By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 7 May 19
Over the past decade I’ve watched with alarm the widening polarization of the body politic across Western societies (and to some extent globally).As commonly recognized, the public is split into irreconcilable political factions who disagree not only on the interpretation of events, but on what events even took place. They have seemingly separated into two disjoint realities, each with its own facts, authorities, histories, and narratives.In this polarized environment, each side attributes the problem of polarization to the other side’s descent into unreason, having fallen victim to an evil, manipulating power. However, the trend toward polarization extends far beyond the
Over the past decade I’ve watched with alarm the widening polarization of the body politic across Western societies (and to some extent globally).As commonly recognized, the public is split into irreconcilable political factions who disagree not only on the interpretation of events, but on what events even took place. They have seemingly separated into two disjoint realities, each with its
By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 15 Apr 19
Redesigning governance for our connected futureBy Jim RuttMini-bioAmerica’s democratic institutions are unable to meet today’s major challenges. We are divided into confused and incoherent Red (Republican) and Blue (Democratic) teams that fail to address the people’s real needs and desires. Rather than face the severe local, state, national, and global problems before us — from infrastructure decay to climate change to ever-mounting national debt and ever-growing income inequality — we get gridlock and kicking the can down the road.One alternative to the politics of Team Red and Team Blue is known as “Liquid Democracy.” Also called “delegative democracy” or “proxy democracy,” Liquid Democracy combines elements
Redesigning governance for our connected futureBy Jim RuttMini-bioAmerica’s democratic institutions are unable to meet today’s major challenges. We are divided into confused and incoherent Red (Republican) and Blue (Democratic) teams that fail to address the people’s real needs and desires. Rather than face the severe local, state, national, and global problems before us — from infrastructure decay to climate change to ever-mounting
By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 1 Mar 19
Jordan Petersonitis: Intellectual and emotional discomfort caused by the perceived need to reach an informed view on the significance of Jordan Peterson’s cultural contribution, but being unable to, despite considerable effort.Jonathan Rowson in conversation with Jordan Peterson at the RSA on January 16 2018.****This is a truncated version of what was previously on this page because the full paper is now published at https://integral-review.org/an-epistemic-thunderstorm-what-we-learned-and-failed-to-learn-from-jordan-petersons-rise-to-fame/ ***Jordan B. Peterson is easily misunderstood. He is a clinical psychologist and Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto but is now known as a forceful cultural commentator who emphasizes the value, depth, and dignity of
Jordan Petersonitis: Intellectual and emotional discomfort caused by the perceived need to reach an informed view on the significance of Jordan Peterson’s cultural contribution, but being unable to, despite considerable effort.Jonathan Rowson in conversation with Jordan Peterson at the RSA on January 16 2018.****This is a truncated version of what was previously on this page because the full paper is now
By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 1 Mar 19
Jonathan Rowson in conversation with Jordan Peterson at the RSA on January 16 2018.Jordan B. Peterson is easily misunderstood. He is a clinical psychologist and Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto but is now known as a forceful cultural commentator who emphasizes the value, depth, and dignity of individual responsibility in an embattled manner, as if civilization is at stake. His magnum opus is not the current self-help bestseller, 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos, but a much deeper inquiry into myths and archetypes, Maps of Meaning, published two decades earlier.[i] Peterson’s online academic lectures derive from
Jonathan Rowson in conversation with Jordan Peterson at the RSA on January 16 2018.Jordan B. Peterson is easily misunderstood. He is a clinical psychologist and Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto but is now known as a forceful cultural commentator who emphasizes the value, depth, and dignity of individual responsibility in an embattled manner, as if civilization is at
By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 20 Feb 19
