Living Danish

The Danes seem to have a good life style.  They have consistently been among the top for the United Nations World Survey of Happiness Report.  This book concentrates on the workplace, but much can be useful elsewhere.

For my fellow retirees Miek finishes with "you may be retiring from something--but it is important to have something to retire to".

While you are working it amounts to about 1/3 of your life and effects everything else.  The number one factor to be happy is to have a purpose.  Feeling one is making the world a better place is important.  Also finding a purpose could involve feeling you have a meaningful role in the company.

If work doesn't give you a purpose, but you feel you can't quit, many people seek a purpose by volunteering.  Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is known for the concept of flow. The ideal is to find activities when one is engaged in an activity where they are so engaged they lose concept of time.  If work doesn't seem to lead to flow, again volunteer work may offer more.

A controlling boss has a dilemma.  She (or he) may force a lazy worker to put in more effort, but others employees may resent the control and put in less effort.  Developing trust encourages employees to work harder.  Good bosses credit their team and recognize good efforts.  To build trust it is necessary to be honest, to think long term and to be empathetic.   

One of the stresses of work is commuting.  Seek employment near where you live (or move).  In Denmark cycling or walking to work is fairly common.  Meik points out "Cars run on money and make you fat--bikes run on fat and save you money".  

Money is sometimes required to put yourself in a happier work environment.  Meik suggests you should set up a fund for future opportunities.  It has been thought to be happy requires a lot of money, but wealth comes from having a lot of time to live and enjoy your time on this earth. 

The government can be very helpful in giving its citizens opportunities for happiness.  One area is to make it easier to bring new life into existence.  Some jurisdictions have a maternity leave and more recently that concept has expanded to paternity leave and even letting couples divide the time to their optimal benefit.  Meik suggests this allows couples to maximize their parental leave by adopting gender equality in household chores.

I have long listed Denmark as an example of proportional representation and their high ranking with the Happiness survey as a benefit.  Now I wonder are they happy because they picked an electoral conducive to happiness or is their happiness making them open to a better electoral system.  Years before my wife and I had enjoyed watching "Borgen" which illustrated the Danish electoral system and its logic.  See...  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2022/07/borgen.html

This a book well worth reading.  This post is only a taste of the good advice available in its pages.  Should be available at your local library or your favorite book seller. 

To keep up with the Happiness Research Institute see https://www.happinessresearchinstitute.com/

21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari

The first lines of the introduction give a clue to Yuval's focus, "In a world deluged by irrelevant information clarity is power."  He has already given us a focus on how man came to be and where man can go.  This book reflects on the stresses and contradictions in the world today and explores a few ways we might extricate ourselves.  Fortunately he does have a sense of humor and offers many attention getting examples.

There are more thought provoking ideas than I can cover in a short post.  A lot to digest.  My attempts to sort through are only a taste of what you can expect.  To me this is the Book of the year.

In the middle of the last century the world was offered three global political philosophies--Fascism, Communism and Liberalism.  Fascism was killed during World War II and Communism collapsed by the close of the century leaving Liberalism to expand its umbrella.  However our current news reflects a new range of anti liberal trends.  The 21 Lessons reviews several alternatives we might consider for the 21st century.

Economic growth has underscored liberal thinking, but the most critical problems today are being undercut by economic growth.  Technological innovation threatens job security.  Climate change and pollution suffer with economic growth.  I see a problem with his concern about the need to reduce meat consumption:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2018/01/what-happens-to-farm-animals-when.html

Social media is taking over the lives of the entire globe.  Yuval expresses concern about online vs offline.  Online does have potential to steer people to offline activities that can be healthy for bodies and social beings. Generally social media is likely to cut down physical interaction and be unhealthy.

Algorithms are becoming increasingly more invasive.  One simple example given was how a GPS system can tell us to turn right or left.  Artificial Intelligence combined with bio tech is now getting  an understanding of emotions.  Algorithms will know you better than you know yourself.  Trust in algorithms will increase as they will become more reliable.

Ethics can be and will be integrated with algorithmic decisions.  Philosophers will have a demand as many decisions will need to be made split second with examples coming from such endeavors as self driving cars.

Happiness depends less on circumstances than on expectations.  Humans are easily satiated.

Inequality is likely to increase as those who control algorithms will have tools to squeeze more.  But it might not just be financial wealth, but also longevity as biotech will be more accessible to some.  The future of the masses will depend upon the goodwill of a small elite.  Some nations with a tradition of liberalism such as France or New Zealand will more likely support the masses while those with a more capitalist tradition like that of the United States may well dismantle the welfare state.  Newly emerging states like India and China, Brazil) are more likely to see an increase in inequality.

Killing a few people in Belgium draws far more attention than killing hundreds in Nigeria or Iraq.

