What's Our Problem?: A Self-Help Book for Societies
From the creator of the wildly popular blog Wait But Why, a fun and fascinating deep dive into what the hell is going on in our strange, unprecedented modern times.
Society can be understood as something that only exists as long as actions are performed, as long as processes take place, as long as we all contribute in some way to its ephemeral construction.
"Social organization is messy and refractory, a shambles rather than a crystal […]. There is no tidy atom and no clear-cut world, only complex striations and long strings that reptate as in a polymer goo" (White, H.C. (2008), Identity and control, Princeton, Princeton University Press, p. 18).
Political disintegration is a persistent feature of world history. The Collapse of Complex Societies, though written by an archaeologist, will therefore strike a chord throughout the social sciences. Any explanation of societal collapse carries lessons not just for the study of ancient societies, but for the members of all such societies in both the present and future.
Graeber, David; Wengrow, David. The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity (2021)
I have already finished reading this long and powerful book. Now I have to meditate on the ideas it brings...
"Over the course of these chapters we have instead talked about basic forms of social liberty which one might actually put into practice: (1) the freedom to move away or relocate from one’s surroundings; (2) the freedom to ignore or disobey commands issued by others; and (3) the freedom to shape entirely new social realities, or shift back and forth between different ones."
New data show that about half of U.S. adults lived alone upon gray divorce, another one-third lived with others, and the remaining 14% lived with a new partner. Adults living with a new partner tended to exhibit the most advantaged sociodemographic profiles.
Fewer words are sweeter than "your manuscript has been accepted." My theory of social trauma - integrating collective and cultural #trauma processes and grounding them in the neurophysiology of social pain - will soon see the light of day in #Society and #mentalhealth#sociology
Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy. You are a young Russian woman living in the late 19th century, where a successful romance seems quite impossible for the obliviously wealthy; you try to break the mold but the mold wins. 4 of 5 library cats 🐈 🐈 🐈 🐈.
The adtech-based corporatization of the Web has empowered an emotionally unintelligent, racist, sexist, ageist (etc.) and hypercapitalist tech industry that is fueling a global mental health crisis while profiting off disinformation and destabilizing democracies.
“The psychology of Silicon Valley. Ethical threats and emotional unintelligence in the tech industry.” Cook 2020. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-27364-4
How the world works, a small anecdotal observation:
On my commute there is a construction site where a lane is fully closed to traffic. But, you can drive towards this spot on two open lanes.
Everyday I look at how the second lane, the one everyone knows leads to a dead end gets filled with the Teslas, BMWs, Audis and other such cars of the world. The drivers cut the entire line like this and then expect to be given way when they reach the dead end. It disrupts traffic, it causes accidents, it is simply unnecessary.
But they always cut in line.
These are the people who think the world exists for them and them only, the capitalists or wanna-be capitalist of this world. The people who think they always come first because that is literally how the system treats them everywhere else. The right wingers and conservatives who are oh so oppressed.
And it is always a minority. By a vast margin. Most people patiently sit in line and are forced to give way to these asshats.
Love this story about a Toronto man who created an app that makes it easier for restaurants and catering companies to reduce food waste by donating it to shelters and charities.
According to the article, so far his company has diverted approximately 15,000 kilograms of food waste — enough to feed 25,000 people.
I hope this company or something similar starts operating in more cities across North America!