The rational delusion

The Rationalist Delusion in Moral Psychology - special lecture by Jonathan Haidt http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqDzKdVk8ao

Haidt on self transendence

Psychologist Jonathan Haidt asks a simple, but difficult question: why do we search for self-transcendence? Why do we attempt to lose ourselves? In a tour through the science of evolution by group selection, he proposes a provocative answer.

Haidt and Moyers

commonweal values

What might be the predominant value system in the new Scottish commonweal? Three frameworks can help to be systematic and thorough in sketching out the options.

First the Kluckohn and Strodbeck ‘Variations in value orientations” which draws on anthropology.  This web page outlines the germinal work on variation of value orientations as proposed by anthropologists Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck in the early 60s and taken up again in the late 80s by various characters concerned with intercultural understanding and organisational culture. The basic conceptualisations were picked up again by the Human Resource Development gurus in the early 90s and given some severe twists by anthropologists. For details click here.

Second is Haidt’s list of seven moral foundation continua which are rooted in moral psychology. Individuals can use his questionnaire to demonstrate their particular stances. There are marked differences between individuals at the right and left ends of the political spectrum. The challenge for the commonweal is to reconcile the traditional differences and to take a higher viewpoint which plays to the strengths of the different groups. For details click here.

Third is Clark’s eight point acronym STEEPLES. It grew from the single bottom line of profit (Economics) through the triple bottom line of Economic, Social and Environmental and on to the eight point set of Social, Technological, Environmental, Economic, Political, Legal, Ethical and Spiritual. The web site suggests several ways in which systematic use of the list can lead to more holistic, integrated and inclusive policy and planning. For details click here.

Commonweal defined?

There are many ways to understand the concept of commonweal. Simply stated it refers to the public good, especially the good of communities. It is about the welfare and well-being of everyone. It can therefore be seen as a left of centre aspiration.

The concept takes on an extra dimension when we think legally in terms of ‘The Commons’.  The best known part of the commons is the Common Good which is the name given to the inherited property of the former burghs of Scotland and consists of a range of assets both moveable (furniture, paintings, regalia etc.) and heritable (land and buildings). But there are other less well known types of commons - Commonties, Greens, Loans, Cattalds, Common mosses, and Crown Commons.

Then there is the idea of weal and woe. The weal refers to well-being, prosperity, or happiness. There is therefore the notion of the public or common weal which will have psychological, political and economic dimensions which link to the values underpinning systems of morality and ethics.

The Sunday Herald of 23 June 2013 carried two articles investigating the commonweal vision.

Tom Gordon

Tom Gordon (Sunday Herald political editor) reckoned that there is a growth in support for the Nordic model as set out by the Jimmy Reid think-tank. The VISION is of Scotland as a big-state, high-tax independent nation. This includes a bigger welfare state with

• lifelong universal services
• a diverse economy with high-skill, high-wage jobs and firms fostered by state lending; and
• greater local democracy and
• gender equality.

The Common Weal is about creating a society where everybody is valued and where people are given the rights they need to be protected, supported and nurtured through their lifetime.

Rev Shuna Dicks

Rev Shuna Dicks (Church of Scotland) noted that in real life, we all want Scandinavian quality of services at American levels of taxation. Realistically, we know this cannot happen, so which do we want?

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Church of Scotland would tend towards a society where priority would be given to

• sharing wealth,
• providing decent safety nets for those on the margins and
• helping every person to live life to their full potential.

The Jimmy Reid Foundation notes that Common Weal is an emerging movement which is

• developing a vision for economic and social development in Scotland which is
• distinct and different from the political orthodoxy that dominates politics and economics in London.
• based on the conviction that we will get better outcomes for both society and individuals if we emphasise mutuality and equity rather than conflict and inequality
• captured in one simple phrase: to build more we must share more.

The Common Weal Project will issue an open call for anyone to submit ideas, papers, proposals or policies which would contribute to a Common Weal vision. The project will be managed by six editorial teams, each with a small group of researchers. 

Materials will be collected in an online library and organised under six headings (see below). As the library is populated, our researchers will trawl the content for the best ideas and approaches. These will then be put together by editorial teams and published as six major reports.