Most people believe they are the centre of the world and their culture the linchpin of human history.  Rather than denigrating other cultures Yuval, a Jew living and working in Israel makes a few points about "God's Chosen People."   The universe is at least 13 billion years old with Earth being formed about 4.5 billion years ago.  Humans have existed for at least 2 million years.  Jerusalem was founded  about 5,000 years ago which does not mean it is eternal.  He also pointed out that Orthodox Jews usually hold the balance of power in Israel and have helped pass laws that curtail activities on the Sabbath including for secular Jews.

Morality predates religion.  He gives the example of pups playing until one bites too hard and they will not play with a bully.

Author quote:  "Questions you cannot answer are usually far better for you than answers you can not question."

We are all complicit to some degree--"How can anyone understand the web of relations among thousands of intersecting groups across the world."

The meaning of life is looking for a role to play and a story to provide identity.  A wise man asked about meaning of life replied, "I have learned that I am on earth in order to help other people.  What I still haven't figured out is why the other people are here?"

He goes on to say that asking about the meaning of life is the wrong question.  The better question is how do we stop suffering.  He does seem to have a Buddhist bias, but is upfront about it.

Going back to Confucius, rituals are good for social stability.  The most meaningful ritual is sacrifice.  The author contends that rituals are an obstacle to seeking truth.

On the question of free will Yuval asks to define it first.  If you mean the freedom to do what you desire, yes.  But if you mean the freedom to choose what to desire then no.  Humans do not have free will.  He asks us to think where does a thought come from?  He concludes that although we don't have free will we can be a bit more free from the tyranny of our will.

Mankind has made much progress in studying the brain, but have barely begun learning about the mind.  He personally has found meditation to be a tool for observing your own mind directly.  Self observation has always been difficult because there are so many stories surrounding us.  In the future  algorithms will create more stories making it more difficult to observe your mind.

My little sketches do not do justice to his overview of how we might look at life out of our complacent perspective.  Well worth reading and I expect different readers will get different values from the effort.

Read my thoughts  on "Sapiens":  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2015/12/sapiens-brief-history-of-humankind.html

Read my thoughts on "Homo Deos": http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2017/04/homo-deus.html

GET YOUR SH*T TOGETHER

Self improvement advice is easy to buy and some of it has set readers on a better path.  "get your SH*T" together" is perhaps written for a younger generation, but might be the nudge that an older reader might need.  The advice is not incompatible with much of what is available,  just the presentation is different.   This might be what you need, or it might just reinforce your other efforts.

What will get your attention on the cover is the use of profanity. There is a lot more swearing  (without astericks) on most pages.  In some ways it is colloquial and used by a wide range of classes and ages.  More educated people expect advice to be more refined, however those who understand the street language might be more responsive.  For the rest of us snobs the important goal might be to get our attention, but really we understand the language.

Profanity has been a part of my life from early days.  I suspect to some degree most people indulge in it, but don't feel comfortable in many situations.  Of course that is changing on all fronts.  I have a a nephew with his own business who talks in a similar manner to the author.  For several years I have worked in an ad agency and have been struck how their creativity is often expressed.  Profanity lends itself to creativity and much of their best ideas don't reach the drawing board.  My attitude in an earlier blog:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2015/10/swearing-over-years.html

Now that we have gotten that out of the way, we can consider the advice.  Sarah sees that people, her readers, need to identify what they want and then uses three actions to obtain it: strategize, focus and commit, symbolized by key, phone and wallet.  A key is to prioritize and she boils the list of things you want to do down to the list of things you must do involving clarification of what is really important to you.  Then you strategize the best method forward, in small manageable chunks.  Focus refers to the necessity of setting aside enough time to accomplish.  Commitment means the determination to overcome all obstacles.

Her metaphors of key, phone and wallet are easily understood by today's generations, including a good chunk of baby boomers

Often negative thinking can be useful.  Sometimes it is easier to decide what you don't want than on what you do want.  An example might be you don't want to be fat.

She tackles such problems as saving money, managing time, clearing out emails, developing or discarding relationships and deciding on your priorities.

A few of her suggestions struck me as common sense, but ones we might need reminding on.

Ask what you have to do to get what you want.  Avoiding uncomfortable conversations delays resolution.  She gives a personal example of trying to deal with bulimia and finally asking her mom for help.  Maybe not surprisingly, her mother provided sympathy and also the necessary hard support.

Happiness is a goal in and of itself.  Happiness is different for each person  after you do what you must do then work towards what you want--after all that is what motivates you  Don't be self-righteous regarding recovered drug addicts, born agains, health food fanatics who love to tell everyone how much better they are now.  And they are better off.  You can be too and choose what you want in the end.

