Category: Society

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When Things Go South — Schismogenesis

Have you ever noticed what happens when our life situations go south or when big global situations turn bad? It seems that much more often than not, we react with aggression, which can range from pushing someone away to outright physical aggression and violence. At least in contemporary Western societies, the only other ways of reacting to bad situations include (a) withdrawing or taking submissive position or (b) trying to seduce the other entity into some sort of relationship.

Buddhists call these reactions the three poisonous emotions or kleshas. The first is aggression, which can range from pushing something away to attacking it. The second is ignorance or avoidance, where one might withdraw or take a submissive position in order to avoid conflict. The third is passion, where one tries to seduce the other and take ownership. None of these emotional reactions or strategies is particularly helpful. They all result in further conflicts and confusion.

From the perspective of Gregory Bateson, there also are three basic strategies or types of relationships. These types of relationships don’t align with the Buddhist 3 poisons, but one can see how the three poisons come into play within these relationships. Gregory called the first of these types of relationship “symmetrical.” Such symmetrical relationships are characterized by the parties being at odds with one another. Such a relationship can manifest as two people or two groups vying for control. Both individuals or groups are similar in nature. The second type of relationship he called “complementary.” In these relationships, the individuals or entities take on the characteristics of opposites. In some cases these relationships consist of a dominant individual and a submissive individual. Both of these types of relationships tend to degenerate into schismogenesis or the pulling apart and disintegration of the relationships. The warfare of the symmetrical and the resentment of the complementary do not help bring relationships together. The only type of relationship that holds the potential to not lead into schismogenesis is reciprocal or a relationship based on negotiation and some sense of mutuality. However, most relationships, whether at the scale of two individuals or even one individual contending with some other thing (e.g., an alcoholic and alcohol) or at the scale of nations, relationships move from symmetrical to complementary to reciprocal. But, the ones that tend to default at reciprocal are those that hold the most potential for survival.

But, let’s go back to how our default patterns of reaction, especially in Western societies, seem to be those that are aggressive or retaliatory. Someone calls us a name and we are ready to punch them. Someone drives to slowly and we start cursing at them. We think some problem is the fault of a particular group (illegal immigrants, Republicans, Democrats, liberals, conservatives, the LGBTQ community, African Americans, Mexicans, Muslims, Jews, Christians, or whomever). We react with aggression. At the very least, we may spread the anger or hatred and poison those around us. The reaction to 9/11 was aggression. The reaction to anything we don’t like is one of aggression. Abortion doctors are killed. A murderer is executed. A person who looks different from us is pushed away, attacked, or killed. We do this every single day. The police do it. Everyday citizens do it. Corporations do it.

And, as our world begins to collapse under the weight of a burgeoning population, rising sea levels, scarcity of water, scarcity of food, and scarcity of almost all resources, people will act out through aggression. But, aggression is exactly what is NOT needed. We don’t need to disintegrate into the visions extreme schismogenesis as in Mad Max, Blade Runner, or Total Recall. What we need to do more than anything is to come together. And, the only way to do that is with reciprocity along with heavy doses of empathy, compassion, and a willingness to understand others. Of course, we also need to change our ways of thinking so that we can in fact move toward solutions to a global meltdown, which isn’t a problem of any one nation or group of people, but is a problem for all of humanity.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

I’ll end with an excerpt from a poem (“It’s a Mistake to Think You’re Special”) by John Giorno (from Subduing Demons in America, 2008, Berkeley, CA: SoftSkull Press, pp. 341—342) – read this with rhythm and a lot of energy:

Butterflies
sucking
on the carcass
of a dead bird,
and your body
is being pulled down
backwards
into the world
below,
as a king.

I feel most
at home
among the defiled
I feel most at
home among
the defiled
I feel most at home among
the defiled,
in the center
of a flower
under a deep
blue
sky.

It’s a mistake
to think
you’re special.

(1984)

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Habits of Mind

We have these habits of mind in the West where we think along lines that are linear… simple cause and effect. But, the world (outside of simple physical, nonliving events) does not work that way. We must think about the complexity of multiple systems interacting and where the “blame” is in the relationships, which is not with individuals, with groups, or with other entities.