The six headings are:

• Industry and Work
• Tax and money
• Society and wellbeing
• Creative Change and Governance
• Resources and Ecology
• International and Citizenship

References:

http://www.scottishcommons.org/commongood.htm Caledonia Centre for Social Development

http://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/referendum-news/snp-debate-on-common-weal-vision-of-scotland-after-independence.21402276 Tom Gordon

http://www.heraldscotland.com/comment/columnists/why-the-kirk-is-looking-at-common-weals-plans.21402298  Shuna Dicks

http://reidfoundation.org/  Jimmy Reid Foundation

http://scottishcommonweal.org/what-is-the-common-weal-project/  The common weal project.

Haidt on Morality

jonathan haidt Jonathan Haidt (1963 - ) is a professor at New York University Stern School of Business. For 16 years he taught psychology at the University of Virginia. His books include – “The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion” and “The Happiness Hypothesis”. About Jonathan Haidt http://people.stern.nyu.edu/jhaidt/

Haidt’s Moral Foundations Theory was created to understand why morality varies so much across cultures yet still shows so many similarities and recurrent themes. 

In brief, the theory proposes that several innate and universally available psychological systems are the foundations of “intuitive ethics.” Each culture then constructs virtues, narratives, and institutions on top of these foundations, thereby creating the unique moralities we see around the world, and conflicting within nations too. 

The six moral foundations

http://www.moralfoundations.org/

How do you rate?

http://www.yourmorals.org/

The moral foundations are:

1) Care/harm: This foundation is related to our long evolution as mammals with attachment systems and an ability to feel (and dislike) the pain of others. It underlies virtues of kindness, gentleness, and nurturance.

2) Fairness/cheating: This foundation is related to the evolutionary process of reciprocal altruism. It generates ideas of justice, rights, and autonomy. [Note: In our original conception, Fairness included concerns about equality, which are more strongly endorsed by political liberals. However, as we reformulated the theory in 2011 based on new data, we emphasize proportionality, which is endorsed by everyone, but is more strongly endorsed by conservatives]

3) Liberty/oppression: This foundation is about the feelings of reactance and resentment people feel toward those who dominate them and restrict their liberty. Its intuitions are often in tension with those of the authority foundation. The hatred of bullies and dominators motivates people to come together, in solidarity, to oppose or take down the oppressor.

4) Loyalty/betrayal: This foundation is related to our long history as tribal creatures able to form shifting coalitions. It underlies virtues of patriotism and self-sacrifice for the group. It is active anytime people feel that it's "one for all, and all for one."

5) Authority/subversion: This foundation was shaped by our long primate history of hierarchical social interactions. It underlies virtues of leadership and followership, including deference to legitimate authority and respect for traditions.

6) Sanctity/degradation: This foundation was shaped by the psychology of disgust and contamination. It underlies religious notions of striving to live in an elevated, less carnal, more noble way. It underlies the widespread idea that the body is a temple which can be desecrated by immoral activities and contaminants (an idea not unique to religious traditions).

Much of our present research involves applying the theory to political "cultures" such as those of liberals and conservatives. The current American culture war, we have found, can be seen as arising from the fact that:

·         liberals try to create a morality relying primarily on the Care/harm foundation, with additional support from the Fairness/cheating and Liberty/oppression foundations.

·         conservatives, especially religious conservatives, use all six foundations, including Loyalty/betrayal, Authority/subversion, and Sanctity/degradation.

The culture war in the 1990s and early 2000s centered on the legitimacy of these latter three foundations. In 2009, with the rise of the Tea Party, the culture war shifted away from social issues such as abortion and homosexuality, and became more about differing conceptions of fairness (equality vs. proportionality) and liberty (is government the oppressor or defender?).