"Brevity is the soul of wit" borrowed from Shakespeare.

Perfectionism can prevent you from doing something else instead.

One of the superficial differences Sarah has with a favorite mentor of mine, Stephen R. Covey is to do with urgency.  With Sarah, urgent matters are put on her must do list.  Stephen spends a lot of time emphasizing how important it is to do important things so that you can over time minimize urgent but unimportant matters.  Nonetheless both advisors realize really urgent matters must be attended to.  If you don't take care of urgent matters the problems will get worse.  To learn more about Stephen R. Covey check: http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2012/07/stephen-r-covey-pointed-way.html

Acknowledgements are sometimes interesting and give their own insights.  While writing this book she and her husband had temporarily moved from their Caribbean home back to New York to finish up business.  Sarah acknowledges many friends and relatives helped provide accommodation and other support.  I should acknowledge that I became aware of this book by a Facebook posting of my sister Jennifer.  Of course there are lots of people who contribute to any book and she is gracious and humorous in her appreciation.

To get more provocative creative insights you can visit her website:  http://sarahknightbooks.com 

"The Happiness Hypothesis"? Isn't that your main goal?

Jonathan Haidt has had a profound effect on me.  He was on the Bill Moyers show when first seen and he struck me as a man of deep understanding.  He showed me I am still a prejudiced man and need to understand other people better.  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2013/02/the-righteous-mind.html

Happiness is for most people the main goal of life.  "The Happiness Hypothesis" is not a typical self improvement book, but rather a history of different thoughts regarding happiness with much philosophy and more psychology.  Jonathan, himself had first studied philosophy and then moved on to psychology.  Along the way and towards the end there is useful advice if you are ready for it.

He believes humans understand new things through metaphors.  His favorite is that of a rider on an elephant.  The rider represents conscious behavior and the elephant represents unconscious behavior (that has accumulated through thousands of thousands of years of evolution).  The rider has evolved to serve the elephant, to give it some direction.  In another section "with wrong metaphor we are deluded; with no metaphor we are blind."

To survive humans are selfish, but we have had to learn to get along with others.  At one time it was thought survival of the fittest involved physical and mental factors at an individual level.  However more recently we realize that individuals are part of groups and that our membership is also a factor in our survival.

One early effective social inter action skill learned was the principle of reciprocity.  He gives an example from the opening of "The Godfather" where a distraught father asks Marlon Brando to deal with a man who dishonored his daughter.  He thinks he will have to give money for it, but Don Corleone has something else in mind.  He sees this as an opportunity to expand his network of "friends" who do each other favors.  Movie goers were preparing for a violent movie, but instead it started off with  how the Godfather actually got things done.  Then of course it gets to the violence.

There is a relationship between culture and religion.  We develop trust and co-operation which in turn can effect genetic selection and direct to the benefit of the community.

Happiness is effected by your external circumstances, but another key is internal.  Jonathan feels that the truth is in between where you find true happiness.

Humans have or try to have goals, but in fact it is the effort as much as the achievement that brings happiness.  Once a goal is achieved it is in the past and we look forward to something else to do. Internally you make lots of choices and of course react to thousands of circumstances.

Harry Harlow had limited resources and found himself working with rhesus monkeys.  His experiments are considered unethical today with isolation and substituting inanimate objects for motherly attention.  What he did prove was that all infants need touching and parental caring to develop normally.  In other words love makes a difference.

Abraham Maslow, a student of Harry Harlow is famous for Maslow's hierarchy of needs.  At the top is self-actualization which could be interpreted as satisfaction or happiness.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is known for the concept of flow.  One is happiest when one is engaged in an activity where they are so engaged they lose concept of time.  An example from the author was riding horses where some are so engaged that is what they think of most of the time.

The author contends that two areas that are vital for happiness are work and love.  Love seems obvious, but work takes up a lot of time and is where many find meaning.  From Marcus Aurelius--"work itself is but what you deem it."  Many jobs are treated as drudgery, but the author suggests if you apply your strengths any job can become more meaningful.

Happy people are kinder and more helpful.  Voluntary work by elders results in improved health and longer life

Jonathan states that meditation, cognitive therapy and Prozac all have the ability to make for positive changes.

You can read more at http://www.happinesshypothesis.com

SAPIENS A BRIEF HISTORY OF HUMANKIND

We study history, mostly that has been written down and have some appreciation of how the world got to be this way.  Yuval Noah Harari goes before the written word was invented to discover more of our origins and better understand why we are the way we are and even where we are headed.  It is a fascinating tale with unexpected insights told with a sense of humour.  This is my top read of the year.  Although very easy to read, the author does go into a lot of depth.

