Free-Range Living

 

(Occasional blog)

'A Waning 'Feelgood' Effect in Life' - ?                     (MIke Robin)

'Hail fellow --- but less often met' ?

 Back along, there was a relatively common UK saying 'opposition is friendship', but in these more self-orientated days, challenging anything from another seems to be often less welcomed - ? Part of the 'if you're not with us, your against us' school of operations - ? In the UK, there's been free speech issues at universities, both via students not welcoming people with 'alternative' views to their student unions, and via staff not welcoming 'unacceptable' views of colleagues expressing 'non acceptable' views. Independent-minded souls will no doubt be concerned whether in fact these are potential attacks on free speech and may wonder that if it is the case that differing views can't be accomodated at universities, what hope for free speech generally -?

 (would though most reasonably-minded people feel that abusive views such as in sexist/ raciist talks and the like , should be 'off limits' -after all, social approbation can at times be a 'force for good' -? )

There does appear to be a general concern in UK society that a  'social norming' trend appears to have at times put free speech at some degree of risk, particularly if the process of challenging, say, 'social norming' views, becomes a 'social no-no' ---- It may too be part of a more general trend that 'negativity isn't welcome' ---  Some might well argue though, that like it or not, negative stuff can happen, and that it can be important that reality is not 'brushed under the carpet' --- One recent broadsheet piece reported that the 'permissive parenting' modes of recent years have resulted in 'entitled people' ----  Presumably there's a case for the 'balanced' parenting approach, employing both positive aspects - love, encouragement and so forth, but also where appropriate, employing restraining influences-youngsters after all are 'learners in life' -? Perhaps the 'pemissive' style developed as a reaction to the previous severer mode, the 'children should be seen and not heard' variety - ?

'Social bio-diversity at risk --- ?'

'Have social attitudes in the UK been allowed, via trends such as  'social norming', to 'tighten up', 'narrow down' too much, then to become an inhibitory force to free speech, human bio-diversity and, at times, 'natural sociability' itself' - ? 

Such a question, part of freespeech itself, could seem to be a valid discussion/debating area, but not one that these days seems to be over - done, so a first step could be to welcome such discussions/debates?  'Free discussion' has surely got to be part of a 'free' society -? Remembering though the writer Bill Bryson's relevant remark :

 'We used to build civilisations,- now we build shopping malls'

 - which might go some way to explaining the less debated current 'status quo's' - ? Some opposition may come from those who maybe do not feel too comfortable having their viewpoints put under the microscope, as it were. 'Bigger' questions such as 'what makes a good society' seem to be seldom heared, even in the quality broad sheet papers ---- The reservations expressed in these freeranger pieces concerning the 'narrowing' effect of the free-market outlook at times don't seem to hit too much of a mark, possibly due to the considerable self-interest component of the free market approach - ?

 To be fair, if open discussion/debate isn't too much of a feature in life, than, say, it used to be, people may then have not had too much experience of it. (eg. ref Bryson's quote above).  In, say, the 'old' type UK degrees of some years ago now, students practiced 'open' debate, having to support their views with 'solid' evidence to limit/negate any personal bias -to gain any ground. Maybe this is not quite so evident in modern higher education, as witnessed by some of the free speech problems already mentioned - ? One Higher Education student, on being challenged in a degree viva (oral examination), responded that his point was right, because it was in line with his opinion ----- Sorry, Sir -it's a big old world/universe out there, and a human is a pretty tiny entity ---  

'Loosening up --- '

Maybe that erudite saying of the Eastern spiritual master could help ease open any narrowing or  'tightness' - it was the simple phrase, 

'not necessarily so', 

Not seemingly too earth shattering but at the same time potentially opening up a lot of 'wider' ground ---  Individual humans have been likened to 'desk computers' -skilled, intelligent and capable, but necessarily 'limited' ----

 To know though that there are limits can be a useful tool of 'self-restraint. The rise and rise of AI could likely throw a bit , or a lot, of a spanner into the works, in that it could become more difficult to be able to know what is real, and what is unreal --- One of the practical problems with such a situation would appear to be that danger could well lurk, in that if focus is more on 'unreal' then the actual potential threats, dangers and perils of 'real reality' could go un recognised and under assessed ----

In discussion/debate (this from 'old' university degree days), the experience tended to be that the individual rightly argued their corner on the basis that their point(s) was/were valid. A useful process though tended to come later, reflecting in own time the points covered in the discussion/ debate, including 'opposition' points, and often then realising that own knowledge and awarenesses had expanded as a result of the whole process - students had in effect been 'prised out' of their own 'small self' to then experience and 'know' at a bigger, higher level -----  

 So yes, 'opposition had then been indeed friendship'-----it'd been a factor in helping to a enlargen a person's vision and awareness '

'Angelic ---- '

Again in olden times one 'hot' debate amongst clerics was apparently to do with 'how many angels could congregate on the end of a needle' ---- more than faintly ludicrous as perceived from modern times, but still illustrating how narrow mental processes can get, and then reinforcing how 'opposition' can be useful - to, for instance, promote a widening of 'mental vision'. If open 'without fear or favour' discussion isn't a feature of a culture - and some might say that modern western-syle cultures are tending to be more of a 'power and money' orientation amplifying vested interests, which can then inhibit open discussion - then from the above discussion, it could be likely that collective mental vision gets narrower, which can then become of the nature of an 'ever decreasing circle' type of process - the opportunity and therefore capability of a society to facilitate open-minded discussion so then becomes an important 'social health' factor facilitating and promoting bio-diversity of that culture - ? 

