Peter Slattery

Malcolm Gladwell, author of ‘Blink’ has some interesting things to say. If you have a spare 18 or so minutes then take a look at this vid. If you dont have so much time or you are blocked from accessing it for some reason, then let me tell you about Malcholm and some of his ideas.

He speaks of a man called Howard Mascovitch (spelling? Not sure). And basically the story goes like this: Howard was asked to come up with the perfect diet Pepsi. He was asked to work out the perfect level of sweetness. Having done some research, he came up with very messy data which did not provide an answer to the question: what is the perfect diet pepsi? He experienced much consternation, possibly gnashing of teeth, and he decided that there was actually no perfect pepsi. But there were indeed perfect pepsiS. Yes, capital S. Not one perfect anything, but many perfectS. And he took this into the area of pasta sauces. And he discovered that about one third of people actually like extra chunky, though this was not reflected in what people would tell you if you asked them what sort of sauce they like.

Apparently, simply asking people what makes them happy does not supply an accurate answer. If we ask people what sort of pasta sauce they will describe something that they imagine is ‘authentic’ Italian sauce. Not extra chunky at all.

It seems we cannot always say what our heart desires. We will say we like dark roast coffee when indeed only about 25-27% of people actually like their coffee this way. Most people like milky weak coffee. Asking it seems, is an incomplete and insufficient way to ascertain what makes us happy. But if we give people things to eat and to drink we discover what they really do like.

So Howard created, not a hierarchy of taste, but a horizontal plane of taste. And happiness? Not universal apparently. Here too there is diversity. And herein lies the answer to ‘what makes people happy?’.

I have no idea why this post appears to be oddly arranged on some computers and less so on others…I will ask Jacob about it when we return. In the meantime, you might have to match my comments to the appropriate pictures as you read. Oh..and we are continuing to have a most wonderful, inspiring and oh dear…’educational’ time. Travel really does give you a view of not only other places and people…but if you care to look…a view of yourself. Occasionally disturbing…but always useful.

Here we are staying with friends in Maulden Woods Bedfordshire England.
It really is very pretty.

And the word ‘bucolic’ springs to mind. And despite what a friend of mine thinks, this does not mean ‘blustery and red in the face.’

Adrian and his family live here. And as we stay we notice the decisions that have been made about a way of living; about what matters and what doesn’t.

Adi makes extraordinary pieces of (furniture? art?)…
And…the dishes have to be washed in a plastic bowl thing and emptied onto the garden because the drain doesn’t work. But the garden itself, and the view from the kitchen into the garden…

.

.. just gorgeous.

The bathroom floor is made of lovely tiles…heated…

…and yet the wall doesn’t go quite all the way up to the ceiling.

And then again there are the things that are made…created…

This one with the dark wood being 5,500 year old (yep that’s right) bog oak. Lifted from a swamp and dragged across a half mile of bush to be loaded onto a truck. Doing things not the easy way. For exquisite results.

And the room we are staying in has no power and its cold and dark at night and so we run a power cord down and in through the window of our totally lovely bedroom which is a caravan…located and brought in just for us…friends arriving who need a bed.

So what matters? What do you care about? What is at the top of your list of things to do? To have? To experience? To be exposed to? To spend your time on? To have around you? To have in your life on a daily basis? Yeah, what’s important and what really matters?

So here we are on Fisherman’s wharf and there is this fella. Is this kinda funny? Or a bit sad? Okay or not? Should we laugh or be worried? Me…I kinda like it.

This stuff is just interesting isn’t it…on TV Australian Broadcasting Corporation 9/09/2008 and the reporter is Kerry O’Brien speaking Norman Doidge about his, I guess now, pretty famous book.

And whether you think it is fabulous or not, there is hope and inspiration in some of the things he says, and some of the new research around brain development.

KERRY O’BRIEN: ‘There’s the claim that we can radically improve how we learn, think, perceive and remember, even in old age. Is that proven?’

NORMAN DOIDGE: ‘Yes, it is proven.’
Now that has to be good news doesn’t it!

And Norman Doidge goes on to say that:

‘…you actually turn on genes inside the nerve cells in your brain to change the number of connections between those cells. You can double them in a matter of hours between nerve cell A and nerve cell B. So, what we’ve discovered with neuroplasticity is that consciousness can direct genetic expression, and neuroscientists are looking at all the sort of points along that trail from consciousness, ultimately to structural change in the brain and altered behavioural expression as one of the chief tasks right now.’

And:

‘Once you understand that plasticity exists from cradle to grave, what it means is that a development, which most people think of as, really, child development, is something that goes on throughout the course of life.’

And:

‘…when you think thoughts or learn something, you actually turn on genes inside the nerve cells in your brain to change the number of connections between those cells.’

Dunno about you, but that all makes me feel pretty good.

This is my nan, at the time she was well into her nineties, sharp as a tack and a joy to be with.

I am always interested in what helps us flourish…and having older people in the family, and looking at getting older myself as we all will do, (if healthy and lucky), I am interested in the social research as well as the neurophysiological stuff. So…

There is much research about just what it is that helps us as humans, grow and develop, sustain ourselves and flourish. And the research just keeps adding up, and these are the elements I keep talking about. And while you might use different words to describe these elements, they keep on looking something like these four:
- A sense of belonging and security
- Good loving relationships
- Feeling like you are in charge of your life, being in control or having personal power
- A strong and positive sense of self

And not far behind them are these three:
- Having a sense of meaning in life
- Other’s positive expectations. If people expect the best of someone, they may well see it emerge. The reverse is also true
- Hope. A sense of being able to survive, get through, continue.