Whether we are religious or not we all seem to feel mankind has always been dominant and we have had no real rivals.  Apparently our history is more complicated than we were taught.  100,000 years ago we were one of several human species competing amongst larger, faster, fiercer animals for survival.

As our bodies evolved to adapt to our circumstances our minds were shaped.  The author speculates that how we defeated the Neanderthal that was supposedly more intelligent and physically capable was through our social skills.  By social skills the author includes communication, group formations and very critically, gossiping.

We used to hear of Neanderthals as primitive ape like people who vanished.  There were actually a few other human like species that also disappeared.  The author likes to point out that they didn't totally disappear as some traces have survived in our DNA.  The Neanderthals were likely stronger and possibly more intelligent than Homo Sapiens, but they lacked social skills and possibly were not as aggressive.  For the most part our ancestors started out in Africa and spread across what he calls Afro-Asia which is essentially one big land mass.  Thousands of years ago our ancestors moved to Australia and the Americas.

The author breaks down our development into three Revolutions.  The Cognitive Revolution, was the first where our Homo Sapien ancestors started to take advantage of their evolutionary advantages such as upright, larger brain, grasping hands and developed social skills to allow them to form groups.  The Agricultural Revolution came when our ancestors developed food production based on plants and animals and developed more permanent residences that allowed specializations to develop further.  The Science Revolution got rolling around 1500 when men accepted that they were ignorant, but by observation (and later mathematical analysis) could unravel all sorts of information.  The information was not necessarily practical, but in the long run supported our modern technology.

Yuval declares that there are three unifying forces in the world, namely money, imperialism and religion.  At one time we were probably thousands of isolated tribes.  By money he means our commercial system that covers virtually everyone in every country.  Imperialism was a form of nationalism where one group would conquer another nation and impose its culture on the losers.  Sometimes as a counter example, the conquered Greeks had their culture shared with the victorious Romans.  Religion is another force that unites people that once would have been in different tribes. Each of these forces can be criticized, but undeniably they have brought a wide variety of people together.

Yuval explores different cultures, but more as a development of humans.  He does not necessarily see our progress as constant improvement.  The point of it all is happiness.  Has all this progress made us happier.  It is possible that our hunter-forager ancestors were happier as they spent less time seeking food and getting a better variety than our agricultural ancestors who endured a more bland diet.  A definition of happiness is that "it depends on the correlation between objective conditions and subjective expectations."  Ultimately it depends on our biochemistry which is designed to re-balance itself.  Sexual reactions spur us to repeat, but also subside so we can move on.

He explores several perspectives on happiness.  I think he admires the Buddhist philosophy the most, but gives credit to other ideas. He points out that humans have in effect become more cruel to animals without giving them much thought.

Throughout the book he points that our civilization is really "imaginary."  By sharing a lot of our images we are able to form nations, conduct business, and carry on with our families and friends.

What lies ahead?  We are in fact becoming intelligent designers.  We already manipulate DNA and have cloned a variety of animals.  We also have developed prosthetic devices that enable people to physically do many amazing things hithertofore impossible.  Scientists are now considering integrating organic and inorganic as cyborgs.  Maybe science fiction is not so far fetched.

Final question from the book:  "Is there anything more dangerous than dissatisfied and irresponsible gods who don't know what they want?"  He is suggesting we think more deeply on what we want.

Aside from reading the book which I highly recommend you can visit his website:  http://www.ynharari.com which has a heading "History began when humans invented gods and will end when humans become gods.

There is a sequel, called "Homo Deus" that is well worth reading.  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2017/04/homo-deus.html

"The Upside of Stress" can help you handle inevitable stress better

Awhile back I recommended "The Willpower Instinct" as a book well worth reading.  Once again Kelly McGonigal appeared on "The Agenda" hosted by Steve Paikin and she had a new book out that is worthy of another recommendation.

You are all familiar with stress, often times with a raised heart beat, heavier breathing and feelings of anxiety.  We have been taught, including by Kelly that stress is bad and should be avoided as much as possible.  Once that idea is examined Kelly has found stress can be very useful.

Kelly had some colleagues that pointed to statistics that indicated many people actually responded to stress in a positive manner and had positive outcomes.  She then explored many different studies and became a convert.  It turns out when the body is stressed certain chemicals that can be measured are released to help you cope with the situation.

It is impossible to totally avoid stress; in fact a meaningful life is stressful and a happy life is not stress free.  Stress can be helpful.  Avoiding stress has a cost:  missed opportunities  Stress response is more than fight or flight

Nietsche paraphrased--what doesn't kill you will make you stronger.  The author is not suggesting you seek very risky stress situations, but take a positive view of the ones that confront you.

