A New Way of Seeing Everything:
Designing & Creating the World Together
Course Description:
The rational cognitive capacity of humans is only the tip of the iceberg. Human reason is informed and shaped by a vast network of real-time and stored responses based on memory and environmental cues. If, as contemporary research and theories suggest, our reason is shaped by our unconscious, how may we direct our actions and our attention to shape our unconscious?
What landmarks or signposts can we use to guide our direction?
How may our decisions lead to a more fulfilling life and a better world?
In this seminar-style class, participants will hear and discuss contemporary theories on consciousness and the mind, reflect on what mental models underlie our strategies for organizing our lives and responding to the inevitable challenges and disappointments we experience, and intentionally practice a way of seeing and doing that has been the hallmark of humankind’s evolutionary flourishing. Class readings include excerpts from Plato, Aristotle, Adam Smith, John Locke, Albert Einstein, Max Planck, Jonathan Haidt, Michael Graziano, Bruce Lipton, Candace Pert, Martin Nowak, and Michael Tomasello.
The rational cognitive capacity of humans is only the tip of the iceberg. Human reason is informed and shaped by a vast network of real-time and stored responses based on memory and environmental cues. If, as contemporary research and theories suggest, our reason is shaped by our unconscious, how may we direct our actions and our attention to shape our unconscious?
What landmarks or signposts can we use to guide our direction?
How may our decisions lead to a more fulfilling life and a better world?
In this seminar-style class, participants will hear and discuss contemporary theories on consciousness and the mind, reflect on what mental models underlie our strategies for organizing our lives and responding to the inevitable challenges and disappointments we experience, and intentionally practice a way of seeing and doing that has been the hallmark of humankind’s evolutionary flourishing. Class readings include excerpts from Plato, Aristotle, Adam Smith, John Locke, Albert Einstein, Max Planck, Jonathan Haidt, Michael Graziano, Bruce Lipton, Candace Pert, Martin Nowak, and Michael Tomasello.
Bishop's House, Fridays from 1:30 pm - 3:00 p.m.
Overview
What does it mean "to see everything in a new way?"
The things that are new to me may not be new to you.
This course is about us humans:
our extraordinary capacity to adapt and create;
and the tremendous pleasure it affords us.
We are restlessly driven to be "right" - safe and valued in our communities -
and to make things better.
As a highly social species,
we continue to develop methods of communication and culture
to extend our collective intelligence
to explore new questions and meet new challenges.
What is new to all of us is each moment.
Each moment, the entire universe is entirely new.
The things that are new to me may not be new to you.
This course is about us humans:
our extraordinary capacity to adapt and create;
and the tremendous pleasure it affords us.
We are restlessly driven to be "right" - safe and valued in our communities -
and to make things better.
As a highly social species,
we continue to develop methods of communication and culture
to extend our collective intelligence
to explore new questions and meet new challenges.
What is new to all of us is each moment.
Each moment, the entire universe is entirely new.
The Course Plan
Part I - What does it mean to be a human being?
Part II - What kind of universe do we live in?
Part III - What have we done together? What has worked? What are our new challenges?
Part II - What kind of universe do we live in?
Part III - What have we done together? What has worked? What are our new challenges?
Part I - What does it mean to be a human being?
In this part, we are considering ourselves as individual members of a highly social species. How do we understand, perceive, think, feel? How does the brain and body sense and communicate internally and externally? What do we know about the inter-relationship of what we know consciously and unconsciously? What is consciousness and how might we become more aware of our own consciousness, its limits and its potential? We learn that there are three executive neural centers, the gut, the heart and the brain, all connected by the vagus nerve. We learn that the cognitive (logical) brain is a limited sub-system. We learn the molecules of emotion play a critical role in the human ability to prioritize. We learn that we have a tendency to develop programmed responses, and we have the ability to become aware of these programs and strategically override them. We learn that fear narrows and focuses our cognitive capacity, while feeling safe promotes a broader awareness and fosters the development of connections with others. We learn about the altruistic, empathetic capacities of the brain. We learn that thinking with the heart builds physical, emotional and social health.
What does all this have to do with "seeing everything in a new way?" We learn from each other that each one of us brings a different viewpoint to the discussion. We listen to one another and learn from one another. Sometimes we don't understand each other. Sometimes we are lost. Sometimes we are irritated. Sometimes we are able to share something that others recognize. Sometimes we feel that we have not been heard. Sometimes we learn about ourselves as we express ourselves to others.
As we listen to one another and try to make sense of a set of information that is all over the map, we are encouraged to feel safe in ourselves. From a place of safety and gratitude for all we have received so far in our lives, we may overflow with curiosity and kindness... or at least remind ourselves that somewhere deep within ourselves, this is the point on the horizon towards which we journey.
It happens moment by moment, in tiny thoughts and actions. We learn as we go. "There is no failure. Only feedback." Our efforts are what we become.
In this part, we are considering ourselves as individual members of a highly social species. How do we understand, perceive, think, feel? How does the brain and body sense and communicate internally and externally? What do we know about the inter-relationship of what we know consciously and unconsciously? What is consciousness and how might we become more aware of our own consciousness, its limits and its potential? We learn that there are three executive neural centers, the gut, the heart and the brain, all connected by the vagus nerve. We learn that the cognitive (logical) brain is a limited sub-system. We learn the molecules of emotion play a critical role in the human ability to prioritize. We learn that we have a tendency to develop programmed responses, and we have the ability to become aware of these programs and strategically override them. We learn that fear narrows and focuses our cognitive capacity, while feeling safe promotes a broader awareness and fosters the development of connections with others. We learn about the altruistic, empathetic capacities of the brain. We learn that thinking with the heart builds physical, emotional and social health.
What does all this have to do with "seeing everything in a new way?" We learn from each other that each one of us brings a different viewpoint to the discussion. We listen to one another and learn from one another. Sometimes we don't understand each other. Sometimes we are lost. Sometimes we are irritated. Sometimes we are able to share something that others recognize. Sometimes we feel that we have not been heard. Sometimes we learn about ourselves as we express ourselves to others.
As we listen to one another and try to make sense of a set of information that is all over the map, we are encouraged to feel safe in ourselves. From a place of safety and gratitude for all we have received so far in our lives, we may overflow with curiosity and kindness... or at least remind ourselves that somewhere deep within ourselves, this is the point on the horizon towards which we journey.
It happens moment by moment, in tiny thoughts and actions. We learn as we go. "There is no failure. Only feedback." Our efforts are what we become.
Part II - What kind of universe do we live in?
Part III - What have we done together? What has worked? What are our new challenges?