Video

Psychologist Jonathan Haidt studies the five moral values that form the basis of our political choices, whether we're left, right or center. In this eye-opening talk, he pinpoints the moral values that liberals and conservatives tend to honor most.
http://www.ted.com/talks/jonathan_haidt_on_the_moral_mind.html  (2008)

If an asteroid were headed for Earth, we'd all band together and figure out how to stop it, just like in the movies, right? And yet, when faced with major, data-supported, end-of-the-world problems in real life, too often we retreat into partisan shouting and stalemate. Jonathan Haidt shows us a few of the very real asteroids headed our way -- some pet causes of the left wing, some of the right -- and suggests how both wings could work together productively to benefit humanity as a whole.

http://www.ted.com/talks/jonathan_haidt_how_common_threats_can_make_common_political_ground.html (2013)

unconscious writing

When unconscious writing happens there is no self and no space or time. In retrospect it was easy and non-problematic. Flow. No self, no problem.

But the output often needs editing. The muse is not word perfect and omniscient. But the mind is busy. It keeps churning ideas and, in the process, calling up general moods and specific feelings.

‘I’ (ie my ‘self’) am like a dry leaf blown wherever by the serendipitous winds of both external and internal chance. But there is another ‘I’ who is a stand-aloof witness. There is a Hindu image of two birds on the branch of a tree. One eats fruit while the other watches.

By noticing, the witness can reduce habitual and unthinking reactions. This generates a peace dividend. By pointing attention to the breathing there is even more peace. It becomes possible to drop off body and mind; to be the still Oneness.

Then, following the stilling, comes the insight. Holistic knowing and understanding. It is largely unspeakable. There are some technical and practical issues but most of the insights are about relationships. Man is a social animal. The unit of evolution is the group.

The mystical meme

Socrates cup of poison

A passing thought - the mystical meme – and survival of the fittest individual or group ‘spirit’. There might be a hardwired neural framework to which a ‘mystical meme’ can be attached. In most people most of the time the memes are few and are of low virulence. The mystical potential exists but it needs a suitable epimimetic environment to fire it up. The framework and its filling are latent but waiting (?)

The Axial Age (600-200BC) was a time of great social and cultural upheaval. The beginnings of most of today’s main religions emerged from it. Each religion had a founding father who was something of a mystic who followed a spiritual path.

It might be supposed that in troubled times the power elites would have encouraged the inherent radicalism of the sages rather than repressing them as usual. Desperate times call for desperate measures. There could be more or less formal think tanks that would seek the ideas of tenured academics and freelance philosophers who would be enlivened in their various ways by the ‘mystical meme’.

But there are problems when speaking new paradigm truth to old fashioned power. ‘That man thinks too much – such men are dangerous.’ ‘Keep the peasants in ignorance.’ Keep the thinking men away from the peasants, especially the youth. Let Socrates drink his cup of poison.

The ‘mystical meme’ can be viewed as associated with the wide ranging concept of democracy and the moral issues that it raises. The good news is that there is plenty of variety for natural (or is it cultural) selection to act on.

Jonathan Haidt

Jonathan Haidt’s Moral Foundations Theory considers the way morality varies between cultures and identifies five (later revised to six) "foundations" that underlie morality in all societies and individuals. He names them using pairs of opposites to indicate that they provide continua along which judgments can be measured. These are:

• Care/harm for others, protecting them from harm.
• Fairness/cheating, Justice, treating others in proportion to their actions, giving them their "just deserts" (He has also referred to this dimension as Proportionality.)
• Liberty/oppression, characterizes judgments in terms of whether subjects are tyrannized.
• Loyalty/betrayal to your group, family, nation. (He has also referred to this dimension as Ingroup.)
• Authority/subversion for tradition and legitimate authority. (He has also connected this foundation to a notion of Respect.)
• Sanctity/degradation, avoiding disgusting things, foods, actions. (He has also referred to this as Purity.)

Haidt found that the more politically liberal or left-wing people are, the more they tend to value care and fairness (proportionality), and the less they tend to value loyalty, respect for authority and purity. Conservatives or right-wing people, tend to value all the moral foundations somewhat equally. Similar results were found across the political spectrum in other countries.

So there are left wing and right wing academics and sages. These are the common and unenlightened sort. They have not risen above petty, partisan party politics. They think in terms of either left or right and of win/lose or lose/lose. They see only the 10,000 things and are limited to sub-cultural consciousness and to promotion of the ‘self’.