A key to maximizing stress is the mindset you start with. You can retain the mindset that stress is bad or you can adopt the mindset that stress helps you to improve.  Do you see situations as threats or as challenges.

For some when confronted with a stressful situation retreat into themselves to cope with it.  A different approach labeled "tend and befriend" seems to produce better results.  When you can focus your attention on others it helps you cope better.  Caring for others triggers the biology of courage and hope

People who believe stress can be helpful are more apt: to accept stressful events as real; to plan a strategy to deal with it; seek information, help or advice; to try to make the best of the situation.

Everyone sometimes feels they are the only one suffering, but in fact others often put on  a face.  Realize you are not the only one and seek help.

Kelly is not concerned that her readers remember every example, but hopes they will feel differently about stress.

You can watch a You Tube version of her TED talk that altogether has been seen by over 10 million people.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcGyVTAoXEU  Not as detailed as the book, but graphic

Kelly also had some interesting views on willpower and you can read my review of her book at http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2012/09/the-willpower-instinct.html

WHAT CHOICE DO YOU HAVE? some thoughts on Freedom

Choice,  a simple word, but in essence it is what freedom boils down to.  A quote from Charles M. Blow, "..as if success was merely a result of a collection of choices and not also a confluence of circumstances."  My contention is that your choices are within perceived opportunities (which you can expand) and as you make better choices you are edging towards success, happiness and relative freedom.

Choices are everywhere, but mostly buried or ignored.  Most of us, most of the time react to what comes our way.  Some of us, some of the time dig a little deeper to expand our choices or at least to understand our options a little better. Most choices in fact are almost automatic and that is not all bad.

A lot of my posts have revolved around how our subconscious makes most of our choices, freeing us to choose opportunities. One of the best choices was "The Art of Choosing" at http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2013/10/the-art-of-choosing-as-seen-by-sheena.html  about Sheena Iyengar's book and another was "The Power of Habit" at http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2012/06/power-of-habit.html js about Charles Duhigg's book where you learn you can replace a bad habit with a good habit making your automatic choices automatically better.

We can be manipulated to making choices not necessarily in our best interests by other people as explained in my post on "Split second decision", at http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2012/12/split-second-persuasion.html about Kevin Dutton's book and at a post including mindless eating  at http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2011/09/mindless-eating-cf-mindful-eating.html  At least we can understand how others are trying to impose choices on us.

Good/bad, better/worse, best/worst.  It is not like a choice is either/or, but more often which. You may think you can buy an ice cream cone or not, but really you have different flavours to choose from and you could choose something healthier or more decadent.  Or you could take that money and apply it to some other project altogether.  Often the human brain prefers to eliminate options and narrow down the choice.

Success in life depends on choices.  Choices in reality are opportunities.  Most of us do not have the opportunity to rocket to Mars, but we can fantasize what it might be like.  Fantasizing might well be a tool of progress, but to get to Mars we have to make many other choices along the way. When you choose to spend more time studying you open up more choices of courses and institutions.

In reality doing something or not doing something have consequences including further opportunities with choices to be made.

One opportunity for choices is your own health.  Unfortunately we are not all born healthy or in possession of the normal human capabilities.  There are many ways to exercise, many food choices and how to rest with many activities to distract you.  Do you seek medical advice?

Authority figures are with us when we are born, usually our parents, and most of us accept authority. As we gain more control over our body and environment we try to assert our own authority, sometimes by choosing other authority figures to accept.

Decidaphobia can best be explained with a restaurant analogy.  People can take a long time deciding even limited choices, but when the choices spread to many pages, the time taken to decide can take from the enjoyment.  Restaurants don't want you dilly dallying over choices for too long.  On the other hand some boast of the wide range of choices.  One office supply company used the slogan "the power of selection" to brag about how many choices they offered--long out of business.

Some of the biggest choices--who to marry (if so); what career to follow; which way to vote; how best to fit in; where to live, how to spend your money---each one is preceded by thousands of lesser choices. and has consequences--success or happiness--why not both?

Part of you knows what you should do, but you find it difficult to summon up the will power?  Here is some advice from an earlier post http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2012/09/the-willpower-instinct.html by way of Kelly McGonigal.

Photo:  Just another beautiful photo I chose cause I like it and hoped it would encourage you to read this blog..

"Thrive" a new look on success by Adrianna Huffington

Adrianna Huffington is admired by many people.  I enjoy reading her "Huffington Post" daily and have found many of her tv appearances and earlier books enlightening.  She succeeded with hard work.  At one point she realized success is more than money and power and she was persuaded to share her pursuit of real happiness with "Thrive".

If you are a reader of self improvement books you have undoubtedly read many of the ideas presented, but for many of us it takes a lot of repetition and perhaps a different perspective to help us make the changes that make our lives better.  The self improvement is not aimed at making you richer or more powerful.  Adrianna shares her own experiences and not all of them were positive.

