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Notes - Dynamic Complexity and Resilience Thesis/ISR-G (view source)
Revision as of 20:04, 30 December 2020
, 20:04, 30 December 2020no edit summary
## Insights from fall 2020 semester
Judgment permeates most institutions. How can we find shelter and safety without judgment? Do we need to feel safe first to refrain from applying judgment to other people's actions? Why do we not assume that someone else might have had a good reason for an action, behavior, or statement? Judgment is linked to grading and the nature of hierarchical reviewing. If a professor grades a report, their _legitimate_ judgment permeates the student's perception of their own work. They might even forget why they chose that title, on which their professor commented.
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We are only free in our minds. Why do we expect students to always report in words? If we allow ourselves to merely discover in our brains, we free ourselves from the constructs and rigidity that language inevitably creates. Why is it not enough to do something? Why do we always need to deliver words for the things we do in the world? I want to be among people that do something. I care less about how they write about what they do. Considering the dualistic ("one or the other") nature of many of our words, it seems obvious that it must be hard for students to embrace the un-understandableness of the world. Buddhism stays away from dualistic terms (body - soul, mankind - god) because it understands the totality of things and interconnectedness that leads to a complexity that goes beyond defined boundaries and black-and-white thinking.
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How can we give education meaning that goes beyond semester-long hands-on projects?
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We only take a break when we're sick. As soon as we're sick the door opens to relax. Why do we need to have a weekly schedule that continues throughout the entire semester without any divergences? Such a repetitive routine attenuates any enthusiasm for the project work itself as you will have to inevitably face it. It doesn't matter whether or not you choose to engage with the project; if it's already in your calendar, there is no need to self-initiate engagement with the material. SCOPE was on every Tuesday (8-10AM), every Wednesday (6-7 PM), every Thursday (8-10AM), and every Friday (12-5PM). Good luck connecting with the material outside of your mental obligation zone. The only break from the five-hour Friday meeting was after thanksgiving. It felt as if I had never even been able to imagine what a free Friday was like. Why do we stick to weekly schedules in such a pathological manner? Anything that is not the exact plan is a failure - 14 vacation days per year are a good example.
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Why do we never design for ourselves. Sustainable design project in our living spaces. Why do our living spaces not allow for design interaction? Because they’re finished. Do we need unfinished environments that invite us to be modified? In the modern Western house, our environments start empty and are highly controlled. Everything that we add, change, or improve is an active decision that changes the untouched surfaces of our rooms. At a farm, in contrast, everything is messy at first, and one needs to make an active effort to bring satisfying structure and beauty into the world. I believe that the latter way of living comes closer to the character of the world we live in. Modern households are deceiving in their perfection, and don't invite for engagement.
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We, humans, want things to be frictionless but the reality is that every step and action creates struggle because we’re smart enough to realize and see the mess. Is that the meaning behind Buddhism’s message: “Life is struggle”.
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From AlJazeera news: We need to go back to learning how to function as a society, people being together. Technology is not good or bad or neutral, is it what the intrinsic motivation behind is. It’s a myth that’s Data is something we have within us. Its value is created by the interest that companies are allowed to put into it.
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_We create heaven and hell on earth ourselves_ (Buddhism). Christianity has this idea of fate which is counterproductive and creates a disconnect as it doesn’t underline everyone’s responsibility to the work on themselves in order to create the desired state of heaven. Don’t work hard, be critical with yourself.
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