The enlightened, mystical, spiritual beings have embraced the mega view. They are rooted in ‘Big History'. They reconcile left and right and aim for win/win outcomes. They intuit and experience the Oneness which is everything. The illusory nature of the ‘self’ manifests. There is  experience of cosmic consciousness.

So are we entering a new axial age? Have we outgrown the old paradigm of fads and fashions in hierarchal, status anxious, globalised, consumer capitalism?

What kind of evidence would be needed to inform reasoned answers to that question? Perhaps an answer would manifest from the unconscious once the mystical meme has grown to a suitable size.

Respecting the Practice of Mindfulness

There is a mild existential shakiness this morning. Wafts of low self esteem. The blues. Egoicity. It has been several days since I added to the blog. Negative seeds are being watered.

It was serendipity that drew my attention to the following quotes. I have not heard of John Welwood before but the concept of “spiritual bypassing” rings a bell.

“When people use spiritual practice to try to compensate for feelings of alienation and low self-esteem, they corrupt the true nature of spiritual practice. Instead of loosening the manipulative ego that tries to control its experience, they strengthen it, and their spiritual practice remains unintegrated with the rest of their life.”
- John Welwood, “The Psychology of Awakening”
http://www.johnwelwood.com/index.htm

“In the early 1980s John Welwood emerged as a major figure in the fields of transpersonal psychology and East/West psychology. He developed the term “spiritual bypassing” to point to the tendency to use spiritual ideas and practices to avoid facing unresolved emotional and psychological issues.”
http://www.shambhala.com/authors/u-z/john-welwood.html

Mark Epstein

The counseling, psychotherapy, psychiatry section of my personal library is quite extensive. However, none of the books reference Welwood. My favorite author on the east/west psychotherapy theme is the much referenced Mark Epstein whose main books are:

(1996) Thoughts without a thinker – psychotherapy from a Buddhist perspective
(1998) Going to pieces without falling apart – a Buddhist perspective on wholeness
(2007) psychotherapy without the self – a Buddhist perspective

Epstein’s main theme is liberation through self awareness. But east and west have fundamentally different views about the self.

The west has the concept of an abiding self that is rooted in a malign subconscious that must be dug into using Freudian techniques.

The east has the concept of no-self (anatta). The illusory self derives from a largely benign unconscious. The Buddha presented techniques for overcoming the illusion and thus of becoming liberated and enlightened.

There is thus a feeling in some quarters that it is only a robust self that can know that it does not exist. SO – you should not meditate until you have been cleared by a shrink. Discuss?

I often sit for 20 minutes of stillness – especially when I notice stress arising.

There is a witnessing of the stress inducing thought trains and they tend to dissolve as a result. If they don’t dissolve immediately there is a switch to counting the breaths. This invariably solves the problem by shifting attention away from the troublesome thought/feeling.

Having begun the process and experienced the peace, there is often a second and third burst of 20 minutes of quiet sitting.

But there is also quite often a drifting into dose and sleep. Sometimes this is OK as I may not have had enough sleep at night. But at other times it is due to the ‘hindrance’ that is ‘sloth and torpor’.

Sometimes there is guilt about ‘Just sitting’; about ‘being’ rather than ‘doing’. It is a waste of time. There are more important things that need to be done! Thoughts of to-do-lists and of time management. Projectisation. Busy-ness. Workaholism. Distraction.

This raises thoughts about retreat and renunciation. My lifestyle is not quite monastic but I live alone, work from home, avoid most distractions and keep things simple and basic.

But, in my case, there are the old age and Parkinson’s factors. Am I in denial? They are not much of a problem when I am alone in the house. I renounce old habits and accept slowness. However, when in company there are three types of problems - voice (softness and stuttering), hands (writing and typing) and attention (poor multi-tasking and short term memory).

Thich Nhat Hahn has the notion of seeds in the unconscious. Those that are watered grow, those that are not watered gradually wither. To water a seed is to give it space in the attention centre. The mindfulness task is to be constantly awake so that only the good seeds are watered. Thus do you change. Thus does the world change. Being peace.