Stress is a universal disease.  We all seem to feel a hurry-ness.  It is a competitive world that seems to require exploiting our fellow humans.  You can succeed against odds, but material success comes only after a lot of stress and may seem empty.  One remedy Adrianna suggests is simply to get more sleep and she found getting a half hour more each night made a difference.  For those who can't, naps are a semi solution.  Other serious ways of dealing with stress include meditation, mindfulness and yoga.  You have heard all this before, but she has her own spin worth the trouble to read.

Technology can make things worse or not.  Social media has become very effective at determining what anyone likes and will serve it up as often as practical.  On the other hand social media can not determine what you don't know that you might like.  The inter net has turned work into a 24/365 burden for too many. and the rest of us are being dragged along.

A concept usually avoided is the awareness of death.  Death is one universal  fact of life shared by all, but a thought that is almost taboo.  Adrianna suggests an awareness of the inevitable makes us more conscious of how precious life is.

Viktor Frankl's story has been recounted in many books and talks, but is one we need to grasp.  He survived a death camp with the Nazis.  He learned that none of us can control what happens outside ourselves, but our last human freedom is the freedom to choose our own attitude.  No question the world can be a cruel place, but most of us do not have to endure the hardships Frankl went through.

Another good example comes from Nelson Mandela who spent 27 years in prison before his oppressors released him to help with a delicate political transformation.  He puts it this way, "if I didn't leave my bitterness and hatred behind I'd still be in prison."  Nelson set an example that helped South Africa move forward.  When we carry bitterness it holds us back.

Adrianna is an advocate for volunteering, but she doesn't just talk about it.  At Huffington Post she allows employees to have 3 voluntary days per year plus they match up to $250 any charitable donations employees care to make.

She makes her points in the main body of the book, but provides appendixes that give more specific instructions and directions for more information.  Her ideas cannot be written enough, but as she is someone to admire her words might carry more weight or because she is perceptive the words might just hit the right nerve.

How much is enough? by Robert Skidelsky and Edward Skidelsky

It is common enough to credit greed with all the troubles of the world.  But we all play a role as well as being victims of our own greed.  Most of us are not satisfied with what we have as there always seems to be something else we need for happiness, but the goal is always elusive.  Other people have pretty much everything we want and they still want more.

Originally read the book to think about my own individual situation and the author does have some relevant thoughts.  The author feels that happiness should not be the goal, but rather to have reasons to be happy, such as health, respect, friendship and leisure time.  Much of the focus is pointed towards society as a whole.  A big obstacle is the acceptance of inequality.

I had read "A Book on John Maynard Keyes" by Robert Skildelsky explaining the famous economist.  Keynes underlying theme was that the only purpose of any economic system should be to improve the well being of mankind.  Of course the study of economics attracts those who want to know the secrets of getting more money.

The constant push towards more growth seems to cause all sorts of problems--the environment is stressed, inequality seems to increase, while some people work more hours than they want, others can't get enough work.  What makes this possible is mankind's insatiability.  Once our basic needs are taken care of we want something extra and nowadays our fantasies are coming to life.  Maslow's pyramid points to less materialistic goals which do drive some people in their search for meaning, but are not universal even among those who have all their physical needs met.

Before society could move towards the ideal of everyone enjoying life instead of pursuing money competitively we need a change in philosophy.  It would be normal to expect skepticism as those on top appear horrified with sharing their wealth.

One step is to increase taxes so that money can be redistributed, particularly to public service.  This of course would be resisted by those who would pay.  Some who have attained wealth understand that it comes from wage earners and that everyone benefits from pooling our resources into infrastructure. Unfortunately too many feel that only they deserve the highest standard of living possible.  Spreading the wealth can have the effect of growing the wealth, but also diminishing incentives.

The pressure to consume needs to be reduced in order to reduce the pressure to work.  If we didn't want to own a bigger house, a faster car, snappier clothes than our peers there would not be as much desire to work overtime or work hard for a promotion.  We compete for more glamorous vacations, best seats, etc.  It is not just that we want to have more, we want to have more than our neighbors.

Reducing the effect of advertising is a key remedy.  A lot of people make their living through advertising  (I am one) and their efforts often increase the growth of companies and institutions, providing jobs for others.

While I agree that business and advertising are aimed at getting you to buy things that you don't necessarily need, marketing actually starts at the other end by trying to find out what you would be willing to pay money for.  Basically advertising is a tool which can be used for a wide range of tasks including what might be considered noble ends.

