Month: November 2016

Trying to understand our times

Something I find interesting is how we all seem to feel the pressure to declare our opinions and understanding of what is going on in the world and what should be done about it. Yet we’ve created this highly complex, interconnected, fast-moving and responsive global society over the last hundred years or so and it’s a little presumptuous to say we know what’s happening and what it means. It seems everyone is struggling to catch up while also availing themselves of the opportunities – as if, knowing ourselves to be intelligent beings, we rush to exercise that power and move ourselves forward.

What I love about the world right now is how all the diversity of experience and culture is blending into a pretty democratic, free and informed world. Not to say there aren’t problems and inequalities, but we are able to communicate with and begin to understand people from all different parts and hear what they have to say about the systems we are creating and participating in.

Much of this may be uncomfortable, difficult, challenging. Western society is almost unquestionably built upon exploitation and the imposition of our ideas and systems on other quarters of the globe, and it’s hard to claim superiority without also acknowledging these foundations. Inequality and questionable intentions can also no longer be so easily swept under the carpet, and in attempting to do so issues around trust and truth become even murkier as dubious interests attempt to present a human face to us.

It’s challenging to face up to the past and also to put ourselves in other people’s shoes. Recent events have shown that even understanding those nearby – who broadly share the same history, culture and reality as you – can seem impossible at times, so fully understanding and appreciating the lives of those much further afield cannot be a simple task.

For some reason there is an intense “rush” about modern life – not wanting to miss out, wanting to be the first to create and benefit from new trends, essentially seeking to ride the wave of change and emerge a winner. But can we rush when it comes to understanding all this? Information is generally available now but it is a real challenge to grasp it, understand it, integrate it, and to make wise decisions that take all factors into account while fully anticipating the implications.

In thinking we know what is happening and what is right, maybe we stop asking questions and start applying rigid labels to a very complex and evolving picture.

Ways to share this:

Values and the economic

It seems in life that there are two sets of values: the economic and all the others (such as beauty, ethics, environmental concern, legacy); and it seems that economic factors tend to override most other concerns at the end of the day. Rather than looking at what’s being created on a wider scale, money and profit are often the ‘bottom line’ of good decisions in modern life.

So someone could be planning something that ethically, environmentally, aesthetically doesn’t add up to much but if on paper it stands to make a profit or represents a wise use of resources, then it’s understood and praised as such. Whereas if someone was acting out of concerns for beauty, longevity, environmental integration but the project may make less profit as a result of factoring in those concerns, then it’s likely seen as unwise or an indulgence.

And I just wonder at the extent to which economic concerns ever really add to the overall value of human activity. It might be wise, it might be scalable, it might be efficient and cost effective but where will these materials be in fifty years and can the impact to the environment be genuinely mitigated (rather than simply ‘balancing the books’ in terms of hypothetical cost)?

Not to say there aren’t projects where other values are considered, although it does seem these are often a luxury or a lifestyle choice rather than a widespread shift in values. We don’t seem to be in a place yet where values are being consistently defended and acted upon, yet the environment around us displays our values loud and clear.

I lose count of the times something beautiful that speaks volumes about the intentions of the people who created and tended it has been destroyed in this way. Old trees that add to the neighbourhood and local ecosystem are cut down presumably because maintaining them is considered too great a cost – trees that simply cannot be replaced in a person’s lifetime. Old houses built with a beautiful balance of space, form and grace that are torn down because the plot can be maximised for ‘modern’ dwellings where people are made to live with much less space, privacy and workmanship.

And, on a more everyday level, the “economic” choice is often one that comes at a great cost – the cheapest shoes, clothing and items are often so because they are mass produced without concern for environmental waste, the long-term viability and impact of manmade materials, or the human experiences linked with them. I struggle to imagine the vast mountains of discarded products that can never be reintegrated into natural lifecycles, and this process doesn’t seem to be slowing.

It seems money stands against these other, human concerns and our way of thinking seems to say that you cannot make a decision based on this other reasoning where the economic outcome is less favourable. But I wonder what degree of wisdom can ever be incorporated in a system that approaches things that way.

Ways to share this:

Communication and the process of change

This is a question that has been coming up a lot lately, in many different guises: how can you communicate with people so that they accept your perspective and change their views? To this, I suspect it might be wise to add: should we?

It seems that the main approaches being taken at the moment are essentially to shame, ridicule, attack, or exert social pressure on people to coerce them into changing their minds. This seems to suggest that people holding different views are somehow stupid, uneducated, malevolent, and generally not worth talking to reasonably. Not to say that those who hold extreme or intolerant views shouldn’t be challenged over them, but it seems the question of “how” presents itself again.

Essentially, it seems to me that recent methods of communicating are pretty combative and don’t leave others much freedom to change their own minds without accepting the various labels and judgements implied above. Does it place people in a position to stand by their new decision, to understand it and explain it to others, or to adopt consistent values if the reason they chose that way was because ‘someone told them to’? Our perspectives are unique to each of us, so unless we listen enough to understand one another’s views how can we expect to reach a common view of things? And if you attack someone’s views without genuinely listening to why they think how they do, surely it’s only natural to defend oneself and possibly become more entrenched in those opinions? I suspect that if someone holds a certain view it is because their life experiences, their education, their social realities make that conclusion seem right. So maybe divergent views sit more within the bigger social realities of education and society as a whole.

Of course it’s not straightforward, and many of the views of more liberal parts of society seem based in very well-meaning ideals of equality, progress, compassion etc. But I wonder if we’re not trying to rush ahead with progress without listening to the living realities and concerns of all corners of society and taking the time to foster the understanding needed for opinions to change of a person’s own volition.

I see that the issues at stake at the moment are hugely significant for society, but I just wonder at the wisdom of communicating this way when patience, mutual understanding and education may serve better to empower others to change their own minds if they can see wisdom in what is offered.

Ways to share this:

So, this is EbbSpark

I’m not sure how you will have found me, but I like that you have so thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope it’s of interest.

Originally I had planned simply to just start with the content I have prepared, but decided instead to begin here by offering some context. Clearly there is a lot going on in the world at the moment and while I always intended to steer clear of topical issues and talk more generally, in the end I saw more value in addressing a few deeper issues first before reverting to my original plan. So, to begin there will be a few posts about change and modern times but then the focus will shift back to the starting point of society and some of the things we seem to value and concern ourselves with.

To reiterate, in using the terms “we” or “our” I am referring to my own perspective within Western society and the UK in particular – language can be quite a stumbling block at times, but I trust that people from other backgrounds will be able to orientate themselves relative to my position as there’s really little other way for me to speak.

As outlined on the About and Themes pages, there is a fairly detailed plan for the path this writing will take over the next year as these ideas develop and weave their way. That all has to start somewhere, I suppose, and that place seems to be here.

Thanks again for reading, and I hope you check back to see where this is heading.

Ways to share this: