RSA Comment - Latest Comments

Re: RSA Animate – The Power of Networks

Rebecca Tversky — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:12:11 -0000

Love the visual representations of the complex yet simple concepts. Thank you for pulling this together so beautifully! The web replacing the tree, illuminating interdependence as our discovered reality. Brilliant!

Re: Meaning at work

samples of essays — Fri, 25 May 2012 09:14:17 -0000

All employees want is to know that what they do matters, that THEY
matter. And they want to be told that personally. Overcoming the
barriers to interpersonal relationships created by our highly
technological workforce is a challenge, as noted by Mr. Grant. This IS
where strategic employee recognition plays a fundamental role by
encouraging frequent, personal acknowledgment and appreciation of
employee effort in a highly specific and meaningful way. This goes
beyond a simple, "Thanks. Great work." to say instead: "Joe, I really
appreciate the way you tackled XYZ problem.

Re: RSA Animate – The Power of Networks

BensCarts — Fri, 25 May 2012 01:18:42 -0000

Who does your animation / video scribing? It is the best I've ever seen.

Re: RSA Animate – Changing Education Paradigms

wills — Thu, 24 May 2012 07:59:04 -0000

Well good to see
this post regarding education.I really admire it a lot.Thanks a lot for
sharing.Keep sharing as always/

Re: RSA Animate – The Power of Networks

marianne doczi — Tue, 22 May 2012 07:53:37 -0000

This animation really "animates" the topic. The visuals make it so much easier to "see" the reality of life/society being based on networks/webs rather than static trees/unconnected branches. Manuel LIma gives a clear, cogent explanation of why we need to shift to this type of thinking and exploration.

Re: RSA Animate – Changing Education Paradigms

Shirley B. Chen — Tue, 15 May 2012 02:34:25 -0000

Great documentary. ADHD is a myth. Kids are always energetic and playful. Saying a kid has ADHD is very rude. Thanks for the video :)

Re: Valuing human capital

focusedlearning — Mon, 14 May 2012 15:29:26 -0000

It amazes me why more smart people have not rallied around the notion that Echols is talking about here. What is really holding this back?

Re: Time to celebrate recovery?

Josh W — Thu, 10 May 2012 21:15:40 -0000

*Apologies for the formatting, there's something about this comment system that is interfering with my standard procedure for writing comments.

Re: Time to celebrate recovery?

Josh W — Thu, 10 May 2012 21:13:42 -0000

You said that it is an illness not a moral failing, surely
the problem of addiction is exactly how it straddles that line?

If addiction is a disease of the will, then it will always be about choices,
that people, try as they might, keep choosing to do the wrong things, and that
is precisely the problem of it.

Trying to ignore that side of things will just lead to it popping up again and
again; people will see what you are excluding and over-emphasise it.

But that's not to say people should hide their addictions, the problem of shame
spirals is not unique to addiction; concealing something can frequently make it
more difficult to deal with, and so on.

So the only solution I can see is that people should reveal their addictions,
and get support both to recover and to put up with the inevitable criticism
they will receive. Both sympathy and criticism seem inevitable parts of the
process, because you will rarely be the only person you hurt. But equally at
least you are being brave and honest about it and admitting.

The only pride this is incompatible with is that which refuses to show weakness
or admit fault, but revealing yourself in that way requires a supportive community.
Sadly I can only volunteer to be that community for the people I know.

I'm surprised to hear that people are expected not to reveal their previous
addictions; someone I know who works with addicts is happy to admit his
ex-addiction recovery, although I think he doesn't go into what he was addicted
to.

Re: Serve to lead

Josh W — Thu, 10 May 2012 19:58:19 -0000

*Copied from notepad and the formatting went off.

Re: Serve to lead

Josh W — Thu, 10 May 2012 19:55:59 -0000

Another consideration; perhaps what they are paid to do and
what they need to do to continue to be paid are different things?

For example, say a CEO takes this matter to heart and starts doing things,
intervening in the company. What if in doing so they damage the systems that
are already running the company without their interference, and so damage it's
profitability or stability, hurting their position?

