During my teens, I believed that for the past three, four thousand years humans and their general cognitive abilities did not evolve much. As I am listening to Iain McGilchrist’s “The Master and His Emissary,” however, I am moved to reconsider. His exposé of how human thought writ large—most prominently described across the ages in… Continue reading The Pain of Progress
Tag: society
Mind Games, Left and Right
Oh, how frustrated do I feel at times when my plans (or predictions) do not pan out… I then exist in a state of very difficult to accept anguish. I so wanted something (not) to happen, or believe that it should (not) have happened. Anger and rage are not far away in my conscious experience.… Continue reading Mind Games, Left and Right
How to do Empathy?
Books published recently have made the case either for or against empathy. A former colleague and friend, Jamil Zaki, published “The War for Kindness“, subtitled “Building Empathy in a Fractured World.” Paul Bloom, a researcher at Yale University, published “Against Empathy“. They even engaged one another on occasion. This question still remains for me: when… Continue reading How to do Empathy?
Conscious vs. Obedient
Please take everything I express as provisional: these are statements of a vision for how—by applying the principle of local intelligence in complex, living systems to our society—the experience of all people could be improved. A lot. The transformation I am describing would upgrade any institution or organization that (partially) runs on what I am… Continue reading Conscious vs. Obedient
Rights Without Responsibilities?
Watching the documentary about Jordan Peterson made by David Fuller of Rebel Wisdom, especially the segment starting at time index 19’07, I had a strong experience of resonance with the following train of thought: It is potentially dangerous to have discussion about rights—what some people want others to contribute to their wellbeing, say healthcare or… Continue reading Rights Without Responsibilities?