The same holds true for all levels of relationship. From those with our lovers and families to those among nations. It’s all about the relationships and intricate interconnections within and among different systems (we can think of each individual as a system, in addition to larger systems with fuzzy boundaries, such as nations, social groups, ecosystems, economies, religions, etc.).‬‬

As individuals, we are the result of our relationships. These relationship range from the molecular (e.g., DNA is all about the relationships between the base pairs) to those with family, friends, teachers, and others and to those with our environments. The relationships within the contexts in which we have lived contribute to a great extent who we are and how we manifest. That’s part of our humanity. We are social beings, who learn socially. And, this learning is mostly not the learning we do in schools. We are learning systems… and the systems in which we live are learning systems. According to Nora Bateson (2015), this kind of learning is called “symmathesy” or mutual learning in contexts. Murderers and criminals of all kinds are the product of symmathesy as are the highly regarded political leaders, spiritual leaders, and all the rest of us, including bacteria, protists, plants, fish, birds, and so on. All living systems, social systems, and ecological systems, are examples of symmathesy. This learning is “in” and “about” relationship. But, this learning is not value laden, it is just the way living systems learn. So, the learning can be pathological in relation to social norms. Or, the learning can be grounded and sane within the social contexts.

We can fall into a trap in just thinking that “I am the way I am because of my relationships and the contexts within which I was raised. And, that is just the way it is. So, tough.” But, this is a cop-out. We have the ability as complex systems to transcend our typical ways of thinking and behaving. In fact, that self-transcendent ability is one of the characteristics of autopoietic systems (Capra, 1982). Autopoietic systems are also known as complex systems or systems that are self-generating, self-maintaining, self-regulating, self-transcendent, and so forth (“auto” = self & “poiesis” = to make OR “autopoiesis” = self-making). And, all living systems are autopoietic. So, the “mutual learning in contexts” of such self-maintaining systems is known by the word created by Nora Bateson, “symmathesy” (“sym” = together; “mathesi” = to learn or “symmathesy” = learning together, mutual learning; which also is the basis of the notion of co-evolution).

In fact, our only hope lies in this potential for self-transcendence. We all have to work at not thinking in simple cause and effect ways. We desperately need to begin thinking in ways that see how multiple systems are interacting and how these system are learning together, for better or for worse. So, while the U.S. may start manipulating some political entity somewhere else in the world, that “U.S. system” is learning about and reinforcing the notion of manipulation, at the same time, the entity being manipulated is learning about how to be manipulated and how to resist being manipulated, etc. The alternative to such negative or pathological learning is to begin to transcend this level of functioning. How can we relate in ways that are more direct, more reciprocal, and mutually beneficial? This example is at the scale of nations, but the same holds true for all of our personal relationships. We can understand others as bundles of relationships, but instead of relating in ways that are based on our old assumptions (whatever they may be), we can take a fresh look, with great empathy and mutual understanding of our shared humanity, and proceed to relate in ways that transcend our old habits of mind. In attempting to think in this way, we can transcend our own habitual patterns and ways of thinking and relating. We make the jump and begin to influence others. The more us who can begin trying to do this, the greater the chances of making a big difference.

——————

Bateson, N. (2015). Symmathesy — A word in progress: Proposing a new word that refers to living systems. A manuscript in review for publication.

Capra, F. (1982). The turning point: Science, society, and the rising culture. New York: Bantam.

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Corporatization of Colleges and Universities

“Corporatization of Higher Education” from Salon.com

The above linked article from last October is a good short piece on a few of the problems involved in the corporatization of universities.