This idea has quite a bit of pedigree "the less the emperor does, the more
that is accomplished" as the old chinese phrase goes.

I don't think it is totally true, but nevertheless, it should not be assumed
that the written job description is a better description of what they need to
do than a job description constructed heuristically by a wide spectrum of the
company. A CEO's job description is generally not created with any interactions
on the part of people lower down in the company, and represents not only the
interests of only a small amount of stakeholders, but also their knowledge.

It almost appears as if, in the absence of ways for employees to specify what
they actually need a leader to do, this
theatre of flattery and wishful thinking builds up, to insulate the organisation
against the dangers of poorly thought out interventions.

In other words, perhaps good leadership is simply a positive way of stating
"not what we feared".

So a poor leader is one that sides against their employees, ignores problems
etc.

In that sense it's perfectly reasonable that the ideal leader would be
inactive; he is so far from a tyrant he does nothing at all!

A rational leadership position would then find the constraints within the
specifications he has been given, and then find theories of active leadership
that are compatible with it.

Re: What is a good teacher?

Amckinnon27 — Wed, 09 May 2012 16:26:11 -0000

Meh- the message here is somewhat mixed. Good teachers inspire students. Check. Good teachers don't give up on them even when they give up on themselves. Check. All of us in society have an obligation to help support students and education. Check. And yes, also- the challenges our students face should not be used as excuses for either their failure or our own as educators. This is true.

However, it would be a HUGE mistake to assume that teachers do not also have to deal with those "volatile issues" that are creeping in. Times most certainly have changed and part of that is recognizing that the social context has changed. Teachers MUST take this into account and adjust. We can no longer assume that students are safe, fed, loved and supported outside of schools. To ignore this and simple demand excellence is to stick your head in the sand. You may think you're doing what is necessary for the child, but in reality you are failing them.

Just as "all of our hands" have to be involved in supporting education, so too does every teacher need to be present and aware and available for each student and their individual challenges. Yes, gone are the days where we can say a "poor education is someone else's problem," but so are the days when teachers can assume that there is some agency that can help them with that. Teachers have to partner with social agencies- have to be ready to refer students, identify those in need and openly acknowledge what the student is facing. What was once going above and beyond is now a requirement of working with youth.

True- social issues shouldn't take the focus of educating, but they should most definitely be accounted for and used to help re-frame the educative process. We have to acknowledge and adapt. Failure to do so is irresponsible and illogical.

You can DEMAND high performance all you want, but if you don't find a way to help the student who doesn't have a safe place to sleep, you're just as guilty as the teacher who decided to ignore them entirely. You want the kid to stop falling asleep in class, ask yourself why that's the only place he feels comfortable doing so.

Re: What is a good teacher?

Charlinapier — Wed, 09 May 2012 15:39:30 -0000

This is inspiring and so true, particularly the bit about no young person wanting to fail. I have always held onto the FACT that every young person (in fact any person) wants to feel success and self pride and it is our job to help them get that really good feeling! Also, I definitely think it is time teachers, parents, "society" stop saying things like "...in my day..." as I am not sure what that achieves. Things change.

Re: What is a good teacher?

Anita — Wed, 09 May 2012 15:36:06 -0000

A passionate and thought-provoking article, challenging us all to examine our role in education. Educating our youth is the collective responsibility of society and not solely teachers. It is this collective responsibility that can make a good teacher, a great teacher!

Re: RSA Animate – The Divided Brain

Saynotofascism — Wed, 09 May 2012 15:18:23 -0000

Interesting and accurate in some ways, but lamentably omits the factor of focused manipulation of humanity in producing this woeful imbalance. Unbalanced manipulators and their manipulated imbalance only lead to increased imbalance, at least in the short term. Yet, in the long run, it serves to obviate the need to re-balance. We are in an exciting time of transformation from sleepwalking sheeple to a growing number of awakening beings, ready to discover our own innate power to transform the fascist CONstruct of "authority." The shift is real and happening now. Anyone can join the movement.... Just say NO to FASCISM!