'Social well-being ---alive but not as well as before ---  ' 

'It is often astonishing how little time we take to consider an important theme such as the meaning of our own lives.    How easily we simply take over preconceived notions without questioning them ------ '

(Jurg Rohrer, book,  'Personal Development as the Meaning of LIfe')

The same could be maybe said in terms of 'how we live' -? Societies are a fact, the vast majority of people live within such a social model, yet questioning such as 'What makes a good society?'  seems to be relatively scarce, even though it could be one of 'natural interest' to quite a few, and one that could lead to more useful 'social productivity' - ?. Was it the small nation of Bhutan that declared its national goal was 'Gross National Happiness', rather than the conventionsl 'Gross National Product', in the process then demonstating a wider mental vision and ability - ?  Quite possibly in western modern times it's the Scandinavian countries closest to the Bhutanese vision, winning as they virtually inevitably do, the accolades of the 'world's happiest countries'.  A  Scandinavian concept of 'huegge',for instance, places social aspects such as good company, fellowship, well-being and pleasure from social interaction, high up in terms of contribution to national well-being ------ 

'A small population of around 200 inhabiting a South sea island solved their day-to-day living needs in social fashion. The younger, fitter, more energetic members set sail most mornings to catch fish from the sea. They brought the catch back to then be spread on the beach, to then allow all members of the society, young or old, to collect sufficient for their needs'.

 A neat feeling for the fisherfolk to be playing a key role for their society - ?  This small case study reminds too of the group in the UK border area who clubbed together to buy and than run a small farm, creating as they did their own small 'mini community'. They had independent living quarters but shared the resources of the farm to their own benefit. Must have given them a 'hands-on' simpler sense of community and social interaction, not being anywhere near as complex as wider society - ?

Living 'rural socially' ----- 

Social skills, it could be argued, are important if a body lives within a community such as a society, and often within a smaller community within that overarching variety. In this small rural area there are two villages and a hamlet, all served by a church and a community hall situated in the largest village. The village hall facilitates much community interaction, from weekly games playing such as pickle ball and badminton, to a monthly gardening club, to church-based group meetings, to summer fayres featuring local crafts and produce shows, to a sowing group, to music nights featuring local musicians and occasionally national performers -- and so forth, and of course not forgetting the two regular nights of the week when the social club within the hall bar's open, facilitating locals interaction and activities such as the dart's team's league matches.

It also serves well as a local information source. Useful too to local younger folk - one of the concerns raised in recent times has been that such as the considerable use of screens in modern human interactions, a danger could be that peoples' inter-personal skills can then go under-deveolped. 

In this small local rural area, changes in society's 'balance' can be detected, incomers do seem to be less inclined to partake socially, tending to draw up their drawbridges and isolate themselves , also associated with essentially younger families. It's only a small area and as they say, 'one swallow doesn't make a summer' but nevertheless it's been a locally felt trend - at one stage there was concern for instance that the social club wouldn't survive due to lack of support. Maybe a bit less of the 'free market' 'lone ranger' vibe and a bit more of the Scandinavian 'huegge' hasn't come amiss ------- ? 

Rest awhile ---- 

It's the 'off' season here at the organic, eco micro-holding, having a spell of semi-hibernation to have a good rest - of body, of motivation and of spirit - switch off time, and pleasant enough it is, and rather good not to have to go outside too much in cold and wet weather --- It also works quite well in then gradually raising motivation to get at another 'eco living' season, harvesting not only the very tasty organic produce, but also the satisfactions to be had from leading a reasonably self-reliant type of life, with a good measure of local sociability thrown in.

Interesting to muse though that life here at the organic eco micro-molding can at times be lead in a pretty solitary fashion, and 'solitary' time is valued, it is then 'balanced out' by social time  - chatting with other locals in the vicinity, attending the social club open bar nights, supporting the darts team on home match nights, participating in local veg/craft shows, and the like. Awhile back, when a bit less aged, it was good to make a contribution to the local community by voluntarily helping to run the social club bar, as indeed others do today.

And as the creator of the 'Lord of the Rings' books, Mr. Tolkien, said :

'If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world'

Life could be better if there was more sociability and merriment ---?   Has though the age of 'Big' and 'Might is Rght', along with multi media activities, scuppered to some extent such human contact and 'values', along maybe with others such as trust, loyalty --- and ---- sociability itself - --- ?