This change in how universities are run is a huge problem. University decision-making used to be based primarily upon “learning,” which included bringing in high level tenure-track/tenured faculty (who shared in the governance of the university); materials, equipment, and teaching facilities; libraries; student academic support; and research. But, now almost all universities make decisions based on money, with learning way down the line of priorities. Advertising, distance learning (which is an abomination and a learning scam), sports and recreational (country club-like) facilities, student (resort-style) housing (where they live in fancier housing than many faculty and staff), and high administrator salaries (and too many administrators… way more than are necessary) have taken over the budget sheets. Faculty members tend to be the “enemy” as seen by administrators. Administrators create a culture of fear and use whatever tactics they can to try to intimidate and control faculty. Gone are the days of faculty governance, faculty autonomy, and academic freedom. Faculty members inflate grades to keep students happy, so that they can get high end-of-semester evaluations. These student evaluations of faculty hold way too much weight in decisions about retention, promotion, and salary increases. And, students suffer the consequences. Their learning has been trivialized and is shallow at best. And, faculty suffer, as well. They are no longer supported in issues with teaching. When students complain about language, ideas discussed, teaching style, grades, etc., administrators tend to support the students views and not the actions of the instructor or professor. Many faculty suffer from stress related health issues. And, this stress is way beyond that of doing the work (teaching, research, and service to the university community) required of the profession. The additional stress from negative treatment, fear, lack of voice, and a loss of one’s academic freedom and ability to make appropriate decisions about course content, teaching, etc. is enough to create havoc with people’s health.

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“Knowledge and Thought Have Parted Company”

“If it should turn out to be true that knowledge… and thought have parted company for good, then we would indeed become the helpless slaves, not so much of our machines as of our know-how, thoughtless creatures at the mercy of every gadget which is technically possible, no matter how murderous it is.”

— Hannah Arendt (1958). The Human Condition (p. 3)

Knowledge and thought are parting company due to the politics that has perverted our educational system under the guise of “raising standards” and “teacher accountability.”

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Brainwashing

The brainwashing discussed in the article about the Dalai Lama, below, also applies to other areas, such as our thinking about schooling/education, the nature of our world, how we view others, relationships, life in contemporary societies, and much much more. We need to question all of the assumptions that underlie everything we do. It’s difficult, but essential. I’ve tried to get my students to do this about teaching and schooling, but most students just don’t want to think about it. They just want to move through their lives as zombies (of course, they don’t think they’re zombies). They don’t want to think about the issues that can shake their nicely packaged worlds (or worldviews). They just want to be told what to do, so they can jump through the hoops with minimal effort.

This same situation seems to characterize much of society. We just want to live our lives and not have to shake the foundations of our little fortresses. It must be too frightening to think about lose the ground upon which we think we’re standing. But, if we do shake up and challenge our worldview and the assumptions we make, we may find the result to be exciting and refreshing…. like waking up on the shore of a mountain lake at dawn in early spring or like taking the red pill in the Matrix. We need to take the red pill…

Important article…. Follow the links (added below), too. The second one is a very long video, but the text will give you an idea of what’s going on. The first link is a short video from Democracy Now, and is quite upsetting.

Links from this story:

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Responsibility and Relationships: From You and Me to Society

Over the past eight months or so, my wife and I have been renting a house after moving from a different city. Several weeks ago we found a house to buy. We approached our landlord, who lives out of state, and proposed that if he can let us out of our lease we could help him find a new tenant and fix up the place to move-in ready condition before the new tenant moves in. To us, this seemed like a perfectly normal proposition and apparently so did our landlord.

So, for the past two weeks we have been advertising the house, letting people view the house, and handing out applications and landlord contact information. But, what has been surprising about this whole process is that the people who call and come to see the house cannot figure out why we are doing this. They can’t make sense out of why we would be advertising the house, why we would be showing the house, and why we would be discussing the terms of the lease. When they ask “why?” I want to just say, because we’re responsible adults. But, I just give them a rather lengthy rationale instead.

I don’t think people have any models for how to develop straightforward relationships with people and how to assume responsibility for situations. The relationships they encounter with housing are all adversarial and based on distrust. Gregory Bateson’s complementary (dominant–submissive) and symmetrical (competitive or adversarial) types of relationships seem to characterize the vast majority of relationships encountered in the business of everyday life. As for “responsibility,” schools don’t really address it, even though they talk about teaching it all of the time. Their parents have been caught up in the same messy relationships and have lacked any experience in responsibility. And, most workplaces are based on the same dysfunctional sorts of relationships and lack of trust.

