Heroes Not Zombies

A better life (for more of us) (for longer)

December 15, 2013 by bobleckridge

José Mujica, Uruguay’s president acts very differently in power from most of the world’s leading politicians. He lives in a one bedroomed farmhouse instead of the Presidential palace, and gives away 90% of his monthly salary.

He is described as the world’s poorest President but he rejects that description preferring Seneca’s teaching about poverty – “It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.” He most refreshingly rails against hyperconsumption and waste pointing out that

We can almost recycle everything now. If we lived within our means – by being prudent – the 7 billion people in the world could have everything they needed. Global politics should be moving in that direction but we think as people and countries, not as a species.

This is such an important point which is almost never made by our politicians. Global population is doubling every few years and shows no sign of stopping. Just how is that sustainable? Can we keep growing the population by that much, and all keep pushing for “growth” (by which we mean great consumption and accumulation) and not hit a wall at some point? Isn’t the Earth finite?

But I especially like his last point there – that we think “as people and countries, not as a species”. We need to start living as if we are species, not isolated groups trying to beat each other, dominate each other, exploit each other.

Watch this for THE most coherent and convincing exposition of this case –

He also makes the excellent point about our enslavement to the market –

I’m just sick of the way things are. We’re in an age in which we can’t live without accepting the logic of the market,” he said. “Contemporary politics is all about short-term pragmatism. We have abandoned religion and philosophy … What we have left is the automatisation of doing what the market tells us.

Halévy says all this too in his publications. He challenges us to ask what’s the purpose of our current socio-economic system and who does it serve? Go on, ask yourself, read around a bit, and see what answers you come up with.

Both Halévy and Mujica focus on the need for quality instead of quantity. Halévy uses the term “frugality” and Mujica says “prudent” but neither are setting out the case for a worse life. Quite the opposite, they say we should concentrate on getting more quality from less consumption, and in so doing, create a sustainable way of life on this little planet.

Posted in books, from the living room, from the reading room, from the viewing room, life, philosophy, science, video | 1 Comment »

Awe

December 14, 2013 by bobleckridge

One of the greatest emotions to you can experience. When I teach Heartmath, I ask people to think of a moment of AWE as one of the possible “heart feelings”

If you’re not quite sure what constitutes AWE try this – it is (no, I’m not going to say “awesome” – yuk!) FANTASTIC!

Posted in creativity, from the consulting room, from the living room, from the viewing room, health, life, personal growth | Leave a Comment »

The danger of…..

December 13, 2013 by bobleckridge

This article in the Guardian collects together some of the books which the authorities who run Guatanamo Bay refuse to allow their prisoners to read. If you can figure out their logic you’re doing better then me!

However, one whole class of writing gets an outright ban – poetry!

Poetry … presents a special risk, and DOD [Department of Defense] standards are to not approve the release of any poetry in its original form or language. This is based on an analysis of risk of both content and format

You know, terrible and ridiculous as this whole sorry episode is, there’s a bit of me which is in awe of the power of poetry – for me, that’s something to celebrate, not to fear.

Posted in books, from the reading room, life | Leave a Comment »

the other understanding

December 12, 2013 by bobleckridge

For a long time there have been two broad views of the universe. Determinism and meaningless chance.

Most religious traditions have the idea of a Creator, of some super-natural spirit or force which is in control. There is comfort in this view, in that it helps to make sense of Life, and brings a feeling of there being some control over events (even if that control is in the hands of God, rather than of human beings).

With the rise of materialism and decline in religious beliefs, many feel that the universe is a heartless, meaningless place where we are all the repeated victims of chance. Of course, some who see the universe this way gain great comfort and security from humanistic principles ie that we are the masters of our own destiny.

In the second half of the 20th century a third view has arisen. Complexity science has allowed us to understand that chaos is absolutely not the same as randomness. Once you understand the principles of complex systems (networks and webs of interconnected parts which are all acting on each other), then you find that whilst the behaviour of chaos can be hard to discern, it allows us to see that everything holds together. Indeed, if you consider the “universe story” of energy, to the first atoms, the creation of stars and planets, to the first elements, the emergence of Life, and evolution of consciousness in human beings, you can see this other view appear – one which does not require an external “super-natural” controller, but isn’t random and meaningless either. There is a direction of travel in the universe story towards ever and ever greater complexity. As complex systems move to “far from their equilibrium” points into the chaos zone they can develop completely unpredictable levels of greater organisation and complexity (see the concept or “dissipative structures“)

I do think we are in the early days of this new paradigm, but, for me, it makes a lot more sense than the materialistic, nihilistic scientism which has dominated the last century and more, and doesn’t require me to believe in any super-natural beings. I’m very happy to know such a new paradigm is emerging because so much seems to be falling apart – the economic/financial system, social structures, the health of the planet and the health of human beings who consume ever more drugs to try and control ever more chronic disorders. We need new ways, different, more creative ways of understanding and organising our shared Life.