On this favourite topic of mine, I continue to say that I think these ingredients are relevant both in people’s lives as well as having a place in group work, therapy, social contact groups, schools, sports clubs, communities; indeed all aspects of the welfare and health systems. Actually, they make sense in terms of people generally.

The latest brain research
We are finding out stuff we just never knew because of new technology like MRI’s. And we are discovering that sayings like: ‘You can’t teach an old dog new tricks…..may just not be true.

REAL YOUNG: The first three years of life are REALLY important…this is when we develop neural pathways….
ADOLESCENCE is REALLY important…there is a new development of grey matter and as always, it becomes a case of ‘use it or lose it’
GETTING OLDER. As we get older, if we wish to retain interest and vigour in life, it is REALLY important to ‘…learn something new, rather than simply replaying already-mastered skills.’ (P253 Norman Doidge. ‘The Brain that Changes Itself.’
I may be wrong here, but I think the message is: ‘DO STUFF!’ (Interesting stuff, fun stuff, new stuff, challening stuff…)

And so with resilience and ageing in mind, here is an (almost) gratuitous pic of my family at one of our ‘five generations’ gatherings.

Listening to the radio the other day and there was a talk back show about our favourite topic, the global financial crisis (GFC if you are “in the know”) …and someone rang in to say how it was like a near-death experience. I was delighted to hear one of the financial expert people say something like..

“No no, it’s more like a bad dose of the flu. Our economy will be in bed for a few days, recover and then get up and get on with it.”

What a sensible thing to say.

This is what Jonathan Haidt has to say about morality.

To live virtuously as individuals and as societies, we must understand how our minds are built (see ch. 1 of The Happiness Hypothesis). We must find ways to overcome our natural self-righteousness (see ch. 4). We must respect and even learn from those whose morality differs from our own (see this talk or this essay on politics, or this essay on religion.).’

It doesn’t really matter if you think Jonathan is wonderful or not so… the morality thing is pretty big one these days…always has been really. So if Jonathan adds something to the discussion then good on ya Jonathan.

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Who is advising spokespeople for…well anyone really…at the moment, because of how things economically, I am particularly thinking about banks. So who is advising spokespeople on HOW TO SPEAK?

This on the radio a few days ago… a bank somewhere in Europe is under threat because of a run; people withdrawing money. The spokesperson on public radio said something like:

‘Under normal conditions we would be okay. If you keep coming to the bank and taking out your money, our liquidity will be jeopardised.’

I think the stand out messages people will take from this are:

‘LIQUIDITY JEOPARDISED’

‘COME TO THE BANK AND DRAW OUT YOUR MONEY.’

We needed to hear that the bank could do business as it always has. Yes, times are tough and we ask everyone to do as they always have and we will continue to look after all our customers.

Or something like that…it needs to be truthful and also sound as if it is. And this bank can continue to function as it always has…and what it needs is for everyone to continue to act as they always have. How likely is everyone to relax upon hearing the words: ‘DON’t PANIC’

You see the following sign:

‘DON’T PANIC!’

And what do you do?

Or possibly you hear, in conversation, these words:

‘Look, don’t take this personally…’
‘No offence but…’

What comes into your mind? Possibly not…‘gee this is gona be fantastic, I can hardly wait!’

Last week I heard someone on the radio…not sure who…saying something like: ‘Economics is as much about psychology as it is about numbers.’

I kind of agree I gota say! I’m neither a politician nor a journalist…through design, motivation, lack of ability…not sure which…or all…but I do pay a little attention to the idea of communication…and yes…we do have a GFC…Global Financial Crisis (just in case you haven’t been paying attention) and yes we really do need to notice that it is happening and yet the other day on the front page of the BUSINESS section of the paper I usually read was the banner:

‘Banks’ bad debts go from bad to worse’

And the smaller headlines on the same page:

‘UK counts cost’

‘Bad news’

Is this really the only way that reality can be viewed and commented on? Communication theory (ie the best way to communicate) tells us that we focus on what we want and then describe ways to achieve it. So I shall post again, when next I see something I think is both realistic, hopeful and inspirational in terms of our GFC.

Clive Hamilton (2008. P4) in “The freedom paradox. Towards a post-secular ethics.” asks:

“If the barriers to flourishing of our potential have been removed but we fail to flourish, depression would seem a natural response. Moreover, the liberation movements have ceded to us unprecedented moral confusion. The ‘ethic of consent’ that replaced the strictures of conservative morality has led to forms of behaviour raising deeper questions about personal responsibility that we have scarcely begun to understand.”

And he speaks of three ways in which we might live our lives. Put rather simply by me here, they are the pleasant life (doing that which brings joy, happiness, pleasure), the good life (achieving, developing our talents), the meaningful life (a life committed to something larger than oneself). I’m not sure I quite agree with all the positions Clive adopts in his book, but that doesn’t matter, his question about what sort of life we might lead is a good one.

And (P 247) he says:

‘Consumer culture has subsumed the individual in the grand, unifying vision of the market and has succeeded where all the despots failed; instead of forcing submission it gilded the cage and persuaded us to enter and lock the door behind us.’

Despite this Clive seems to remain optimistic, and the final words of his book are these:

‘Within each day lies dormant the possibility of attaining inner freedom, of finding our purpose.’

Lately there have been daily photos in newspapers of the nightmare produced by the ongoing Palestinian/Israeli conflict. Hard-to-imagine tragedy. And I count myself more than lucky to have had a wonderful Christmas with my family and friends. So as the new year kicks off, let me wish you a good one, and at the risk of being cute, here is a picture of my son. He and I engaged in what I would like to think of as something meaningful. (It probably happened to be pleasant and good as well.) Between chrissie and new year’s, my son and I finally found a purpose for the couple of hundred telephone books that have been sitting in the foyer of our building.

Go well. I look forward to our new year.

Pete