Outline 150108
This little story was structured using the ‘outline’ feature
in MSWord. The main ideas that presently capture my attention were listed,
prioritised and sequenced as a series of headings and sub-headings (the default
template calls them articles and sections). I then added a few words to explain
what is covered in the higher level labels. The basic conclusion is that, in
theory at least, I can be unattached to my world view.
Article I. Weltanschauung (World View)
Everyone has a view of the world which is part hard wired
and part absorbed from the cultures in which they grew up and presently
inhabit. Various thinkers at various times have described and popularised
particular world views. It adds gravitas to use a German label for the concept.
Types of world view include religious (Taoism, Hinduism, Buddhism,
Christianity, Islam etc), and political/ economic (anarchist, communist,
socialist, conservative, capitalist etc)
Section 1.01 Points of view
A person’s Weltanschauung deals with the big picture which is
made up of many smaller points of view. These need not always be rationally
contingent and rarely are. But, arguably, it is worth the bother of trying to
tie the loose ends together as the whole is greater than the sum of its
individual parts. Intellectually this can be a rough road to ride (see below).
Another grave German word is Zeitgeist which points to the
spirit of the age. Many people in these modern, rational, scientific times
still cling zealously to ancient and xenophobic belief systems.
‘Big History’ is built around the idea of a cosmic zoom
through the incredibly small to the incredibly large in space and time. ‘It’
began with the Big Bang 13.7 billion years ago and, before too long our sun
will go out and it will be all over for life as we know it.
It is said that ‘the truth shall set you free’. But one
person’s ‘truth’ is another person’s propaganda. Thus there is need for
multi-disciplinary and multi-stakeholder processes
(a) Holism (Systems theory)
(b) Zeitgeist
(c) Big History – http://bighistoryproject.com
(d) Cosmic Zoom
(e) Propaganda
Article II. Multi-stakeholder processes
There is a growing realisation of the need to actively
engage the stakeholders if policies, plans and projects are to be effective and
self sustaining in the long term. The details of procedure are clearly set out
in Minu Hemmati (2002) “Multi-Stakeholder Processes for Governance and
Sustainability – beyond deadlock and conflict” (UNEP)
There is also a growing tendency, especially in the academic
world, to work in multi-disciplinary teams. Details on how this might be
arranged are outlined by E O Wilson (1998) in his book “Consilience – the unity
of knowledge”.
If there is to be equity, peace and environmental
stewardship in our time then reconciliation must emerge between the rich and
powerful and the impoverished and powerless.
Grass roots individuals and organisations must develop
resilience if they are to survive the struggle of reining in the rich and
powerful. ICT increasingly directs, focuses and nudges future action and
reflection by crowds.
Section 2.01 Multi-disciplinary teams
(a) Consilience
(b) Reconciliation
(c) Resilience
Article III. Mindbrain
The brain is the physical thing and the mind is made up of
mainly unconscious thoughts and feelings. Neither stands alone – there are
neural correlates behind all thoughts and feelings. The brain changes the mind
and the mind changes the brain – what fires together, wires together. I call it
the mindbrain.
Section 3.01 Psychology
The mindbrain evolved to help shape our reactions and
responses to changes in the external world. We can therefore effectively find
food, avoid being eaten, and operate in social situations so as to generate
offspring. Modern human beings carry aspects of mindbrain that evolved in our
ancestors that include primates, mammals, reptiles and fish. It can be useful
thinking in terms of a stone age brain in a computer age world.
There are several branches of psychology but they are all informed
by evolutionary thinking. The mindbrain has evolved in response to adaptive
challenges. But evolution tinkers and does not sort out the messy bits.
Behavioural and economic psychology are experimental and applied
subjects. They seek to study the details of how people actually think. It is
now clear that up front self consciousness is not nearly as rational as was
earlier thought.
Traditional psychology studied people with mindbrain
problems and sought ways of getting them back to normal. Positive psychology
studies people with superior mindbrains and seeks ways of helping more people
to be more positive and transcendent. (ref Seligman).
(a) evolutionary
(b) behavioural
(c) economic
(d) positive
Section 3.02 Neurology
Aided by a variety of brain scanning techniques, neurology
has rocketed to prominence. It is now apparent that the mindbrain is composed
of many interacting modules and that there is a two way interaction between the
mind and the brain.
Neural plasticity is much more prominent than was originally
supposed and it will most likely lead to new ways of promoting healthy psychological
and cultural development.
It might be useful to ban the use of the words consciousness
and the unconscious because they carry too much outmoded thinking. The European
enlightenment went overboard in promoting the rational self conscious as modern
man’s greatest achievement. Behavioural and economic psychology shows that this
is nonsense.
(a) modules
(b) plasticity
(c) consciousness v unconsciousness
Section 3.03 Mindfulness
Most people, most of the time, operate on automatic pilot.
They are driven by instinct and by intuition and are easy prey for advertising
and propaganda. But it is possible to come off automatic pilot by training your
mind and acting ‘as if’ you were an observer/ witness to the thoughts, feelings
and moods that come and go through your attention centre. Having learned how to
do this you can be unattached and at peace. The process can be viewed as a psychology
of perception and is called mindfulness.
Mindfulness is the root of Eastern meditation which in the
last 2000 years or so has developed a vast and exotic history. A good reference
is Henepola Gunaratana (1991) Mindfulness in plain English http://vipassana.com/meditation/mindfulness_in_plain_english.php
Mindfulness in the modern West has been around for about 40
years but has only recently more or less gone viral. Jon Kabat-Zinn developed a
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) programme which ignored the exotic
eastern trappings. Look him up in Google – he comes across well on video. An
associated good read is Mark Williams and Danny Penman (2011) “Mindfulness – a practical
guide to finding peace in a frantic world.”
(a) Eastern roots
(b) Western refinements
Section 3.04 Meta-cognition
I was a school teacher of science and biology before becoming
an adult learning facilitator. The latter demanded that I should have facilitated
my own learning. I did this by turning the wheel of action/ reflection, for at
least a year, five times. I also cheated by acquiring a couple of Master degrees
– but at least they were after the event studies (a) Agricultural Extension through
schools - when I had already done it in three schools, and (b) curriculum development
and teacher training – when I had already worked on both in four countries.
On one of the retreats I tackled philosophy and was drawn to
existentialism and thus to cultural relativism – the eternal verities
evaporated and there was a serious dose of cognitive dissonance. There were too
many threads and I could not rationally and reasonably tie them together. The
only certainty was doubt.
Then I discovered mindfulness. I realised that ‘making sense’
in the style of the European enlightenment is a futile project. The
Weltanschauung is always mind made and is therefore always coloured by the
sense maker’s culture and language.
Then, more recently, I discovered the three psychologies
mentioned earlier. They have been integrated in a user friendly way by Nobel
prize winner Daniel Kahneman (2011) “Thinking, Fast and Slow”.
Most of us most of the time think fast and react quickly based
on instinct and intuition which are subject to many kinds of bias. But there is
now the possibility of many more of us more often thinking slow and responding
thoughtfully in the manner of mindfulness that, by its nature due to evolution
is tolerant and peaceful. Opposing Weltanschauungs but with nothing to kill or
die for. (Other than them!)
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