To study Buddhism is to study the self.
To study the self is to forget the self.
To forget the self is to be one with others.
- Dogen

No-self Anatta

I am presently attracted to Durkheim’s sociological image of profane and sacred aspects of religious practice in traditional societies. But I prefer to see this in terms of psychological development with individuals being born again, turning their mind around, re-programming their brain, having peak experiences, and transcending their illusory selves.

I begin to think that it is time for a massive reprogramming of Homo Sapiens’ way of being in the world. A key to this process may be the Buddhist concept of ‘no-self’ (Anatta).

The ‘self’ has no abiding reality, nor does it have a physical presence in the world. It does, however, quasi exist as a thought with feelings and it is subject to causes and conditions. It changes. Taking it for ‘real’ is the main psychological cause of human suffering.

Rope or snake - how to react?

While walking down the path you see a snake and your body has an adrenalin rush – a fight or flight reaction. But it was not a snake it was a piece of rope. To what extent did the snake ‘exist’? The self is like the snake. It seems to be a ‘thing’ but it is just an invented thought with accompanying feelings.

You gather your nail and hair clippings over several years. There are big piles. To what extent are they ‘you’? Cut off your legs are you still you? Cut off your arms, then your body. Are you still you? Open your skull and cook your brain. Do ‘you’ still exist?

Our ‘self’ exists but only as a passing thought/feeling.

Before - he was profane and ordinary. He reacted to the world like a robot expecting things, especially himself, to last forever. He was driven by his automatic feelings and desired some things, avoided others, and was neutral about the rest. He avoided thinking about sickness, old age and death so when he experienced them he was seriously unprepared and upset.

After – he was sacred and extra-ordinary. He made calm and thoughtful responses to stimuli from the external world and was aware of the impermanence of all created things - especially his viewpoints and feelings. He renounced excessive consumption and led a simple life. He built time for quiet stillness into his daily routine.

‘Higher’ states of consciousness come in various forms and some are quite common. People of a poetic persuasion are often bewitched by numinousness:

“To see a world in a grain of sand, And a heaven in a wild flower,

Hold infinity in the palm of your hand, And eternity in an hour.”

(William Blake)

“There was a time when meadow, grove, and stream,

The earth, and every common sight, to me did seem

Apparell'd in celestial light,

The glory and the freshness of a dream.

(BUT, unfortunately for Willy,)

It is not now as it hath been of yore;

Turn wheresoe'er I may,

By night or day,

The things which I have seen I now can see no more.

(William Wordsworth)

Other more or less common states of consciousness include:

• Flow as described by Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi. The Muse speaks through the poet, the athlete is in the Zone, the musician is in the Groove, the gardener is at One with the universe. People have peak experiences.
• Insight comes to the meditator after stilling the brain. “What is this life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare” (William Davies the vagabond poet)
• Epiphany (self actualisation) comes to those experiencing cosmic consciousness and near death experiences.

Common to all these ‘higher’ states of consciousness is the experience of no-self (the non-experience of ‘self’), the absence of felt time or space, a numinous awareness of surroundings, and often an at-One-ment (Coming home to the Oneness that is everything).

Language did not evolve to deal with the numinous Oneness. People who come back from an epiphany invariably say that words cannot do it justice. This point is made at the beginning of the Taoist Classic the Tao teh Ching which states that “the reality which can be described is not the real reality.” It also cheekily notes that “those who know do not speak, and those who speak do not know.”

the sage's smile

But, throughout human evolution, there have been public speakers, authors and poets willing to have a go at verbalizing that which may ultimately be ineffable and unspeakable. (eg see the above quotes) But perhaps the calm presence and enigmatic smile of a sage gives better clues to the nature of the grand alternative which can be experienced if not expressed.

There is no longer any need to leave things up to serendipity. Global power structures are changing. There are rapid advances in neurology and evolutionary psychology and there are plans to teach Big History all across the planet. We are rapidly reaching the stage of being able to choose the direction of our future cultural and biological evolution. But this calls for wise brains and that calls for stillness to liberate the no-self.

