“Primates are super smart and organized just enough to devote their free time to being miserable to each other and stressing each other out,” he said. “But if you get chronically, psychosocially stressed, you’re going to compromise your health. So, essentially, we’ve evolved to be smart enough to make ourselves sick.”

He backs up his assertions with baboon studies he’s done.  But, why baboons you ask?

“The reason baboons are such good models is, like us, they don’t have real stressors,” he said. “If you live in a baboon troop in the Serengeti, you only have to work three hours a day for your calories, and predators don’t mess with you much. What that means is you’ve got nine hours of free time every day to devote to generating psychological stress toward other animals in your troop. So the baboon is a wonderful model for living well enough and long enough to pay the price for all the social-stressor nonsense that they create for each other. They’re just like us: They’re not getting done in by predators and famines, they’re getting done in by each other.”

It turns out that unhealthy baboons, like unhealthy people, often have elevated resting levels of stress hormones. “Their reproductive system doesn’t work as well, their wounds heal more slowly, they have elevated blood pressure and the anti-anxiety chemicals in their brain, which have a structural similarity to Valium, work differently,” Sapolsky said. “So they’re not in great shape.”

Barry Schwartz makes a passionate call for “practical wisdom” as an antidote to a society gone mad with bureaucracy. He argues powerfully that rules often fail us, incentives often backfire, and practical, everyday wisdom will help rebuild our world.

An article by the NY Times which suggests that the ability to contemplate the great stories of mankind and “come to grips with what living is for”, is, and will continue to be, “a great luxury that many cannot afford.”  Frightening correlations between class, education, and the economy.

In Tough Times, the Humanities Must Justify Their Worth – NY Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/25/books/25human.html

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html

This morning, in my tent, near the Sangre De Cristo mountains in rural Colorado, I came across this Op-Ed article in the NY Times and sustained goosebumps on the back of my neck for the duration of the reading.  A campfire was already toasting pancakes outside and I emerged from my warm sleeping bag to read the article out loud to the rest of the camp.  We were all struck with a strong sense of encouragement coming from “the establishment” here, and moving conversations lasted well into the afternoon.

Roger Cohen is certainly a bridge between generations and an optimistic critic of American culture in this editorial.  The way he dances through pop references, economics, class conditioning, and great poetry here…   ahhh.

Enjoy!

If you’ve ever wondered how the Global Pool of Money relates to the Sub-Prime Mortgage Crisis and how all this is related to the ensuing economic stumbling, This American Life summarizes everything beautifully in Episode #355. Captivating tales from bartenders-turned-brokers, skeptical economists, and homeowners in over their heads.

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Enjoy!

Benjamin

This American Life #355 The Giant Pool of Money (MP3)

This American Life #355 The Giant Pool of Money (Other formats)

A special program about the housing crisis. We explain it all to you. What does the housing crisis have to do with the collapse of the investment bank Bear Stearns? Why did banks make half-million dollar loans to people without jobs or income? And why is everyone talking so much about the 1930s? It all comes back to the Giant Pool of Money.

If you haven’t yet watched this extraordinary BBC documentary by the masterful Adam Curtis, do yourself a favor. Excerpt from Wikipedia: The Century of the Self asks deep questions about the roots and methods of modern consumerism, representative democracy and its implications. It also questions the modern way we see ourselves, the attitude to fashion and superficiality. The business and, increasingly, the political world uses PR to read and fulfill our desires, to make their products or speeches as pleasing as possible to us. Curtis raises the question of the intentions and roots of this fact. Where once the political process was about engaging people’s rational, conscious minds, as well as facilitating their needs as a society, the documentary shows how, by employing the tactics of psychoanalysis, politicians appeal to irrational, primitive impulses that have little apparent bearing on issues outside of the narrow self-interest of a consumer population. He cites a Wall Street banker as saying “We must shift America from a needs- to a desires-culture. People must be trained to desire, to want new things, even before the old have been entirely consumed. [...] Man’s desires must overshadow his needs.” Unfortunately, due to copyright laws, this video is prohibited for sale in the U.S. However, thanks to internet, you can watch the whole series here!

Part One – Happiness Machines

Part Two – The Engineering of Consent

Part Three – There is a Policeman Inside All Our Heads: He must be Destroyed

Part Four – Eight People Sipping Wine in Kettering

Posted by: Benjamin

I’ve recently discovered the work of Slavoj Zizek.  Žižek is well known for his use of the works of 20th century French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan in a new reading of popular culture.

This documentary on YouTube is a great introduction to his energetic theories and cultural critique. If you enjoyed learning about Freud’s effect on 20th century American industry and consciousness in Adam Curtis’ Century of the Self (A must-watch!), you must see where Slavoj Zizek takes the theories of Jacques Lacan (one of Freud’s famous disciples).

Why is this useful? Because Zizek breaks down the psychology of enjoyment, religion, diversity, and true freedom in 21st century context; subjects quite relevant to America, if it plans to make it through the rough patches with skill and grace. Don’t get me wrong, this man is not without controversy. Post your opinion about Zizek after you watch him, let’s talk.

Benjamin