Stories and how they 'are' your life

By /
Not only are stories what you live your life they are also the medium by which you engage with the environment around you. Probably - I am of course implying that my outlook on life ("my story") is the way that you should see your life.

Dave Snowden has two unrelated story (narrative)-type postings over at Cognitive Edge that caught my eye, Fractal narratives & identity and Antiquitas saeculi juventus mundi - cracking titles aren't they?

Stick with me/him though.

The first article is best summed up by Mr D Snowden:
...
Those stories provide the basic patterns through which we filter and perceive the world. You cannot argue logically on the basis of personal self interest in the face of such power. Instead you have to understand, nurture and evolve those stories over time.
...
As an example he uses what is, I suspect, a scenario we can all empathise with:
Think of family gatherings, Christmas after all is not too far behind us. In the modern age families no longer live cheek by jowl, but are separate for long periods, coming back together for weddings, funerals, special birthdays etc. One of the first things that happens at such an event is the telling of what I call identity stories. In my family those are a mixture of childhood experiential stories or stories relating to likes and dislikes. In effect the family is recreating the identity of an age when it was better connected. For the spouses this is tedious, they have heard the stories many time, they do not see them as significant, but can see them as a form of exclusion which to a degree they are. Until that is, a new generation cycles through and the older stories compost over time to provide a living substrate for the identity of the next generation.
Having recently returned from a world trip I can also see that this is an exercise that my friends and I went/are going through - we reminisce, we regenerate and we reinforce old patterns through our storytelling. It is also something "excluding" for those people that have joined the 'gang' after my leaving and are now having to hear these stories that don't affect them.

I have also found that it can be dangerous path to tread as people are not merely stuck in a story and it's constantly being regenerated. With a gap away and not being a part of the regeneration the assumptions that the old stories are still relevant should be challenged. Regeneration of stories.

The second article argues against "specialisation" for people and it is, I hope, how I am living my life, as someone with fingers in many pies. However in this world of "you do X" this can be quite a challenge. How often are you asked, "So, what do you do?" and the expected answer is one-thing for one-company.
...
Bacon is arguing that knowledge, for its its own sake represents an opportunity for power, not to control but to make sense of and interpret the world. With the problems we now face across our multiple societies we need generalists but have ceased to educate them. We lack a capability to integrate and synthesis our own, and the knowledge of the ancients with a dynamic and rapidly changing (politically and physically) world.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular articles

The Difference Between One Million And One Billion

Image
It's feels like a billion is just a bit bigger than a million. Obviously it's bigger but it fits on the same scale as a million, surely. It doesn't. A billion is so so so much bigger than a million. I've trawled the internet finding graphics and videos that show the VAST difference between one million and one billion. Oh, and just to finish with a different misconception about space starting with the classic opening line from the great Douglas Adams and The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy : “Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space.”

Men, Stop It!

Image
A friend of mine recently related how she was so over men sending her weird, annoying, and sometimes creepy messages via LinkedIn. I know, bloody LinkedIn, so I assume these are men are just using a "business reason" to get off, or something 🤮 So, the first message of this article, MEN, STOP IT! If you think you have the right to give a woman mental work by sending any unwanted message, you are wrong. It is so tiring and boring and sad, don't do it. The second message of this article is, men, atone by reading the next three articles and tell a woman, maybe your daughter, what it meant to you. Ask them what they think of you reading it, you will be happily surprised. 1: Stop praising women’s strength. We need a world where we don’t have to fight to be valued To change these harmful systems, we must continue radically shifting norms, despite continuing resistance. Second, creating accountable and equitable governance structures is not just women’s work; it is everyone’s ta

W. C. Fields quotes

Image
The office has all been moved around - new desks (with starter handles to raise and lower them), new high(er) speed network and ... the same old work. At least I have a differing view of the world, my team (well, the team I'm a part of not "my" team) is a lot closer - finally - and it's like an office from the 80's ... or even a classroom. But I still have time to move the crap off the PC : ------ Any man who hates dogs and loves whiskey can't be all bad. Anyone who hates Dogs and Kids Can't be All Bad. Hey! Who took the cork off my lunch??! Who stole the cork from my breakfast? Now don't say you can't swear off drinking, it's easy. I've done it a thousand times. Horse sense is the thing a horse has which keeps it from betting on people. If at first you don't succeed, try, try, again. Then quit, no use being a damn fool about things. Madam, there's no such thing as a tough child - if you parboil them first for seven hours, they alwa

The Oxygen Of Attention

Image
Stephen Fry mentioned it many years ago as a means of not only deflating Donald Trump but everyone like him, the self important that survive on the energy that attention gives them. .. Trump is the most talked about man in history, every single restaurant table, every single bar room, every single coffeeshop conversation you can just hear the word Trump Trump Trump.  He's the Trumpallo, he's like a Dr Seus character, the more you say his name the bigger he gets. All you have to do to defeat him is never mention his name. I have failed with this and other posts, but I think I'm gonna do just that. For my own sanity, I'm just never going to talk about him, no matter what happens from tomorrow on - I just don't need him in my life. If we all did that he would deflate like a balloon after the party lights have long been turned off. I also recalled a quote from Adolf Hitler: “It makes no difference whatever whether they laugh at us or revile us … whether they represent

We Are All Connected Islands

Image
Most people can locate where they are in their body, tap your forehead / brow just where there's a dip and about 2cms inside is where you are. It's not, but that's where we think we are, it's certainly where I'd put myself like some Numskull living inside this body called Mike Riversdale. Neuroscientists believe that consciousness, sometimes referred to as qualia, is located in multiple areas of the brain, including the cerebral cortex, thalamus, and claustrum:  Cerebral cortex The surface of the brain contains sensory, motor, and association areas that are thought to be essential for consciousness. The frontal cortex is involved in detecting new things, while higher-level sensory regions provide ongoing representation. [source:  Study sheds light on where conscious experience resides in the brain ] Thalamus Located in the middle of the brain, the thalamus is thought to be related to consciousness. The interaction between the thalamus and cortical regions, called t