Sitting quietly doing nothing
Spring comes
And the grass grows by itself
(Basho)

“No-self, no problem”

(Zen saying)

four classes of question

Thanissaro Bhiku

The Buddha divided all questions into four classes:

• those that deserve a categorical (straight yes or no) answer;
• those that deserve an analytical answer, defining and qualifying the terms of the question;
• those that deserve a counter-question, putting the ball back in the questioner's court; and
• those that deserve to be put aside.

The last class of question consists of those that don't lead to the end of suffering and stress.

The first duty of a teacher, when asked a question, is to figure out which class the question belongs to, and then to respond in the appropriate way. You don't, for example, say yes or no to a question that should be put aside.

If you are the person asking the question and you get an answer, you should then determine how far the answer should be interpreted. The Buddha said that there are two types of people who misrepresent him:

• those who draw inferences from statements that shouldn't have inferences drawn from them, and 
• those who don't draw inferences from those that should.

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/notself2.html

No self, no problem

Yesterday I read a book from cover to cover. I got it from a friend who got it from a friend. It is doing the rounds. The book was Eben Alexander (2012) ‘Proof of Heaven – a neurosurgeon’s journey into the afterlife’.

The story is that bacteria attacked his brain and he had a near death experience (NDE) (http://www.near-death.com/) . He wrote about what he thought and felt before researching the topic.

His mind entered a blissful and numinous non-egoic state that was outside space and time and was impossible to describe using words. He wondered if this was a natural property of the brain and its mind or if there was a supernatural dimension?

The literature on the topic is extensive.  It was meticulously recorded at the end of the 19th century by Richard Bucke  (http://archive.org/details/cosmconscious )  and in the early 20th century by William James (http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15865.William_James ). NDE is not the only trigger for the self transcendent experience. Dr Alexander concluded that there was something supernatural going on – that there was a greater truth out there if only at the quantum level. I was not convinced.

The French sociologist Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) had the notion of Homo duplex. There are two natural mind states - the ordinary profane one and the extraordinary sacred one. Many people in many times and places have self-transcended to the sacred state. There is nothing supernatural or magic about it; but it feels extraordinarily good and those who have known it become ‘better’ people.


Amongst other things Jonathan Haidt is a positive psychologist. He gave an inspiring talk at TED2012 – “Climb the staircase to self-transcendence: http://www.ted.com/talks/jonathan_haidt_humanity_s_stairway_to_self_transcendence.html 

His metaphor for entering Durkheim’s sacred state of consciousness was a new door appearing in your mind. Inside the door there is a staircase and at the top of the stairs is a bright light and the experience of cosmic consciousness – an epiphany.

Key question. Is this extraordinary mind state due to a bug ie is it a form of collateral damage resulting from changes to the brain modules during human evolution? OR – is it an adaptation generated by group selection to make in-groups more efficient and effective?

A key issue is ‘no-self’. Zen masters have known for a long time, “no-self no problem.” These days I am often at the beck and call of the ‘muse’. Musicians get in the groove and athletes in the zone. At a more mundane level there can be a numinous washing of the dishes or mowing of the lawn. Actions with grace rather than with a grudge. Go with the ‘flow’. (For more on this see - http://www.scribd.com/doc/132250158/Towards-Uncommon-Sense )

It is a natural and desirable state of mind. If more people could be less selfish then there is the possibility of cutting back on consumerism. We would therefore deal in a more enlightened way with the environment.

Compulsive, medical, page-turner books such as Dr Alexander’s might be used to fuel the revolution. And for those who have not developed the habit of reading there is plenty of audio and video material on the web. By taking thought the mind can be changed to the sacred mode of no-self.

Poke, stroke and hug

In Facebook your can ‘poke’ other people to let them know that you are thinking of them without using words. This is therefore an electronic social network equivalent of what in Transactional Analysis is known as ‘strokes’ – they make you feel good!

Eric Berne

The psychiatrist Eric Berne (1910-1970) was the father of Transactional Analysis and, in 1964, was the author of a best selling book “Games People Play”. He defined a stroke as the “fundamental unit of social action.” A stroke is a unit of recognition, when one person recognizes another person either verbally or non verbally.