We live in a society where the relationships are out of whack. In such contexts, a number of the social characteristics we all discuss and say that we value are just not supported. These social characteristics include responsibility, ethics, empathy, moral reasoning/judgment, and so forth. We’ve created a social context where these sorts of positive personal and social characteristics are not supported, encouraged, or developed. There are few positive models for others to emulate. The vast majority of relationships are problematic at best. What we see in the media are dysfunctional relationships. The vast majority of our politicians do not model functional (reciprocal, negotiable) relationships or any of the positive social characteristics. I’d like to say that looking at the Republican debates is clear evidence of dysfunctionality, but the same holds true for almost all politicians. It’s just that the Republicans seem have taken the bar to a whole new low point. However, the point is that the predominant model of behavior as represented in film, TV, news, and everyday encounters is one that does not value reciprocal relationships and the values and behaviors that are intertwined in such relationships. Reciprocal relationships (Bateson’s third type) are those that are based on some sense of trust, and where terms and issues are negotiated rather than becoming the source of conflict and resentment. This sort of relationship should be what we strive to achieve with our partners, our friends, our families, and our adversaries. What would Congress look like if reciprocity was the basis for interactions. Instead of blockages and other childish games, we may see adults sitting down together in serious conversation. Disagreements would be a source of negotiation, change, and growth. But, instead we are left with childish, self-centered antics that only serve to prevent growth and destabilize the whole of society.

As The Turtles said, “You don’t believe we’re on the eve of destruction.” But, here we are and not quite in the way The Turtles saw it.

We can step back from this precipice and change our ways of thinking and acting, but that will take an overwhelming desire from a vast majority of people to just say “NO MORE” to this nonsense.

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Media, Learning, Schooling, and What We Should Do

Children are deeply in touch with what is happening in the world… much more than we might expect. Around 1990, I did a study that asked grade 5 children to describe life on Earth and the major issues we faced. Most of the children had a fairly extensive understanding of the issues we were facing at the time. And, some understood the complexities at much deeper levels, including how money was behind almost all of the issues. I suspect that with the Internet and the prevalence of technology in most children’s lives, their exposure to and knowledge of issues is even more extensive than in the 1990’s. But, the big difference between 1990 and now is that the news media seems to have been co-opted by the entertainment industry and by the corporate entities that control most of what happens in this country either through organizations, such as ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council), or through lobbying and other relationships to governing individuals or groups. General Electric is part owner of NBC news. GE is involved in the nuclear power industry with its primary funding sources coming from military contracts. Microsoft (the “MS” is MSNBC) is also part owner. Microsoft also has a specific right-wing political agenda to which it has been making large donations. So, just how “liberal” is MSNBC with such ownership controlling what they air?

But, from Fox at one end to MSNBC at another end (which isn’t really at an end), with all kinds of misinformation on Facebook and other Internet sites, this is the news to which children are exposed. It’s a cartoon version of news on speed with no substance, no depth, no criticality, no values, no ethical framework. It’s awful for adults, and it’s even worse for children.

Then, children go to school, where they receive instruction that is fundamentally the same thing without the extreme violence and hatred (but, that violence and hatred is just toned down and hidden). They are subjected to a predetermined curriculum with no substance, no depth, no criticality, no values, no ethical framework. Children are growing up with no guidance on how to deal with all of the craziness that surrounds them and which seems to be getting increasingly crazy all of the time.

We desperately need teachers and schools that provide a sane environment and an environment that provides them with opportunities to grow and develop as decent, caring human beings who are capable of thinking critically about the issues that arise. We can do this. A few schools do this, but this is not part of the agenda of public schooling (or private or charter schools, for that matter). We need to provide an alternative to the speed and superficiality, to the hate and distrust of everyday life. We need to revive a love of learning. We need to revive a love of human diversity.

And, we need to boycott media triviality, speed, superficiality, indulgence, lack of intelligence, and lack of integrity.

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Variation, Diversity, and Survival

What far too many people seem to forget (or they never knew in the first place) is that variation is key to the survival of living things. From an evolutionary perspective, genetic diversity is necessary for the survival of species. If there is too much similarity or too little variation, species have very little to draw upon for adaptation. In fact, we know what happens when too much in-breeding occurs among animals we raise and among human beings. We need genetic variation just to stay reasonably healthy, not to mention adapt to changing circumstances.

In sociocultural contexts, the same idea applies. Variation and diversity is healthy. New and different ideas can breathe life into situations that can become quite stale or stuck. Creativity and problem solving need variation. Democracies need diversity. Businesses and institutions of all kinds need diversity.