The problem is we have to make a living and unless you have a great deal of (perhaps "enough"is a better word choice) money an individual has little power to change the system.  You don't necessarily have to be filthy rich in order to set your own priorities.  If you don't have all the needed resources to get something you have to either re-evaluate what you want or figure out how you are going to get the resources.

I understand the mission, but feel I am not much closer to an answer.  I have found that a lot of my stuff is not as valued as when bought.  Experiences are more valued as I age. There is a fear that the money will run out before I do, but want to enjoy life while I can and I do realize that money is only part of the solution.  How about you?

You can read more of Robert Skidelsky's views at http://www.skidelskyr.com/

Some thoughts on Ayn Rand

The recent nomination of Paul Ryan as the Republican candidate for Vice President has reminded me of one of my youthful literary escapades.  In my twenties I bought a copy of Ayn Rand's "The Virtue of Selfishness."

I read it a few times, underlining many passages.  I was quite struck by many of her arguments and have retained some respect even today.  Essentially she argues that if everyone pursues their selfish interests it is best for society.  For instance, my example, if enough people with enough money want to drive a car then there will be jobs for people making cars.  The system falls down when someone decides that we have too many cars and people should buy bicycles instead.  This causes unhappiness:  those making a living making cars lose their jobs and those who want to drive cars are frustrated.   I am reminded of a quote of Zig Ziglar:  " You can get whatever you want if you help enough people get what they want."

One point I still agree with whole heartedly is that to really follow your selfish interests it is best to take a long term view rather than a short term view.  To me this is one of the biggest issues of society today, impatience to get what we want.

The decision boils down to individualism vs. collectivism as how I read it recently.  Like many dichotomies there is merit to both sides, but there is also danger should either one dominate.

Balancing her contentions in some ways is Stephen R Covey.  In essence his book, "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" is a guide to how an individual can be more effective, that is get more of what they want.  But the thinking is more all encompassing.  One of the habits is to understand deeply what the other person thinks and feels.  Another habit is to look for a win-win solution, very strongly stating that if only one side wins it is not the best solution.  Covey believes that society is inter-dependent and if you want to be effective (ie. succeed) you need to work within that framework.

Civilization did not get to where it is by constantly re-starting from scratch.  Isaac Newton said he stood on the shoulders of giants who came before him.  Over eons of time a lot of good ideas were gradually discovered by individuals and even more slowly accepted by others.  All individuals are totally dependent on the good will of others when born, but as they matured were able to contribute to the good of others.  As we mature our feeling of independence grows, but some of us never really realize we are always dependent on others.

Peer pressure is not always for the benefit of individuals or even of the group.  Most people, most of the time like to keep things the way they are and resist any change (including who makes different decisions for different concerns).  Change is how we progress.  Just as we want and need freedom to express ourselves and to contribute so do others.  We need to give them the room and the opportunity.

Implicit in these discussions are judgments on other people.  Ayn Rand contends they deserve what they get because they made a lot of decisions that put them there.  It is true that we are where we are not only because of decisions we made, but also because of decisions made by others.  If we are honest most of us have made bad decisions.  Sometimes we learned from them, sometimes we got locked in.  Sometimes we realized other people had been confronted by the same problem and learning how they handled it could be helpful.  Often someone else' decision created obstacles. It is true that some people are better than others at over coming obstacles, but it is also true that some people have more difficult obstacles to overcome.

Can we say all decisions are rational?  I would say too many decisions are emotional and that includes intellectuals.

As a society we will all suffer the consequences of poor decisions.  We all lose when the best person doesn't get the job, when talent gets wasted, when anyone suffers unjustly, when deserving people don't get a chance, when greed wins over justice.  Every individual in many ways got their power with the help of many other individuals and of circumstances.  How they exercise their power affects everyone.

Another set of thoughts that enter my thinking is from Bertrand Russell who wrote an essay, "In Praise of Idleness."  There are many people it seems to me who are quick to criticize those who apparently are not doing anything "useful" or who are not pursuing a normal path. They are just enjoying something.  We look down on such people, but we should respect what they want out of life as long as it doesn't hurt others.  If you cannot enjoy life what is the point?

Human nature should be the basis of how we organize ourselves.  We have many commendable traits, but unfortunately most look out for ourselves most of the time.  Some of us are talented at getting more than our share in relation to what we contribute.  A few are very adept at bending the rules for their own advantage.  When we get a little power we almost immediately try to figure out how we can increase our power and it is usually at the expense of someone else.  If this is just extrapolating my own nature I apologize, but believe there is some rational basis for my thoughts..

We need to find more effective ways to co-operate or we will all suffer, but at the same time we need to encourage individuals to fully use their talents and find their own solutions.  Problems like avoiding war, especially nuclear war, climate change, energy and food shortages, contagious disease, terrorism., etc require wide spread co-operation.   We cannot leave these decisions to powerful people with narrow interests.  There is merit in people speaking up for individualism, but there needs to be those advocating intelligent co-operation to help unleash individual talent.

