued as a gateway to modernity. The Science and Biology curricula included much that was useful and amazing and it lent itself to developing critical thinking skills. For 2.5 years I taught the subjects and the thinking skills and for the last 6 months I taught how to pass exams. It was a winning compromise.

As an educator my purpose was always to change minds - as a teacher, an education advisor, a civil society consultant and as a plain language editor. I served as a change agent promoting change for the better. But – better for whom, and who is competent to decide? Change is inevitable and in some cases we can influence its direction. If we are to be successful change agents we have to develop three things:

• the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
• the courage to change the things I can, and
• the wisdom to know the difference.

While in this metacognitive space I remember the Preamble to the Constitution of UNESCO which declares that "since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed".

So the DMN has generated a few snippets of TFM in response to auditory inputs from inspiring speakers. In this case there is nothing noticeably new. But it has been a long time since the topics have been dredged out of memory. They might linger for a while and help energise the serene, courageous and wise minds of men and women. They might go on to manufacture consent for a benign form of post capitalist globalisation. Wait and see. Holding your breath is contraindicated unless it is of the mindfulness variety.

Getting a head

The human mindbrain is the most complex thing in the cosmos. It is no surprise therefore that it is capable of sophisticated wonders including consciousness. Zoologists appreciate the advantages of  getting a head for getting ahead.

The ancestral roots of the human mindbrain can be traced back to stardust after the big bang. In the beginning the stardust was made of simple chemicals. These interacted to form macro molecules which interacted to form single celled organisms which interacted to form various kinds of many celled organisms which had widely distributed nervous systems which enabled sensitivity to the external environment. 

Further development led to the evolution of central nervous systems and of ‘heads’ with the major sense organs being at the front of the animal. The process is called cephalisation.

Once cephalisation evolved as a ‘fit’ way of being sensitive to both internal and external environments, there was no stopping it. There was massive tinkering by natural selection. But the slate was never wiped clean.  My modern mindbrain includes bits that first appeared in the reptiles while other bits evolved in mammals and yet other bits first appeared in ancient primates.

Me and my pals are the inheritors of millions of years of natural selection of our minds, bodies and social groups. Simple stardust was shaped by evolution to grow a pre-frontal cortex and to make us self conscious with an ability to remember the past and to plan for the future.

And the process of change shows no sign of slowing down. There are increasing numbers of people who have the will and energy to be aware of and awake to what goes on in their heads. And, amongst other things, they become conscious of the non reality of ‘self consciousness’.

There is the possibility of taking charge of our further evolution. Since the beginnings of agriculture we have shaped the course of evolution of many plants and animals – think of the range of types of dogs, cats and pigeons. Are we now clever enough and wise enough to be getting ahead with the evolutionary process?

In perspective

Sometimes my attention is captured by obsessive thoughts, and I find myself “sweating the small stuff”. This is often unpleasant. But I can reduce it by changing my mind, by getting things in perspective. I have three, partly home grown, ways of doing this.

Doing a helicopter. The basic idea is to rise above the nitty gritty. I imagine a helicopter landing in the back garden. I get on board. It moves higher and higher. I see the street then the village, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, the UK, the EU - and then into outer space from where I see the blue sphere that is planet earth. The nitty gritties fade away.

Doing the Cosmic Zoom. This is like doing a helicopter except that (a) it goes further out to give views of the solar system, the milky way, and the cosmos; (b) it also zooms to inner space eg me, my organs, cells, macromolecules, atoms, sub atomic particles down to quantum level; and (c) as well as space  (infinity), it zooms through time (eternity) from nanoseconds to 13.7 billion years ago which was the beginning of time with the big bang. (Note: the Big History Project builds on this foundation)

Doing a drone. A village worthy has a drone with a camcorder attached. He (it) flies over the village and he posts the results on FaceBook. This is like ‘doing a helicopter’ except that the drone cannot rise so high: but it has the advantage of producing ‘images’ that are real rather than imaginary. It gives a ‘bird’s eye view”. It is as if his eyes fly away from his head but he remains in remote control. This is wi-fi action at a distance.

Despite having trained as a scientist I still find drones to be miraculous. They rate alongside inside lavvies, hot and cold running water, and central heating as an unthinkable that became a reality.