We need diversity and variation in people and ideas, because they help us grow. They help us expand our horizons, our understandings, and our appreciations. They help us develop empathy and compassion. They help us develop wisdom.

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A Day in the Life … Terrorism and Bigotry

It’s a fairly typical day for people to get up and get ready for work, get the kids ready for school, eat breakfast, then rush out of the house. Maybe after you drop the kids off at school, you have time to stop at a coffee shop, sit down, read the paper, and drink coffee, then go off to work. At the end of the day, you come home, eat, help kids with homework, maybe go to a park with the kids for a while, then prepare for bed. During the week, maybe you work in a dinner out with the family and maybe a movie. Yes, this was probably a typical day in the city of Homs, Syria in the not too distant past. But, not now. The city has been devastated.

Imagine going to work and getting a phone call from home that you neighborhood is being attacked by those who should be protecting you, and that you’ve got to go get the kids. When you leave work, you find you car has been bombed and shortly after, your office building is destroyed. When you find you kids and wife, you are left with nothing but the clothes you’re wearing, and with no place to go. What would that feel like? What would you do? This is what hundreds of thousands of people are facing right now in Syria, Nigeria, and other places.

People with professional careers, homes, iPhones, and nice watches, all the typical middle class goods and services… but left with nothing. No jobs, no homes, nothing, nothing. It could happen here, but, it is happening to these people. And, all they want is a safe place for their families to live, and a job. Not too much to ask after having your life turned upside down.

It’s pretty disgusting how our politicians are reacting to the refugees. It’s as if they have to intelligence and no compassion whatsoever.

And, just for some perspective… here are some numbers to digest. These are the top 5 countries with mass killings. The numbers reflect those from January 1 to November 23, 2015. The number injured is much higher. These deaths are from terrorists. Many are attacks on mosques and market places. In Nigeria, they’ve included whole villages and universities, killing anyone who wasn’t a conservative enough Muslim.

Nigeria – 2,405 deaths
Saudi Arabia – 823 deaths
Syria – 462 deaths
Iraq – 327 death
Pakistan – 259 deaths

By the way, France had 162 deaths during the same time period.

Data from Wikipedia with additional links to original news sources.

Meanwhile, back in the United States our own homegrown, white, “Christian,” terrorists continue to kill men, women, and children, with a government that refuses to take action. It is just so perplexing when the bigotry of our own people, including our leadership, just keeps on going, taking no action.

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Blame and Fear

I blame you.
You blame me.
They blame us.
We blame them.
Blame fans the flame
Of aggression and hatred.
Rage burning….
Churning through senseless cycles
Of twisted, knotted stomach wrenching
Heart ripping agony.

Who’s to blame?
We pin it on someone… anyone
We don’t even care anymore
We don’t even know anymore
Who’s to blame.
It matters not.
Just need someone to blame.

Blame teachers
Blame politicians
Blame Republicans
Blame Democrats
Blame ISIS
Blame the U.S.
Blame Iraq
Blame immigrants
Blame ….

Whatever the problem
Must have someone to blame
Like a child falling off a bike
Then blaming the bike.
Gotta be someone’s
Or something’s fault.
Gotta have a cause to blame.
Can’t just be mutuality.
Gotta have a bad guy.
Can’t just be a tangled web.
Can’t just be relationships gone awry.
Can’t be MY fault.
Can’t be OUR fault.
Can’t be WHITE people’s fault.

The endless recursions of blame
And hate
And fear
And blame
And hate
And fear
Run our lives
Ruin our lives
Without us even knowing
We sink deeper into the darkness.

The only way out …
Gotta stop the blame.
Gotta stop the hate.
Gotta stop fear.
Care for everyone.
Everyone who is alive
Has the same desires …
To be loved
To be safe
To feel wanted
To love
To be happy.

Something has been twisted
Completely out of kilter.
When blame, hate, fear take over….
We’ve succumbed…
The strength of humanity
Is in our power to care…
And not to succumb to
Blame, hate, fear.
We need to
Feel our shared humanity.
See our shared humanity.
Taste our shared humanity.
Smell our shared humanity.
From every pore
From every molecule
From every breath
From glimpse of life.