"The Price of Civilization"

I read "The Price of Civilization" as I had enjoyed the other Jeffrey Sachs book my son Michael recommended, "The End of Poverty."

The title comes from a saying of Oliver Wendel Holmes who felt taxes were the price of civilization.  We could live in a world where the law of the jungle prevailed, but there would be a lot missing.

For instance a lot of what we call infrastructure would be missing. Roads, water works, airports, health facilities, etc.  Culture would be relatively primitive.

For another instance, security from all sorts of fears would be aggravated.   The feeling that allows you to plan ahead.  To motivate you to make an effort to make things better.

Amongst many other things Ronald Reagan deregulated media resulting in greater concentration of the message senders.  He also did away with service requirements and a fairness policy.  Broadcasters did what was intended, focusing on profits.  News became part of the entertainment package and changed to become part of the profit effort partly through sensationalism and partly through segmenting profitable niches.

Globalization has many benefits, but also in some ways generates a race to the bottom.  International co-operation is resisted by corporations who prefer to play countries against one another in such areas as wages, taxes, union rules and environmental regulations.

Redistributing wealth can boost productivity of the poor through education and nutrition, but of course powerful interests make this difficult.  Special interests have gained control of the United States partly because of the power of money.  But a disengaged population lets them do it.  People do vote for local special interests and then find that at the national level they work in concert to each get what they want.  Getting elected has become expensive and requires an almost constant campaign mode.

Jeffrey had some concerns on something more important than mere money, that being happiness. Westerners in general live in a consumer society and tend to addictions including gambling and watching tv.  He points out that excessive tv watching correlates with social distrust, obesity,  and low civic engagement.

He uses Buddha and Aristotle, both advocates of moderation as the key to fulfillment.  We can apply mindfulness to self, work, knowledge, other people, nature, the future, politics and the world.

One point that caught my attention was that Europeans generally pay more taxes, but enjoy a higher quality of life in many regards.  America has a geographic advantage of more space  per capita.

To learn more about Jeffrey Sach look here http://jeffsachs.org/  I recommend any of his books for depth of thinking.

THE GREAT DISRUPTION: IS IT REALLY ON?

A lot of us have been hearing warnings of catastrophe for years and have hardened ourselves to it. Personally it takes little effort to ignore or dismiss most disaster predictions or to develop a deaf ear. After all one has to get on with living with all the regular day to day problems.

Paul Gilding is formerly a frustrated environmentalist that used to think if you could picture the impending disaster scarily, but accurately enough people would do something about it. He has now concluded that was delusional.  However he draws parallels with World War II. Looking back in hindsight there were lots of indicators and warnings. Not much heed was given, but when the boiling point was reached there was a massive concerted effort to deal with it. The key for Gilding will be when environmental problems such as climate change come with serious economic costs, public opinion will shift dramatically.

Like all predicted problems when they actually occur it is better to have some preparation. Gilding has plenty of advice, but tempers it with the realization that details are very hard to predict.

At the bottom of the problem is our feeling that our economy must be continuously growing. If there are finite resources sooner or later you will run into problems unless you find a way to use existing resources in a sustainable way. After the 9/11 tragedy the advice from George W Bush was to "shop." The implication being that to get back to normal and not let the terrorists win, the most important thing was to resume shopping and let our economy keep growing.

By our incessant emphasis on using up resources to keep the economy growing we are approaching a tipping point that points to a "Great Disruption."

The solution involves a bunch of things you are already familiar with and that we have been told are too expensive and disruptive for our economy and way of life. Reduce carbon emissions as quickly as possible and turn to alternative sources of energy. This means a switch from oil and its support industries to something cleaner with a lot of very difficult adjustments. It means cutting out as much as possible harmful practices that seem normal to-day. This process will not be completed for decades.

All is not lost. With disruptions come opportunities to re-direct our activities. Paul explores a basic goal of mankind--happiness. Studies he refers to suggest that happiness for poor people can be increased by small increments in wealth, but as wealth continues to increase it no longer necessarily increases happiness and certainly not at the same pace as before. But we are conditioned to strive for more wealth. A big disruptive shift of circumstances will encourage an examination of what we value most. If we choose mankind can provide meaningful jobs and a higher purpose for everyone. Fun will still be part of our future.

People can learn to work together for our overall happiness. Nobody knows how things will work out, but it seems to me after reading this book (and many books picturing upcoming environmental problems) we are inevitably headed to some major changes, in fact a Great Disruption. Paul Gilding thinks we can turn things around. I wonder.

Read the book. It is certainly thought provoking.