Re: What is a good teacher?

Yvonne Martin — Wed, 09 May 2012 13:43:44 -0000

So clearly put from the heart. Thank you.

Re: RSA Animate – Changing Education Paradigms

Rowanrules11 — Sun, 06 May 2012 22:17:22 -0000

*does

Re: RSA Animate – Changing Education Paradigms

Rowanrules11 — Sun, 06 May 2012 22:16:52 -0000

who dose these animations i really need to know for a project!!!

Re: RSA Animate – First as Tragedy, Then as Farce

Lightfootnicholas — Sat, 05 May 2012 06:50:51 -0000

Nathan, with respect, I would like to pose a response. You seem to have misunderstood Zizek's fundamental point. Rather than advocating a critical-theorist dictatorship, he is demanding that we take responsibility for the consequences our own actions (be them direct or indirect) and the dominant social order which they perpetuate. Do you not see that you make the same assertions as he does?
Yes, of course we should continue to try an alleviate poverty/suffering/inequalities. However, we must recognise that 'ethical consumerism' is a myth - insomuch as it works to reproduce the conditions in which poverty manifests. His argument is not a form of abstract utopianism but one of concrete utopianism. (I would also urge you to reconsider how you conceive Utopia/utopianism - it is a heterodox mode of thought that is not restricted to the imposition of blueprints, as you seem to imply).
Let me, if you will, propose another way of thinking about this. Consider the effects of modern Western consumption patterns for our descendants, our children. Should we continue, in blind ignorance or enlightenment, these patterns? They are creating new forms of poverty in the present, and will foster a truly dystopian future for our potential descendants. Will buying a slightly more ethical brand of T-Shirt ameliorate anthropogenic climate change? It will not.
Our Western lifestyle is a form of totalitarianism: it creates systematic poverty around the globe over which those affected have no control or voice. Surely, as Zizek argues, it is time to re-evaluate how we conduct our daily lives and organise ourselves as a society?
You create a binary dichotomy between abstract and concrete poverty - this is either misinformed or misguided. Rather, poverty must be recognised as a transgressive feature of the world today - it is not inherent, natural or necessary. We can work to eliminate it, whether we make it impossible is irrelevant. A future utopia would indeed be one in which no man was consigned to the gas chamber of extreme poverty due to the actions of another. It is this that we should work towards whilst simultaneously recognising that it may not pan out the way we intend.

I hope this might help elucidate the wider debate about the causes of and solutions for poverty.

Re: RSA Animate – Drive

Friendly Ryan — Thu, 03 May 2012 22:49:43 -0000

This is an amazing video, makes a lot of sense in ways you wouldn't think it would. Superb. Plus i couldn't stop watching due to the amazing drawings.

Re: Time to celebrate recovery?

Beth Burgess — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 07:04:18 -0000

Charlie, addiction is no more 'an indulgence' than depression is. Semantically you may argue it is a 'choice' but emotionally, mentally and physically I was completely controlled my by own addiction. That is not a choice.

I agree that in a lot of ways with addiction, your enemy is yourself,
but so it is with OCD, personality disorders, eating disorders
- that doesn't tkae away from the fact that a large part of you is out
of control of yourself. And that doesn't take away from the fact that these are all mental illnesses.

I would also argue that will-power is only necessary in the very first stages of recovery. If I thought I had to keep 'holding on' every day, I don't think I would have bothered. I do not think I have got out of my addiction by a 'choice to refrain' - I tried to 'choose to refrain' so many times and that did not work. I had to change my entire way of thinking in order to be able to recover.

I completely disagree that we need to be humbled by regret and shame to get over an addiction - what an awful way to treat a disorder. We need to have love and understanding to be able to take the first steps towards recovery. We need support to get through the tough times initially, and we need the tools to deal with life and our disordered thinking.