Berne reckoned that adults need physical contact just like infants, but have learned to substitute other types of recognition instead of physical stimulation. So while an infant needs cuddling, an adult craves a smile, a wink, a hand gesture, or other form of recognition. Berne defined the term recognition-hunger as this requirement of adults to receive strokes. Knowledge about the biochemistry that underscored the behavior was not available in his day.

http://www.ericberne.com/

Different cultures have different ways of stroking. In my fishing village in the NE of Scotland for example a scarcely noticeable nod is the most that you are likely to receive from senior males when passing in the street. On the other hand, in my Sangha within the spiritual community that is the Findhorn Foundation, full on body hugs are the norm.

The idea that people should hug more has been around since at least the sixties. There is a feel good factor. In recent times the biochemistry has been discovered. Poking, stroking and hugging cause oxytocin (the love chemical) to be released and you feel more generous, moral, happy and trusting as a result.

Paul Zak

The neuroscientist Paul ZaK presents an informative and humorous TED talk on “Trust, morality and oxytocin”. The talk covers the latest findings.

http://www.ted.com/talks/paul_zak_trust_morality_and_oxytocin.html

“A pioneer in a new field of study called neuroeconomics, Zak has demonstrated that oxytocin is responsible for a variety of virtuous behaviors in humans such as empathy, generosity and trust. Amazingly, he has also discovered that social networking triggers the same release of oxytocin in the brain - meaning that e-connections are interpreted by the brain like in-person connections.” (TED Blurb)

Oxytocin has been labeled the ‘cuddle drug’ by the tabloid press. Eight hugs per day should trigger the recommended dose but, failing that, you can use a nasal spray!

Knowing me and you

Today there is nothing urgent and important that must be done. And I can procrastinate about the things that are less urgent and less important. So I am free FROM the immediate call of duty – from the need to be DOING – from busy-ness. So what am I free FOR? Logic suggests BEING – still-ness.

To slightly misquote Matthew 7:16 – “By their actions shall ye know them.” In reckoning what another person values note what they DO rather than what they SAY. The same principle applies to myself. I can tell what I value by noting how I spend my time.

It pleases me to think that I have cut back on ‘doing’ and that I give most of my time to ‘being’. But in fact, most of the time, I am doing being. The ultimate and ancient goal is to “know yourself” and there are many cultural variations on what this might mean.

In the Christian tradition your true self is God within. St Augustine reckoned that, “if you love God enough you may do as you please”. I see this as an existential cop out that has justified the brutal inquisition and the murderous crusades. The metaphor is of an omnipotent and transcendent father figure who works in mysterious ways. Supernatural myth and mumbo jumbo!

In the modern secular West there is the concept of the ‘self’ linked to the psyche or soul which is rooted in the unconscious. Many people have a shaky sense of self because of ineffective parenting. They thus have problems adapting to their socio-cultural environment. Talking about it helps to build a more robust self. The talking cure ranges from chat with your granny, through counseling and psychotherapy to psychiatry. R D Laing was part of the anti psychiatry movement and reckoned that insanity was “a perfectly rational adjustment to an insane world”.

In Buddhism there is the concept of no-self. The underlying dynamic is caught in the short slogan, “No self, no problem.” There is suffering because people believe that they have an abiding self. Those who make time for quiet and peaceful sitting become mindful of the illusory nature of the ‘self’ and therefore go beyond suffering. Thich Nhat Hahn recommends ‘being peace’.


Over the last 20 years there have been major discoveries in neuroscience and in evolutionary psychology. Neuroscience has been unpacking the ancient concept of consciousness. Mind and brain are two ways of looking at the same thing. The thoughts and feelings that appear in the conscious attention centre are the tiny tip of the iceberg which is the vast and dynamic unconscious. The brain is modular with complex links between modules. ‘Mind’ is an ongoing process which matches incoming sensory data with what went before and thus generates behavior appropriate for survival. This explains the meditator’s feeling that the mind has a mind of its own.

Evolutionary psychology is rooted in the idea that the brain and its mind modules evolved to cope with physical and socio-cultural survival problems. Many of the adaptations evolved during our 190,000 years as hunters and gatherers. Latterly evolution was via memes rather than genes.

