Anomie, Durkheim

    Anomie is the idea that modernity causes a decline in moral regulation, leading to isolation and overspecialization in society.  Durkheim cites many contributors to this shift: the division of labor, rapid social change, the decline of religious power.  Increased crime and suicide are thought to be reactions to anomie.  “Anomy, therefore, is a regular and specific factor in suicide in our modern societies; one of the springs from which the annual contingent feeds.”  (Applerouth & Eddles, 2016, 119).

    I think that over we time have succumbed to anomie as a part of social life.  Suicide and crime are so prevalent now that we aren't shocked to hear about it when it happens.  We suffer from it today as a sort of numbing of the senses.  We are also more specialized than ever in our professions, making it harder than ever to connect with society.

    Solutions should call for greater equality, a smaller gap between the rich and poor, and, perhaps controversially, stronger solidarity on religion.  Equality makes everyone feel heard.  All professions matter; everyone should get paid respectable wages.  This would help organic solidarity make sense as a concept; if we’re all able to thrive without the burden of low wages and racial injustice, we’ll feel more connected to it.  Consequentially, there would be less crime.  Finally, religious involvement seems to be one of the hallmarks of a healthy society.  Durkheim says in The Elementary Form of Religious Life, “There can be no society which does not feel the need of upholding and reaffirming at regular intervals the collective sentiments and the collective ideas which make its unity and its personality.”  (Applerouth & Eddles, 2016, 137).

Biomimicry

 

https://www.industryleadersmagazine.com/is-biomimicry-a-solution-to-worlds-environment-problems/

    One of the things I stumbled on when reading about Ecological Modernization Theory is something called biomimicry.  It's a way of building things that maximize efficiency that leads to less waste production.  Architects and scientists look to nature as a source of inspiration for designing everything from tall buildings to mass transit and even fashion.  The proposed methodology would revolutionize the clean energy industry.  One example from the link above is that cities could be built to absorb carbon dioxide from the air, rather than emitting them in excess.  The leader of an architectural firm cites that micro-organisms and plants that have been around for eons can give us clues to building sustainable infrastructure that absorbs CO2 rather than producing it.

    This is a nice idea that offers some long-term solutions to the fossil fuel crisis.  However it seems to me that no matter what solutions we come up with, the Treadmill of Production creates a never-ending cycle of waste that pollutes the planet.  Even if our infrastructure were transformed, there would still be pollution to deal with in the form of consumer waste.  In this regard I feel the EMT model is inherently flawed.  Unless we can find a way to recycle every single form of waste, the treadmill will generate so much pollution that we'll eventually have to consider breaking the treadmill instead of revving it up.  Do you agree that Ecological Modernization Theory will reveal new technology that will solve all our problems, or is something more radical required?  What kind of technology could stop harmful consumer products like plastics from polluting the environment?

Mindful Eating: The Importance of Chewing

 Chewing might be the most overlooked fundamental of basic health.  Chewing too fast leads to lower metabolism, indigestion, and bloating, because the body uses more energy to break down food.  Additionally, it's a hindrance to weight loss, because slow chewing better cues the stomach to when it's full. 

In the east vs. west debate on diet, the way we chew is probably just as important as what we're actually eating.  My Thai wife has noticed Americans chew much faster than people in the east, which helps explain why we are generally more obese and have more health problems.  She said that 30 chews per bite is recommended by Thai doctors, which may seem like it takes a long time.  It's ultimately worth the price though, for your body will operate more efficiently by chewing slower, leading to less "food comas" and distractions caused by indigestion. 

I've been trying to slow chew and it's done wonders for my digestive system.  I can't believe I was never taught this basic element of health in school or at home.  Apparently, few people in our culture are even aware of it.  No more quick lunches at the desk for me.  Mindful eating is my new M.O. 

Chaos is a Ladder

So said Littlefinger, who poked his finger where he shouldn't. 

Yesterday was one of the darkest days in our nation's history, when the president spoke to a crowd that then rioted at the capitol.  Shock is an understatement; I'm kind of at a loss for words.  What was once a great nation seems to be lost, teetering on the edge because of a certifiable lunatic.  The Republicans should be ashamed for letting this man go this far; and even now, they haven't dismissed him.  It's beyond embarrassing.  

His enablers are as much responsible as he is.  This political situation is like a family with two parents and a spoiled child; one parent is stern, trying to provide discipline (the Democrats); the other is a complete pushover, totally oblivious to the consequences of raising their child that way (Republicans).  Republicans, you must put your country before your political career; your legacy depends on it.  History will look back on Trumpism in the same light as fascism and totalitarianism.  Trumpism might even be worse, for the chaos and confusion that underlies the instability it creates.  At least with the Nazis, you knew what to expect; at least with the Soviets, they were united in their struggle.  Under this ideology, we tear at the seams from within, where division is inevitable, creating a rift that brings a nation to ruin.  All for the psychotic needs of a sociopath, a narcissist, a child who won't be held accountable. 

And this is happening during the worst days of the pandemic (so far), with 3-4 thousand deaths per day.  The president has all but vacated his office at the peak of this crisis, creating another one top of it, just to appease his selfishness and greed for power.  The election was not stolen; it's a fact.  Every single judge rejected their case because there is no evidence.  All their accusations are projections of their own faults, like conspiracy to attempt election fraud.  These are distractions meant to cover up their own crimes, such as the most obvious one: attempting to subvert the will of the people. 