My great grandparents (Kenneth Fraser Miller (1859-1920) and Margaret Jane Miller (ne Williamson) (1860-1926) ran Portsoy’s Shore Inn from 1900 to 1923. They raised a family of five one of whom was a rubber planter in Malaya and another was a policeman’s wife in China. Many of the things that we take for granted today would have seemed like sci-fi miracles to Kenneth and Margaret – for example motor cars, airplanes, washing machines, electric toothbrushes, the national health service, the welfare state, and computers and the internet which have given us Skype, Google, Facebook, Wikipedia, on-line shopping and so much more.

So, rather than continue sweating the small stuff, I kick my brain upstairs to the world of wonders where there is only limited room for negative thoughts, feelings and moods. For lasting peace of mind the trick is to positively point awe-full attention to a bigger a picture - and let it go. Then you are awake, aware and in perspective.

not retired

I was wondering what other people do in their retirement. It varies a lot. Some embrace it, some refuse it. My pal reckons that while he has retired from the institution he has not retired from social action and trying to make a difference. I have bullet pointed my variation on the wide ranging theme.

I may not have ‘retired’.

• I no longer get paid in cash but rather in satisfaction for a job well done.
• I no longer have a boss who sets my agenda so I am free to follow the unconscious game plan.
• I no longer have predefined users for my thoughts about changing minds but there is a potentially enormous and international audience for my blog. (21,496 views in 31 months = 693 views/month = 23 views per day)

I have an unwritten workplan and am well motivated to:

• keep up to date with the latest thinking (text and a/v sources and chat) concerning big history, evolutionary psychology, neuroscience, mindfulness - as these relate to politics (power and policy)
• write one-pagers in plain language about ‘my’ subjective reactions to the latest thinking
• meditate so as to ensure peace of  mind by:

1. sitting quietly doing nothing so as to drop off body and mind
2. sitting quietly minding the breathing
3. calling to mind the inner witness to what enters the attention centre

• doodle to highlight the fact of unconscious activity, and enable a return to the non-egoic state
• let stories emerge from the unconscious (aka – the muse) while it is non-egoic and out of space and time ie in the omni-present moment

I continue to produce one-pagers that might help to change minds – including my own. The intention is to avoid having everyone bow down to a grand worldview. The intention is to undercut zealous adherence to world views and to encourage an unattached openness to culture-specific points of view.

Reality is a jigsaw made from the shape-changing products of the default mode network. Mind stuff is forever in flux. Thoughts, feelings and moods (TFM) are briefly clumped to form actionable hypotheses which are used to monitor and evaluate the signals arriving at the sense organs.

So - “the only constant thing is change” and there is no resting place this side of the grave for the material me, nor this side of the death of the sun for Life as we know it.

The devil’s work

Earlier today there was no inspiration for an essay but I produced a couple of doodles and I painted the shed. Now I sense a wee story emerging – about passing thoughts, feelings and moods (TFM).

It is not possible to document all the TFM. It takes longer to write about one than it does to experience it. So how many is it worth trying to hold on to? At one extreme I could let them all go while at the other extreme, on a good day for concentration, I might manage to document 1%. But why might I bother? What would be the purpose?

I am now retired with a pension. So ‘work’ does not occupy mind space like it did for about 50 years.  There is still some house and garden work, and some unpaid voluntary work to attend to but I keep those at a minimum.

I live alone without wife or kids so ‘relationships’ do not occupy as much of my mind space as I assume they do of most other people.

‘Hobbies’ take up most of my time. Mainly reading, writing and doodling with a view to blogging. The main topics at the moment are big history, evolutionary psychology, neuroscience and mindfulness meditation. Sub topics include politics, power and policy under post capitalism

The mind wanders around TFM which are brought to my attention by the unconscious. These days the wanderings very rarely draw on my exotic past (lived and worked in six countries) or on my uncertain future (old age with Parkinson’s Disease).  Most of the time ‘I’ am in the present moment, in the non-egoic here and now.  Most topics last less than a minute while some hang around for more than an hour with a few that linger for several days (eg online shopping glitches).

A judgemental TFM has appeared. Some ‘shoulds’ from early childhood about the use of time. “When the good Lord made time he made plenty of it” – but he did not give it all to me. I should be doing something more useful with my time and energy. Avoid vacuous idleness because “the devil finds work for idle hands to do”.