Field of reference: Philosophy
>"We are perishing for want of wonder, not for want of wonders"
>style="text-decoration: underline">Link to the article
שייך לקטגוריות 4. יאוש וניכור | להשאיר תגובה | |
Field of reference: Economics, Sociology
Description: Promoting egoism and consumerism has led to destruction of social values, communities and natural systems. (Suzuki quoting Mander in his book)
>"About 80 percent of the world population now has television. Very little programming is produced locally; in most cases, it's from the U.S. and a few other developed, northern countries. So you have people in the South Pacific and people living in slums in Asia and South America seeing a bunch of white people standing around swimming pools drinking martinis and aspiring to nothing more than killing each other to take over each other corporate activities and make more money. Or they're watching cartoons or MTV or the Nike ads. And what you have is a set of images that are homogenising consciousness of the world. The incalculable cost of this erosion of local, diverse values, cultures and communities."
> ".. since these images are so believable, all that goes with them (appears to be) attainable, achievable, easy, nice and good. It's got such a gloss and an attractiveness to it that everybody kind of wants to go for it. And it's presented to them as a real alternative to the way they live ... There's no corresponding counter-force that tells people that this stuff they are watching, this lifestyle, is producing alienation, drug abuse, violence, suicide, family violence and disempowerment- on a level they've never imagined. And it's also bringing a tremendous breakdown of the environment. The level of consumption that's presented in this kind of imagery is directly connected to the overuse of the resources of the planet and the terrible waste problems that cause global warming, ozone depletion and our current destruction of habitat. All of the tremendous problems that are bringing us to the brink of evolutionary breakdown - forever - are hooked directly to this set of images that look so attractive (and harmless) in the first place."
style="text-decoration: underline">>Link to the book
שייך לקטגוריות 4. יאוש וניכור | להשאיר תגובה | |
Field of references: Economics, Politics, Anthropology
Description: Civic and economic success are corelated to social networks
>"Studying comparative levels of citizens' satisfaction with civic institutions when Italy instituted regional government made possible a multi-decade study that revealed how centuries-old norms of trust, reciprocity, and social networks among the inhabitants of regions led to high levels of civic and economic success, while the absence of rich lateral ties predicted lower levels of success and satisfaction in other regions."
style="text-decoration: underline">>Link to book
שייך לקטגוריות 1. מערכת אינטגרלית | להשאיר תגובה | |
Field of reference: Psychology
Description: The power of reputation.
>"HAVE you ever noticed a friend or neighbour driving a new hybrid car and felt pressure to trade in your gas guzzler? Or worried about what people might think when you drive up to the office in an SUV? If so, then you have experienced the power of reputation for encouraging good public behaviour. In fact, reputation is such an effective motivator that it could help us solve the most pressing issue we face"...............""Tokens such as these serve a dual purpose. First, they allow those who contribute to reap benefits through reputation, helping to compensate them for the costs they incur. Secondly, when people display their commitment to conservation, it reinforces the norm of participation and increases the pressure on free riders. If youknow that all of your neighbours are paying extra for green energy or volunteering on a conservation project, that makes you all the more inclined to do so yourself."
>style="text-decoration: underline">Link to the article
שייך לקטגוריות 3. קנאה וכבוד | להשאיר תגובה | |
Field of reference: Health, Economics
Description: Scientific research on the subject of Relative Happiness.
>"An important reason why more money does not automatically make everybody happier is that people tend to compare their lot with that of others. In one striking example, students at Harvard University were asked whether they would prefer (a) $50,000 a year while others got half that or (b) $100,000 a year while others got twice as much. A majority chose (a). They were happy with less, as long as they were better off than others." ..... "Other studies confirm that people are often more concerned about their income relative to others' than about their absolute income. Pleasure at your own pay rise can vanish when you learn that a colleague has been given a much bigger one. The implication of all this is that people's efforts to make themselves happier by working harder in order to earn and spend more are partly self-defeating: they may make more money, but because others do too, they do not get much happier".
>style="text-decoration: underline">Article: http://www.economist.com/
style="text-decoration: underline">>Academic paper: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/
שייך לקטגוריות 3. קנאה וכבוד | להשאיר תגובה | |