If you’ve read anything about this emerging paradigm, do let me know – I’m keen to read whatever I can get a hold of!

Posted in books, from the living room, from the reading room, life, personal growth, philosophy, science | 2 Comments »

catching, having or becoming?

December 11, 2013 by bobleckridge

I’ve caught a cold.

I bet you’ll say something very like that at some point in the next few weeks, but why do we use that word “caught”? I thought “well caught, sir!” “Good catch!” But, wait! Why on earth would I want to catch this particular experience? We tend to reserve this idea of catching for infections, don’t we? We don’t talk about catching diabetes, or catching asthma, do we?

With chronic, non-infective, diseases we often use the verb, “to have”. We say, “he has diabetes” or “he has asthma”. We might even add an “ic” to the end of name of the disease and claim it as an identity. “I am diabetic”, “I am asthmatic”. Why do we do that? Why do we, first of all, claim some kind of possession by “having”, then turn that having into an identity….a disease which defines us?

It gets even more interesting when we think about health, rather than about disease or illness.

We never talk of “catching health”, and we don’t so often claim possession (although people do say they “have good health”). Do claim health as an identity, “I am healthy”. I suppose we do. However, we don’t really think of health as an object the way we do disease, do we?

Maybe it would be interesting to consider what it would mean to “catch health”. How would we go about that? How would we create favourable conditions to allow us to make such a good catch?

Let me finish this little thought with a consideration of “becoming” (my favourite verb!)

Aren’t we always in a process of becoming? Becoming more or less healthy? Becoming more or less ill?

I prefer the “becoming” verb because it doesn’t objectify either disease or health. It insists on understanding that both disease and health are processes, processes which are an inextricable part of living.

So maybe I woke up having caught a cold, but I’m already becoming well!

Posted in from the consulting room, from the living room, health, life | 2 Comments »

sparks and echoes

December 10, 2013 by bobleckridge

When I look through my photos I’m often surprised that one picture makes me think of a totally different picture – or at least totally different in terms of subject matter, place and time of taking – but somehow one photo sparks my memory of another. It’s a bit like doing a word association game but with photos….

Are these associations only clear to me? Or do you see echoes or resonances here? I wonder……

Posted in from the dark room, photography | 3 Comments »

Tamiflu

December 9, 2013 by bobleckridge

Remember the big swine flu scare? Where governments threw around Tamiflu by the bucket load? This antiviral which had never been shown to successfully treat or prevent swine flu was stockpiled by the government (apparently at cost of about one pound for EVERY 200 pounds spent on the entire NHS in England and Wales in 2009!) and “prescribed” in the UK after telephone tick box consultations.

I was astonished at the time that so many millions and millions of pounds were spent on this drug. I don’t remember such mass, thoughtless prescribing before the Tamiflu debacle. It struck me as horrendously irresponsible of the authorities. Most of it, I thought would just be pee’d down the toilet without doing any good.

Well it’s an even more disturbing story than I knew at the time. A new piece of research reveals that the amount of Tamiflu in the toilet water which was flushed into the rivers has now caused resistance to this drug in the viruses.

If it was ever going to do any good, and that is seriously in doubt because after determined campaigning by researchers, scientists and journalists, it turns out that the evidence Roche didn’t publish shows that Tamiflu doesn’t even do what they claimed it did , that good is sure reduced now.

But then the drug company got its billions didn’t it?

And isn’t that the point of a drug company? To make billions?

Posted in from the consulting room, health, Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

The challenge to mind body dualism isn’t new

December 8, 2013 by bobleckridge

I don’t really like the term “mind body medicine” because it assumes a duality which is a delusion. That delusion isn’t just a problem which prevents real understanding of a patient’s suffering, it has wider and deeper effects…..as John Dewey (1859 – 1952) describes –

“The very problem of mind and body suggests division; I do not know of anything so disastrously affected by the habit of division as this particular theme. In its discussion are reflected the splitting off from each other of religion, morals and science; the divorce of philosophy from science and of both from the arts of conduct. The evils which we suffer in education, in religion, in the materialism of business and the aloofness of ‘intellectuals’ from life, in the whole separation of knowledge and practice — all testify to the necessity of seeing mind-body as an integral whole.”

I really like that phrase “habit of division” – a nicely different way of referring to reductionism and one which recalls Ian McGilchrist’s brilliant analysis of how we use our two cerebral hemispheres. Like all dualities, each part offers something unique, but either part, on its own, is just missing something important…….