Underland

Down they go, through murky brambles in dusty plastic precip, probing the Earth for the great hole in the crust that would keep them safe.  Blackened shapes, tarnished trinkets, shrapnel fossilized by the erosion of civilization.  Sky pulverized into grimy sheets of ash, separated by red openings to the sky.  The Earth shakes, spewing fumes, gaseous souvenirs from ages before the darkness.  A girl holds a doll to her chest, a shield against semi-supernatural forces; a professor carries a map, ripped in places where it doesn't matter; others are parched and bleeding, their bodies swelling and receding, like the ancient moon-tide.

The entrance to the cavern shows promise, like most of them do; only this time, it's a hollow one, for the darkness there triumphs the one outside.  It's a long way down, they know it, but the chance for food and shelter at the bottom makes it worth the struggle.  In they go, several miners leading the way, their headlamps illuminating the walls.  The professor remarks on the lost languages of the writings sprawled on them.  Even he can't decipher their meaning.  There are pictures, however; the atomic symbol is one: an exclamation mark another.  A woman whose eyes are bleeding says that at least some ancestors cared about them enough to communicate.  A religious man says it's a sign from God, pointing out they must keep going, that any place is better than the surface.

He's right, so they carry on, down granite corridors of dread, the distant sound of explosions receding with every switchback through the cavern.  A steady dripping of water can be heard.  The cavern's made of limestone, that malleable canvas for caves, ripe of carbonate to shape their distorted topographies.  Stalactites hang like threatening icicles of teeth that the jaw of the cavern produced.  Down here, nothing exists but microbes that don't need sunlight or oxygen, at least according to the professor.  The girl thinks they'll be the only survivors after it's all over, if it ever is over- those invisible seeds of evolution that made it possible for bigger life to graze the fields of yore.

When they get to the vault, it's marked by a giant "X".  Below it is an oil drum with a skull and bones tattooed across it.  Exasperated, the survivors have nowhere left to go.  The only option left is to have the strongman try opening it, despite the blatant warnings.  For once, the religious man wonders if God has deserted them.  As he watches the strongman move the wheel, he hears a collective sigh from the group as it comes full circle, releasing a sound that Satan might have produced if they were at his doorway.  But it's not Satan.  They look upon a sea of nuclear waste, suspended in a sea of magma.  The magma is churning broken rods that once held the waste deep underground, so nothing would ever become contaminated by this vast storage of radioactivity.  The first words come from the professor, who remarks that the increased pressure from underground eruptions must have caused them to sever, that the waste must have had a profound impact on the world below, radiating strongly enough to alter the crust in ways never predicted.  Out it erupted into the atmosphere, creating a fallout that didn't require the crimes of war, only a willingness to produce prolifically, inverting the underworld from within to without.

They all suspect there is no escape.  Only the professor knows for sure.  The girl drops the doll and takes the map, leading them back through the tunnel, holding it like it was their last ounce of hope.  In despair, the religious man declares they are the last humans on Earth, that this is a condemnation of mankind, a Judgment Day.  The professor counters, saying there are others in the south, sheltered from the radiation.  If only we lived there, thinks the red-eyed woman, if only we'd heeded their warnings.  Where the underland meets the overland, they see water pouring through the entrance.

Narrative Psychology

I'm really interested in the concept of narrative structures having the most influence on our behavior and decisions.  Stories have the power to influence us in ways we probably aren't aware.  We know they can be inspirational and life-changing; but how many of them operate on us unconsciously, particularly when we are young?  I expect they play an enormous role, as the vehicle by which Jungian archetypes are injected into the personalities of youth.  The implication is that Shakespeare was right; the world really is a stage, and we are just playing roles.

Speaking for myself, countless fairy tales, movies and books had a profound influence on my perception of the world, probably so much that they influenced the course of my life.  Even as a young adult I can think of several film icons that influenced my behavior: Hannibal Lecter, Jeffrey Goines, Ian Malcolm.  The archetype I wanted to project through these stories was the mysterious genius, and this had a tremendous impact on the decisions I made as a young adult.

Narratives shape who we are.  We ignore stories that don't fit how we want to project ourselves.  We give them less merit, lower ratings, say they're overrated.  What we're really saying is they don't resonate strongly enough with our world-view and the perceptions we need to confirm it.  Plenty of movies and books have gotten low ratings from me that were objectively better than I gave them credit for, simply because they didn't appeal to my personality.  They had less potential to influence me due to the fulfillment of desires based on what I wanted to project.  This may seem obvious to a middle-aged adult, but when you're young and impressionable it's far different.

Religious Barriers in Psychology

    As the new year approaches, I face a decision that will have a large impact on it.  I must decide if I want to pursue psychology in my degree program.  It dismays me to hear about so many psychologists shunning things like meditation and chakra healing, simply because they can't be tested as well as other methods.  They are likened to placebo affects that only influence feelings because the individual thinks they will work. 
    As a seasoned practitioner of these methods, I can verify this is an ignorant way of looking at it- probably the way a pill-pusher would, who thinks mental health is mostly determined by chemistry.  Meditation and chakra healing worked for me every time, no matter what my mood was.  They work for millions of people around the world.  
    I don't understand what it is about religion and spirituality that deems their practices unscientific.  Creationism aside, religions have a lot to teach about mental health, so I am especially surprised to see psychologists play devil's advocate.  I'm probably just going to stick with the plan and face any roadblocks as they come.  I'll have to train my mind to think more scientifically if I'm going to succeed in the program.