SO – my action has been to write about intellectual themes. This is a familiar activity and was managed in flow as peaceful and effortless action in a state of no-self - there was no awareness of place nor of clock time. I obviously value this writing process as I spend a lot of time at it.

Do other people that I know get into that state?  I will have to pay more attention in future.

Education and training

While studying for a Masters degree at a prestigious UK University my tutors were social scientists. After several chats my understanding of their approach to academic writing was:

1. write your story using a number of your ideas
2. review the literature to find what has already been written on the topic
3. gather quotes that can replace your original text 
4. drop any ideas that are not in the department’s recommended reading list

This links to the idea that every clause and sentence needs objective referencing. Emotional and subjective rants were not really appropriate despite the innovative course outline suggesting that a main objective was to have the students express themselves freely. But there was to be no rocking of the establishment boat. Their slogan might well have been “Be reasonable, do it our way”.

This was education as one way bucket filling. The role of the student is not to think originally or to emote but rather to calmly and rationally absorb the conventional wisdom of the dominant group (COWDUNG) and to regurgitate it throughout their post-student life.

Lesser academics repeat their lectures year after year. They resist change. So do most other people. The common desire is for the ends to be tied together so as to reduce uncertainty and doubt.

• “Good ideas close lazy minds.”
• “Keep the peasants in ignorance.”
• “Revere your elders and betters who are the good and great.”
• “That man thinks too much, such men are dangerous.”
• “Neurotic nihilists living in existential vacuums”

I have several degrees and have written many essays and theses; I have also supervised and edited the writing of many other people in six countries.

During my early work years I was an enthusiastic purveyor of the hegemonic discourse that builds on Western humanity’s cumulative tradition. My ‘self’ was put on the back burner while I herded the intellectual cows of the global elite.

Many years ago I participated in a conference in the S Sudan where the concept of “education for all” was being promoted to representatives of various pastoralist cultures in which primary school attendance was very low. The conversation went something like this:

A – You have to send your children to primary school.
B – Why?
A – Because the Universal Declaration of human rights says so.
B – So who made this universal declaration?
A – A group of wise elders representing many nations
B – Were there any pastoralists in the group?
A – No.
B – Were there any Africans in the group?
A – No
B – Were there any women in the group?
A – No
B – So is it acceptable to call it a Universal Declaration?
A – In terms of modern development, universal primary education represents a well nigh universal aspiration
B – It is not an aspiration among pastoralists in the S Sudan
A – Hmm.

I was awe-struck by the pastoralists. They knew that they were God’s chosen people and they laughed themselves silly at the sight of sweat encrusted white men travelling around in noisy metal boxes on pot holed roads.

Real people walk naked through the swamps with their cattle. Primary school could only poison the minds of sons and daughters. Respect.

But time is not standing still for the pastoralists. They are being swamped by modernity (becoming like America).

But, theoretically at least, there are educational options. There is a continuum with subject-centred vocational skills training at one end and student-centred enlightenment at the other. In many places there is a move away from traditional towards experiential learning (see box)

To see six of my one-page articles summarizing recent trends in education follow the link
http://www.toonloon.bizland.com/nutshell/trends1.htm

I am not writing these blog posts in fastidious, academic style. But I am now over 60 and I have a long track record in education and writing. There is thus the possibility of credibility when I say that “I think” without quoting other people or using footnotes and references. If a reader wants to follow through on particular points they can comment on the blog, email me, or consult Google and Wikipedia.

The agency for most of the more recent writing has been the unconscious. It is seemingly well organized. These days I do not rationally plan what I write. I sit at the computer, ideas arrive sentence and paragraph at a time, and I write them down. Then more arrive. Thus the story grows – but I try to keep it to under 700 words.

It is not so much ‘teacher teach yourself’ as ‘teacher facilitate your own learning’.

There is peace, pleasure and arguably wisdom to be had when slow and in ‘flow’ and being outwith self, time and space.

There is experiential learning from a different paradigm. It sits well with my gray hair!