Hi you two! I really appreciated listening to this conversation. On the reciprocity topic at the very end, I think the changing culture around that is part of the larger right wing backlash. The big man theory of history, the active creator and the passive consumer, the singular salvation of a Mr Beast sweepstakes - it’s all a shift away from the connectedness, collectiveness, and empowerment of early social media. And feminism!
If you swing all the way back to the groovy side of things, cross cultural researchers who’ve spent decades studying indigenous cultures (the 5-10% of humanity responsible for the care of 85% of global biodiversity by the way) find that there are four values that are common among most indigenous cultures:
* Relationship,
* Responsibility,
* Reciprocity,
* Redistribution
That’s from La Donna Harris and Jacqueline Wasilewski in 2004 via Dan Siegel’s 2023 book Intraconnected.
Reciprocity! It’s what’s for dinner. So much better than the viral tales of individual heroism and villainy that were caught in an algorithmic rubber necking doom loop with.
I truly never thought of this transition as being part of the increasing right-wing extremism (which is funny because I blame that for most everything else)! Fascinating. Thanks for listening, Marshall :)
You bet. I also wanna come back to add another thought. We know that AI, for example, is evolving really quickly, and arguably the same is true in politics for the reactionary right wing backlash. But I believe that liberatory and non-tech worlds are also continuing to progress and I think that Jori’s statement about feeling in her body what the right action to take is a theme I feel like I’m hearing more and more on the leading edge of the liberatory and progressive parts of the world. Or maybe it’s just among my wife, friends, therapists, and adrienne maree brown. I think it’s a thing though, that somatic re-centering!
It’s definitely a thing. I had never *heard* the term somatic used (outside psychosomatic) until just the past year or so, now I feel like it’s a recurring theme.
Given my s.o. and I are doing an epic Star Trek watch-through, I’d put it like this: We have long observed that the Vulcan way (logic/reason) does not *move* people to action or conversion, does not change hearts and minds so to speak. Currently we have Klingon and Ferengi principles (“might makes right” and “profit is all” respectively) trying to dominate (and succeeding with enough people to win elections). What we need is to remind folks why ultimately the *human* qualities (combining your heart, your gut, your mind, and your empathy) are the ideal leadership traits in that idealized universe.
That is a powerful image though: we’ve been taken over by Klingon and Ferringhi versions of leadership. Really interesting and potentially useful in communicating with Trump lovers who also like Star Trek
This was so nice to read--I felt like the early days of social in 2005, when there were trolls online, sure, but overall it was about network effect propagated by the 4 R's you mention. Remind me to use "algorithmic rubber necking doom loop" in a sentence. I love it.
While I was busy typing that long comment, my dear beloved fundamentalist Trump loving father was emailing me this YouTube video, seeking common ground in…freakish individualism, I tell ya https://youtube.com/shorts/qM_1pTQDdto?si=bc2i2yGl7FrgKBCn
Hi you two! I really appreciated listening to this conversation. On the reciprocity topic at the very end, I think the changing culture around that is part of the larger right wing backlash. The big man theory of history, the active creator and the passive consumer, the singular salvation of a Mr Beast sweepstakes - it’s all a shift away from the connectedness, collectiveness, and empowerment of early social media. And feminism!
If you swing all the way back to the groovy side of things, cross cultural researchers who’ve spent decades studying indigenous cultures (the 5-10% of humanity responsible for the care of 85% of global biodiversity by the way) find that there are four values that are common among most indigenous cultures:
* Relationship,
* Responsibility,
* Reciprocity,
* Redistribution
That’s from La Donna Harris and Jacqueline Wasilewski in 2004 via Dan Siegel’s 2023 book Intraconnected.
Reciprocity! It’s what’s for dinner. So much better than the viral tales of individual heroism and villainy that were caught in an algorithmic rubber necking doom loop with.
I truly never thought of this transition as being part of the increasing right-wing extremism (which is funny because I blame that for most everything else)! Fascinating. Thanks for listening, Marshall :)
You bet. I also wanna come back to add another thought. We know that AI, for example, is evolving really quickly, and arguably the same is true in politics for the reactionary right wing backlash. But I believe that liberatory and non-tech worlds are also continuing to progress and I think that Jori’s statement about feeling in her body what the right action to take is a theme I feel like I’m hearing more and more on the leading edge of the liberatory and progressive parts of the world. Or maybe it’s just among my wife, friends, therapists, and adrienne maree brown. I think it’s a thing though, that somatic re-centering!
It’s definitely a thing. I had never *heard* the term somatic used (outside psychosomatic) until just the past year or so, now I feel like it’s a recurring theme.
Given my s.o. and I are doing an epic Star Trek watch-through, I’d put it like this: We have long observed that the Vulcan way (logic/reason) does not *move* people to action or conversion, does not change hearts and minds so to speak. Currently we have Klingon and Ferengi principles (“might makes right” and “profit is all” respectively) trying to dominate (and succeeding with enough people to win elections). What we need is to remind folks why ultimately the *human* qualities (combining your heart, your gut, your mind, and your empathy) are the ideal leadership traits in that idealized universe.
Long live the Federation! :)
That is a powerful image though: we’ve been taken over by Klingon and Ferringhi versions of leadership. Really interesting and potentially useful in communicating with Trump lovers who also like Star Trek
I cannot understand loving both Trump and Star Trek (or really most sci-fi)! But I know such cognitive dissonance exists :)
This was so nice to read--I felt like the early days of social in 2005, when there were trolls online, sure, but overall it was about network effect propagated by the 4 R's you mention. Remind me to use "algorithmic rubber necking doom loop" in a sentence. I love it.
While I was busy typing that long comment, my dear beloved fundamentalist Trump loving father was emailing me this YouTube video, seeking common ground in…freakish individualism, I tell ya https://youtube.com/shorts/qM_1pTQDdto?si=bc2i2yGl7FrgKBCn
Wow, that is an interesting path to common ground LOL