Photo by Paweł CzerwińskiLet’s begin with beer.Every day I drive past a billboard for Coors Light with the slogan, “Coors rocks Harrisburg.” Now, does anybody actually believe that Coors does in fact “rock Harrisburg”? No. Does the Coors corporation itself believe it? No. Does anyone believe that Coors believes it? No. It is a lie, everyone knows it is a lie, and no one cares. Everyone automatically writes it off as an ad slogan, an image campaign.The next sign advertises Miller Beer with the phrase, “Fresh beer tastes better.” Does anyone actually think Miller is any fresher than Budweiser, Coors, or
Photo by Paweł CzerwińskiLet’s begin with beer.Every day I drive past a billboard for Coors Light with the slogan, “Coors rocks Harrisburg.” Now, does anybody actually believe that Coors does in fact “rock Harrisburg”? No. Does the Coors corporation itself believe it? No. Does anyone believe that Coors believes it? No. It is a lie, everyone knows it is a lie,
By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 14 Feb 19
By Jim RuttContinue reading on Medium »
By Jim RuttContinue reading on Medium »
By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 11 Feb 19
By Jim RuttMini-BioThe politics of Team Red (Republicans) versus Team Blue (Democrats) have failed the American people. It is now time for an alternative.A few weeks ago, I published “An Introduction to Liquid Democracy,” which gave a generic description of an improved form of democracy. This essay gets more specific about why we need to upgrade our democracy and how to do this within the constraints of our Constitution. I’ll conclude with specific actions that can be taken to accelerate the adoption of Liquid Democracy in America.The road to a political system that works for most Americans begins by acknowledging that the
By Jim RuttMini-BioThe politics of Team Red (Republicans) versus Team Blue (Democrats) have failed the American people. It is now time for an alternative.A few weeks ago, I published “An Introduction to Liquid Democracy,” which gave a generic description of an improved form of democracy. This essay gets more specific about why we need to upgrade our democracy and how to
By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 22 Jan 19
This post will be an extension and update to the model first shared in Situational Assessment: 2017. Some familiarity with the concepts developed therein and continued in Situational Assessment: 2018 will be assumed. If you have not read those two posts, it will likely be useful to do so. As was noted in the past, please take this effort as a lens — not as an effort to tell the whole story. It is only one of many lenses, indeed, only one of the many lenses that I, myself, use to make sense of the world. It is not and cannot be
This post will be an extension and update to the model first shared in Situational Assessment: 2017. Some familiarity with the concepts developed therein and continued in Situational Assessment: 2018 will be assumed. If you have not read those two posts, it will likely be useful to do so. As was noted in the past, please take this effort as
By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 13 Dec 18
by John Bunzl and Nick Duffell, authors of The Simpol Solution: a new way to think about solving the world’s biggest problems. Peter Owen 2017, Prometheus 2018.We’ve got a problemYou don’t need us to tell you that there are some Very Big Problems out there. There seems little point in even listing them. Nor do you need us to tell you that the way we as a species seem to be responding falls far short of ideal. The world has changed and the complexity and speed of the problems — most of them manmade — has intensified massively. Most of all, we’re feeling bewildered and
by John Bunzl and Nick Duffell, authors of The Simpol Solution: a new way to think about solving the world’s biggest problems. Peter Owen 2017, Prometheus 2018.We’ve got a problemYou don’t need us to tell you that there are some Very Big Problems out there. There seems little point in even listing them. Nor do you need us to tell you
By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 9 Oct 18
https://medium.com/media/71203b624d135a07574fbabe5eae5177/hrefFor an outside observer, the most significant characteristic of the ongoing controversy and fallout from the Kavanaugh nomination to the Supreme Court is how fundamentally divorced the twin narratives have become, and how little communication seems possible or even attempted across the divide.Into this maelstrom stepped Jordan Peterson and other members of the ‘Intellectual Dark Web’, with Peterson receiving the most sustained and intense criticism he has received from his own supporters for a tweet in which he suggested that Kavanaugh should step down if he was confirmed.Many of his supporters seemed horrified that he was arguing for, in their mind,
https://medium.com/media/71203b624d135a07574fbabe5eae5177/hrefFor an outside observer, the most significant characteristic of the ongoing controversy and fallout from the Kavanaugh nomination to the Supreme Court is how fundamentally divorced the twin narratives have become, and how little communication seems possible or even attempted across the divide.Into this maelstrom stepped Jordan Peterson and other members of the ‘Intellectual Dark Web’, with Peterson receiving the most