Resistance

Diversity and Intelligence

“Wisdom is directly proportional to the size of the group whose well being it takes into account.” Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, The Evolving Self Gregory Bateson defined information as “the difference that makes a difference”. When a new bit of knowledge or experience actually changes the way we view the world, it enlarges the scope of our understanding. The world is full of untapped sources of knowledge from which to build a bigger picture of reality. No one view can see it all. Each individual story has something to teach us. When someone else’s background is radically different from our own, we can learn more than we might from someone similar to ourselves. Though it may feel good to have our view supported, growth requires variety. When something different feels true but challenges our view, we need to adjust our model. This is difficult and is why there’s often resistance to a new truth. Rejecting what doesn’t fit an existing view, using up intellectual resources in the effort to discredit what doesn’t match the existing outlook, is protecting a limited picture. The right/wrong way of seeing interferes with acquiring new information. To not get bogged down in defense of one way of seeing frees valuable mental resources for accommodating more, sometimes contradictory, ideas in the mind at once. This and a tolerance for uncertainty are characteristics of high intelligence that we would do well to cultivate. An appreciation of difference leads to the intellectual enrichment of us all as we come to understand how personal experience forms every individual viewpoint. An overview requires as many perspectives as possible. Prejudice regarding what’s different may start too young to remember, but looking at art from different groups can open up experience and be a pleasurable way to get to know another’s way of thinking and feeling. Understanding that every point of view produces valid assessments of some aspect of reality welcomes the many ways of seeing that have been ignored in a world where power has decided what is true. Diversity is important for a robust ecology of ideas. Just like a larger gene pool creates hybrid vigor strengthening survivability, so can a larger pool of ideas invigorate the world of mind. Restricting oneself to a limited group is restricting the growth of personal intelligence. Intelligence is increased by every different perspective added to our worldview. Problem-solving teams in a workplace were found to be more creative when there were different cultural backgrounds in the group, not just because of the different choices from the different experiences offered, but because everyone’s limits were loosened by the variety of approaches, everyone felt more free to think something new. In his book, In The Mind’s Eye, Thomas G. West suggests that the skill of the future won’t be having the right ideas, but ability to revise our thinking as new information flows in. He feels we need to develop “the ability to model reality in our mind” as an on-going project. Hanging on to one model of reality inhibits the ability to grow. Letting go of the idea of one worldview that holds for everyone makes it easier to ride the flow of proliferating information and adjust our image as necessary. Expanding perspective will bring wisdom to our approach to the future. In honor of Black History Month here are artists I love that help me see into another group’s perspective. 1-Njidedeka Akunyli Crosby 2- Henry Osawa Tanner 3- Huey Lee smith 4-Fabiola Jean-Lousie

Syncope

Re-Connecting

Art does not show people what to do, yet engaging with a good work of art can connect you to your senses, body, and mind. It can make the world felt. And this felt feeling may spur thinking, engagement, and even action.’ – World Economic Forum, Why art has the power to change the world, 2016 This capacity to create connection makes art valuable for healing, both in the individual and between populations. The connection made to the full self is an integrating force. Healing the world depends on first healing the self, but the engagement with art is connection to the outer world as well. It’s where the deep inner life and deep outer world meet. It joins two cerebral circuits that usually operate separately. Most of the time we are either attentive to the outside world and its demands, or to the inside world with its needs. Art is the occasion when the two are alive together. Multiple websites about art and healing point to art as a way to unify body, mind and emotions. Though most sites concentrate on making art, looking at art can get to feelings a person may not have skills to express. Our natural urge toward balance will look for the art that has meaning for us at the moment, a recognition that can be stabilizing. Seeing art that moves us is connecting to the artist as well, not just seeing personal feelings expressed but feeling them shared. Recently, a friend told me of an experience she had where an abstract painting made her weep. Talking with the artist about it later, she discovered that it had been done shortly after the artist’s mother died. Responding so intensely is cathartic. People seem to seek out the strongest feelings. It may be why the drawings I did after my father’s death and over my mother’s slower disappearance are among the most visited on this blog. Recognizing the presence of those feelings claims a deeper self. Perception is always scanning for what we need. Finding and responding to art is part of the mind’s homeostasis, using what will balance energies by giving attention where it’s needed. Looking at art is both stepping back and seeing within. Knowing oneself is an important step to understanding others. Not recognizing feelings leaves them growing below awareness until they explode at the wrong targets. Art can provide a clarifying mirror that connects to the feeling level of our species. The author of the quote at the top, artist Olafur Eliasson said in another part of his paper. “Art helps us identify with one another and expands our notion of WE from the local to the global.” We are at a necessary threshold for the reorganization of our worldview. With personal transformation, we can make a start to changing the world.

Bookmark 2021

Sharing Cultures

“Wisdom is directly proportional to the size of the group whose well-being it takes into account.” Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, The Evolving Self One of the great things about teaching at a school that draws students from all over the world is that I’ve had the opportunity to have close relationships with people with very different backgrounds. Since art is understood through similarities in our emotional core, I feel connected to what they do and the different wells of imagery stimulate a wider perspective. Gregory Bateson defined information as “the difference that makes a difference”. When something new actually changes the way we view the world, it enlarges the scope of our understanding. The world is full of untapped sources of knowledge from which to build a bigger picture of reality. Every human being is a library of unique experiences that form a particular window on the world. No one view can see it all. Each individual outlook has something to teach us. When someone else’s background is radically different from our own, we can learn more than we might from someone similar to ourselves. Yesterday a wonderful young Chinese student came to visit and brought me a Christmas present. She said it was the first time she’d wrapped a Christmas gift. I gave her some of my homemade Christmas cookies, one of my bookmarks and her choice of ornaments to hang on my tree. Her contribution enriched my pleasure in the tree and I’ll think of her when I hang the bell in the future. We have novelty to offer each other and novelty stimulates dopamine, so it’s clearly good for our well-being. Every culture teaches me about being human. What kinds of things are celebrated and how, where the true principles are beneath the modern surface manifestation. This is where the disillusionment blossoms and people can miss the wisdom found at the source. The polarization being pushed by destructive elements in society denies the value of what thinks differently. To create an atmosphere that includes all points of view rather than setting them in opposition, invites knowledge. Put aside the competition to have the right idea and we can have a whole landscape of ideas to choose from to match a particular problem or situation. Insight into a range of ways to consider an issue offers more opportunities to think creatively. With a larger intellectual range established, everyone is set free to speculate more widely and more interesting constructions and hybrids can occur. The greater the range of ideas from which to draw the better the final synthesis will be.

Ko