I am existentially most
at ease when playing with ideas. Not the gossipy kind but rather the
serious stuff for which there is evidence, and the support of
knowledgable and respected minds
The stimuli can be
external or internal. The external stuff pours in through the sense
doors. The internal stuff is drawn from the memory banks with
deposits from nature and nurture. The unconscious churns the two sets
of stuff and generates stories with an imagined past, present and
future.
There are vast amounts
of external stuff which can be rooted in (a) the local present or in
(b) the wider world with its cosmic time span.
Most of the external,
serious stuff is processed by the media, ie text, radio and TV.
“News” is delivered as a sequence of fast-paced items that are
little more than sound bites. It
quickly delivers breaking stories and can be a channel for bias and
propaganda. Most of the messages pass over the heads of the people
most of the time. “Edutainment” serves the same hegemonic purpose
but in longer units of time.
The media flood needs
to be filtered. People are free to watch only certain types of TV
programme and to read only certain types of newspaper. The ICT
revolution also means that people can have their own
idiosyncratically programmed playlist. Which is a good thing. But it
can mean that people create their own gated communities which is not
a good thing.
I could make a list of
recommended, hard-nosed books and talks that contribute to the
consilience that is emerging at the interface between positive,
economic, behavioural, evolutionary, social, and cognitive
psychology; evolutionary biology and neurology; and flow and
mindfulness.
I searched the blog for
“books”
There could be another
list of books and talks about the changing face of politics and
economics in the light of globalisation and climate change.
I could make a themed
list on Amazon
But I can't be bothered
(ICBB) – and I am easy about it.
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