Podcast 002
Jeannie, Philip and Sam are back, discussing their thoughts on 2017, complacency and striving to get better, the complexities of privilege invoking shame and guilt, the slow progress of media representation, and humour.
Humour me
Language is interesting. Humour is something we all might recognise in the modern world as describing something amusing, that might make us laugh. But understanding where the word humour comes from gives insight to how language is connected to the ways knowledge is constructed.
Humour comes from Latin and means ‘moisture’ which then passed into English to mean bodily fluids – humours, of which there were 4 and were connected to moods and functions of different organ systems.
For a long time, there was no distinction between the sexes, there was one human template. There were variations on humours and degrees of temperature that defined the spectrum of difference. Male was at the hot end and female at the colder end of the spectrum.
The science and medical profession of the time found ‘evidence’ of the inferiority of women and other cultures and used it to maintain social order. What I find interesting, I suppose, is while modern anatomy and physiology have moved on since the 17th and 18th century, some of the assumptions and ideas live on. I mean, just look at how hard women had to fight just to be able to compete at the Olympics –they weren’t able to run in the marathon until 1984, nearly 100 years after the start of the modern games. You can’t tell me that it was a misprint in the programme.
Scientific knowledge has a level of power to it, to define the truth about something and this is what is interesting to think about and notice. That is, how various branches of science over time have categorised people and other species, given them particular qualities, limits and justified practices of exclusion, exploitation and mistreatment.
I wonder what science will look like in 300 years. What truths and facts will be as laughable to that generation as the idea of blood being turned into semen by body heat. Now that is humorous.
Mind sauna
When I finish divinqing I always feel like I’ve had a great workout and it can take a while to come back to reality, although that is always slightly different after a session. If you’ve every put your body through something physically intense the next couple of days you feel it and can wonder if it was worth it. But people say ‘no pain no gain’ and while I think this is sort of true for divinqing it’s important to feel safe and ready to ‘do down the rabbit hole’.
So here are a few divinqing guidelines I have been playing with, and anyone who has participated is welcome to comment, or even if you haven’t and would like to inquire more please do:
1: We all have a unique perspective on the world, however, we are often more critical of others perspectives. GUIDELINE – it takes time to understand what shapes our perspective – and it is constantly changing so divinqing is never a finished process. Sometimes it is less about being right or wrong but about understanding how, why and where did this idea come from. How do I know what I know? How do I know what I don’t know? Warm down tip: try stretching one idea at a time.
2: There are more than two sides to things: One of the habits of thinking about anything is usually setting up a two-sided argument. GUIDELINE – when encountering a two sided idea about anything be curious about the effect of that on what people are able to know about themselves, or others. Try shifting the focus of a debate onto the assumptions behind the debate. What supports these assumptions? How do they impact on people’s lives now and in the past? Warm down tip – hold these conversations or debates lightly and not for too long.
3: There are perspectives and ideas that remain hidden. Perhaps this is one of the more challenging workouts. It’s important to know that ignorance is not just the absence of knowledge, that there are ways of building the truth and making some forms of knowing invisible or not worthy of value. GUIDELINE – if you are absolutely certain of something, look for what support you to be certain, be willing to put all knowledge into question, even things you think might be proven to be true. Warm down tip – skip through something familiar to you and notice how you came to know that concept, idea, value, belief.
4: The world is complex, and sometimes the issues and concerns can seem overwhelming and too hard to fix. Sometimes people expect that taking it seriously means you have to commit to a life of shouting, protesting and getting people to see what you see. GUIDELINE: Have fun with the contradictions, play with your own awareness of the irony in the world, find others who are also hinting at the same ideas, and create small networks of support. A good sign you are getting there is finding the incongruity and noticing the strange irony that might appear. Sometimes humour is a good way to open people up to an ‘aha I hadn’t thought of that’ moment. Warm down tip – laugh at yourself!
5: Fear of the unknown is one of the biggest obstacles to ‘thinking outside the box’ – or even knowing where the box is! GUIDELINE: Like rock climbing tackle stuff that is challenging but doesn’t feel impossible. Exploring challenging ideas isn’t always about getting to the top. Warm down tip – work on finding your balance point around fear of difference. Listen and recognise your own vulnerability and make friends with it.
So happy training, my favourite warm down is watching science fiction or comedy that gets me thinking. See you at our next boot camp – ready to bust Plato’s cave right open. Or light some fires in there and cast some new patterns on the walls.
Talking bull
This week is bullying awareness week, well, unofficially and Pink Shirt Day is Friday 20th May. So how to start a conversation about bullying that hasn’t already been done a thousand times….
There are plenty of bullying stories out there, and stories of people who make a stand it against it. There are lots of ideas on how to stop bullying, and schools put in punishments to make it clear it’s wrong to bully. There are also plenty of groups willing to come in and do a presentation, performance share a personal story to help ‘get the message out’ about how bad bullying is. How is that in spite of all this education, it still happens?
I think some of the reason is we go looking for a kind of person or action that we can identify. But is there such a thing as ‘a bully’ does this type of person actually exist? Because I get a bit confused when I talk with people about ‘bullies’. If I ask a range of people about a student from parents, teachers, friends, coaches I get different responses – I never have everyone say ‘yeah they are a bully 100%. So one shift I think needs to happen is to look at bullying not IN people – but BETWEEN people. Anyone can bully or be bullied, there is no ‘type’. You can also be bully and bullied at the same time, which is perhaps why it gets a little confusing.
Another thing I find interesting is the idea that people grow up and grow out of being bullies, I’m not so sure about that. Adults bully that’s a fact, our family violence statistics back that up. Family violence is about control and the use of fear to maintain that control. Bullying is similar. Anyone can bully because everyone feels vulnerable, scared and powerless at times. Bullying is a form of social event – no – I don’t mean it’s something to promote, but people form connections. People make sense of themselves and others through these actions, they give entry into groups. If we look at it this way then anyone can become involved because everyone needs to feel connected, a sense of belonging.
One good example is mocking, put downs, teasing. Humour and laughing are something all of us enjoy. The thing about humour is in order for it to work there has to be some form of shame attached – otherwise it doesn’t work. Friends can sometimes do this with each other. If someone has to say ‘naaaaa jokes’ to convince you that you shouldn’t be offended then it’s likely to have been intended to shame, hurt or humiliate.
Bullying and humour can be an uncomfortable fit. Both can pick on difference, or a sense of wrongness about that difference, this is something we all need to challenge. Laughing together at circumstances or even ourselves is good and healthy. Humour can help us understand the strange ways we are expected to be in the world based on our gender, culture, age, sexuality or functioning. But pointing and laughing at someone is not joining with them in a sense of understanding, it’s alienating and isolating.
I guess my challenge is to groups of friends. How do you respect each other’s differences when having a laugh? How do you laugh in public together-including in digital spaces? Is someone potentially getting their way of being in the world made wrong in the moment? How can you in that moment shift what you do to create a safer more respectful and ethical form of action? Because while you might not be doing the action that gets defined as bullying, your response will either be part of the acceptance and normalising of that or it will challenge it. I’m also interested in challenging homophobic put downs and harassment. Even if it’s amongst friends it can hurt but making it unsafe to be gay or transgendered. Sexuality and gender are unique human qualities we all want others to value. Feeling safe in who we are as people is a fundamental human need.
And just for the record, I think the worst examples of bullying are from adults not young people. It’s also why I love animals, they are just straight up about how they feel about you and they don’t really care about what their friends think if they are friends with another species.
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jeanniegrant
Philip Patston