And finally, humility can be serving your fellow man, devoting part of your life to doing that. Celebrating recovery and helping others to understand the nature of it is the ultimate form of humility as you're putting everyone else's recovery right up there with your own in terms of importance. What could be more humble than laying out your hideous past and being prepared to discuss it all in order to help others?

Addiction is an illness and not a moral failing - this is my message and
I see from responses like this that I have a lot of work to do. Congratulations on your own sobriety Charlie. It really is an achievement, whether you choose to think of it in that way or not.

Re: Time to celebrate recovery?

Beth Burgess — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 06:33:02 -0000

Vic, I appreciate your comments. I think fellowship groups are great. I know Fellowships are safe places to talk about problems, so I'm not really suggesting that anonymity should be broken there - but in general I'd like to see more poeple in recovery sharing publicly in order to help others and end stigma, which I'm sure all of us want. Ending stigma would make owning up to the problem and getting started on recovery easier.

Re: Time to celebrate recovery?

Wasted_charlie — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 11:55:56 -0000

Perhaps addiction is so stigmatised because it represents an indulgence that is contrary to those values which promote the underdog.
As one who has spent much of my life suffering addiction, I would take issue with your statement that "addiction is not a choice". It certainly is, and your anecdote supports this. One of your friend's grandparents chose to give up alcohol, the other did not. You may argue that one was not truly an addict, but where does that leave any addict who puts up a fight? Not truly addicted? Any addict who overcomes their addiction has made a choice. Any that fall back into a pattern of addiction (myself included) made a choice to do so. Failure to understand that is a failure to appreciate the will-power necessary to overcome addiction. Also, referring to recovering addicts as survivors unhelpful. It adds a grandiosity to the position which also does not sit well with the supporters of underdogs. Other people will rarely view you as a survivor if your only enemy was yourself.
I'm mistrustful of claims that addiction is down to genetics, switches and events. For example, all the smokers I know started because it was the done thing, not because they were traumatised. Addiction grows because of the effect of the addictive behaviour on one's mind and body, be it smoking, drinking, gambling or eating-disorder. The activity satisfies a need, however brief the relief, or insatiable the desire. Whether one gains the addiction through curiosity, misadventure, social pressures or a personal propensity for addiction (genetic or otherwise), you get there because of your choice to indulge, you get out of it because of your choice to refrain.
I personally do not consider my addiction to be a disease. Calling it a disease feels like an attempt to shirk responsibility for my own actions - yet another thing that isn't going to win any public favour. I'd call it a disorder at worst; but there again, I'm told that my depression is a disease, and I get through that the same way as my addiction. Little-by-little, one day, one minute, one breath at a time. If the medical profession treats it like any other disease, then perhaps the public should too. Proclaim it the way you do when you catch Hepatitis, Influenza, Pnuemonia, HIV, Athletes Foot, MS, Folliculitis, Alzheimers or Acne.
Also, let me ask this hypothetical: Was Ebenezer Scrooge proud to overcome his miserliness? Did he attend the table of Bob Cratchit and expect people to raise a glass to his recovery? Or was he humbled by regret and shame for his selfish behaviour? I think the latter.
As addicts, we may inwardly feel relief from our recovery but we need to have humility, not pride. Our problems are caused by something we can control - our self-will. Whatever inner battles we make, they are never The Good Fight and any need for pride beyond ourselves is, in my opinion, completely misplaced.

Re: Time to celebrate recovery?

Vic — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 04:50:49 -0000

This is clearly very well-meaning and nicely positive but
just a little short-sighted and even possibly a little selfish. Anonymity is a
personal decision and of course someone is entitled to shout their recovery
from the rooftops if they want to. However, for groups such as AA, anonymity is
also an essential protection mechanism – for the group more than the
individual. It tries to stop personal egos putting the fellowship at risk from
perceived associations, individual failures, etc. It’s not for everyone maybe
but for anyone who has recovered through such a process, anonymity is as much
an obligation as anything else – one its members are generally more than happy
and grateful to adhere to.

Re: RSA Animate – The Divided Brain

roialblue — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 02:50:19 -0000

its been awhile between drinks - how about another RSA Animate?