Greetings from Amsterdam!
After an intensive spell of teaching I have found time to put some thoughts on paper. I hope they can inspire you and yours.
It would be nice to hear how you are doing. Please do reply to this email and tell me!
All the best, and happy reading,
Daniel Bernardus
What's in This Issue?
1) An Idea: Can we know that reality exists?
2) An Experience: Canyons and Stars
3) An Anecdote: An Encounter with Optimal Work
4) What’s coming up?
1) An Idea: Can we know that reality exists?
Autumn has set in in the Netherlands, which is a time for melancholy musings. The question I would like to think about with you today is “Can we know that reality exists”? This question may be read with a melancholic undertone. But it is a big question, with many consequences, both for theory and for our lives.
The occasion for discussing this question with you is provided by an online course I am following at the University of Navarre in the thought of Leonardo Polo. As you will remember, this is the philosopher that I wrote “Freedom in Quarantine” with. The course is proving to be very inspiring.
One important realization that led Leonardo Polo to his core philosophical discovery, was that a concept is too limited to encompass the full meaning of “being”. Therefore, he thought, we need to go beyond the concept and face reality directly. That became his core discovery: abandoning, or going beyond, mental limitation. But is that even possible?
I think that there are some developments in current-day society that make it easier to understand what Polo means to say. We live in a society in which “raising awareness” about themes is thought to be really important. “Raising awareness” is not the same as thinking something through thoroughly, but it can of course be the starting point for a more thorough reflection. For example, are we able to “raise awareness” about our own thinking? Polo says we are. He elaborates on how that is possible in his masterpiece on theory of knowledge, a very thorough, but also complicated and extensive work. One important notion he introduces there is that of “habitual knowledge”, something earlier philosophers had talked about already, but not in that much detail. Through these habits, we are able to focus our attention on something and become “aware” of it. So there are different habits that can help us focus our attention on our thought process and become more thoroughly aware of it.
There are different types of knowledge habits. The important one for our question “Can we know that reality exists?” is the habit of first principles. Through this habit we can focus our attention on the world around us, and become aware of its being, of its existence, without still conceptualizing it or thinking about it.
To my mind, the experience Polo is referring to is shared by many people nowadays when they do “mindfulness” exercises. In these exercises the goal is often to stop thinking for a while, and just be aware of yourself and the world around you. Polo would say that you are then exercising habitual knowledge.
So why is this important? Well, it shows that a bit of autumn melancholy can lead to very profound questions, which may not have a solution in any of our theories. Still, we can give an answer, appealing to our direct experience of habitual knowledge. And this experience can in turn be a realist basis on which sound theories can be constructed. So yes, paying attention to reality, focusing our attention on it is important!
2. An Experience: The Red Turtle
In this (video) podcast Dieuwe Beersma interviews Emma Cohen de Lara and me about our new Canyons and Stars initiative. This initiative also has a website, with an English and a Dutch version.
Canyons and Stars is a movement of educators - parents as well as education professionals. At Canyons and Stars we believe that young people should be given hope by teaching them how to embrace reality and discover their personal calling.
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4) An Anecdote: An Encounter with Optimal Work
At the Canyons and Stars initiative that I just described we are going to collaborate with Harvard psychiatrist Kevin Majeres. He offers an online masterclass called “Optimal Work”, which helps people transform themselves by fully engaging in their work. It helps people work in “Golden hours” of fully focused attention. The nice thing about this masterclass is that it is based on neurobiological insights, but at the same time considers people’s motivation and values, and is also very practical. To me, this combination is a winner.
I came across Optimal Work this summer. Even though I have a large track record in following and teaching time management and leadership courses, I am always open to new insights. But I was surprised how much it helped me. To me the most transformative experience was to apply this “Optimal Work” methodology to the things I don’t particularly enjoy doing. For things I do enjoy, like studying philosophy, I get into the “flow” of focused attention quite easily. But for more practical things, I did not usually come to that point. Kevin’s methodology has enabled me to work well, even when the activities on my plate were not my favorites.
Meanwhile, I have shared OptimalWork with others, and I’m encountering a lot of interest. Different people get different main benefits from the experience. Some students I know have started to have a weekly “Golden hour” together, and there is a move to go to a second one. One downside I have encountered is that because following the masterclass, it means more screen time. But then again, flying a Harvard Psychiatrist to Europe is not an easy option either.
If you’re interested in Optimal Work, have a look here. If you work in education and are interested in joining us for a group discount, look here.
5) What’s coming up?
After the release of Win Win Win, I've been working on "Education and Love" which is a booklet meant to help educators in economics implement some of the core insights from Win Win Win in their classes. It is now nearly finished. If you want to know more about that, please have a look at my education page.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Emma Cohen de Lara and Antoon van den Boogaard for their contributions to the setting up of Canyons and Stars, and Dieuwe Beersma for his help with the podcast.
Legal letters
Please note that this newsletter is copyrighted material. You are able to share this E-zine in its entirety, but not to modify, shorten or copy from it in any way. I actually appreciate it if you share the entire E-zine with friends, family or colleagues who might be interested. I hope we can spark many good conversations together.
Daniel Bernardus
Publisher, Relax, Relate, Reflect about Big Questions E-zine
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