Archives for category: Psychology

Mornings are a very special time for me and my wife.
I drive her to work and those 15 minutes are a very good opportunity for us to empty our souls to each other.
“I’m sad and disorientated” she said to me today. Yesterday she had found in her mail a newspaper article, in Romanian, about the 12 million Germans, 15% of the population, that are living at or under the poverty line and she had forwarded it to me. “Yeah, I know, who would have thought of this?”
“Well, I pity those people, of course, but I’m more concerned about what will happen here, in Romania!”
“?!?”
“You see, until I had read that article I nurtured the notion that if we clean up our act and start working really hard we may narrow, in time, the gap that separates us from the rest of Europe. But now, after finding out that even Germany is going southward… I don’t know anymore… I even started to wonder what kind of world is our son going to live in?!?”

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I looked into this a little deeper and I became even more worried: “Life in Europe’s “squeezed middle” ”  Please notice that this ‘news’ is already two and a half  years old!

She is right, my wife. Where are we going to?

Nowadays there is a heated debate about how much damage to the nature is acceptable in order for us to have a ‘thriving’ economy.

This way of thinking is very well illustrated by the following picture:Image

The caption says: “If you really think that economy is more important than nature then try holding your breath while counting your money”.

If we look a little deeper into all this we find out that initially economy – or oikonomia in ancient Greek – was the art of managing the resources needed by a household. Since then these resources came directly from the surrounding nature it ‘naturally follows’ that in those times there was no conflict between economy and nature: people took what ever they needed from where it grew or grazed, threw the garbage wherever around the camps and whenever things became too messy or the pastures/hunting grounds were exhausted people moved a little further, giving the nature an opportunity to heal its otherwise superficial wounds.
Later, as people moved into cities, their relationship with the nature became a little more complicated. If nature had a way of renewing itself periodically all went well. Egypt survives since 5000 years ago mainly because the Nile periodically cleanses and fertilizes the country. If not, and people overuses local resources, the fate of that particular civilization is doomed – the Mayan empire, for example.

A sudden change happened around three  hundred years ago: Europeans simultaneously learned advanced agricultural techniques enabling them to feed larger numbers of people, thus freeing a lot of ‘ work force’ that was swiftly employed by the industry, and invented fiat money – paper invested with value by the very entity that ‘printed’ it, the central banks.
‘Economy’ started to thrive only it no longer was about the old struggle for survival; it was gradually transformed into the modern economy: a playing ground where the ruthless fight for more and more money is constantly eating away both natural resources and the moral fiber of those implied in it.

Maybe it is high time for us to understand what is going on and to find a way to reintegrate nature into the economy as a resource that needs to last forever and not as an expendable one.

Sambata 5000 de biciclisti au cerut demisia lui Sorin Oprescu.
Pentru ca inca nu sunt suficiente piste pentru biciclisti, lucru pe care l-a promis in campania electorala.
Sunt de acord cu biciclistii (si eu mai merg din cand in cand pe doua roti, poate nu chiar atat de mult pe cat ar trebui) in ceea ce priveste pistele dar ‘demiterea’ mi se pare usor exagerata.
Nu ca as avea vreo prietenie pentru Oprescu. Nu-l cunosc, nu mi se pare ca ar fi facut ceva deosebit.
In schimb mi se pare ca revendicarile exagerate blocheaza comunicarea. Una e sa-i spui cuiva: “tine-ti promisiunea si vezi ca suntem cu ochii pe tine” si alta sa ii ceri aceluiasi demisia din prima, si asta pentru niste lucruri destul de relative.
In primul caz individul vizat, daca e normal la cap, va incerca, macar de forma, sa se tina de promisiune. In cel de al doilea va spune, linistit, ‘niste exagerati’. Iar ‘spectatorii’, adica votantii care nu sunt direct interesati de problema respectiva, vor fi de acord: ‘ietete, doar n-o sa-si dea demisia ditamai primarul doar pentru ca nu au astia pe unde sa se plimbe cu bicicleta’.

E adevarat ca de cind l-am ‘demis’ pe Ceausescu am ramas cu un sentiment placut de ‘impreuna se poate’ dar nu trebuie sa uitam totusi ca ‘demisia’ este ‘ultimul remediu’, nu primul.

Aseara mi s-a rupt caruta-n drum. Mai precis m-a lasat Matizul undeva pe Stefan cel Mare.
L-am tras la mal si l-am lasat acolo.
Azi dimineata am dat telefon la service si mi-au spus ca sa merg la sediul lor si imi ‘dau’ ei o platforma. Fiind aproape de casa am imprumutat bicicleta lui fi-miu si am plecat la drum.

Dupa ce am iesit de pe strada mea si am ajuns in spatele blocurilor de pe Mihai Bravu am devenit ‘prada’ unor maidanezi care iesisera sa se dezmorteasca la o ‘vanatoare’. In pricipiu de masini dar daca trece si o bicicleta pe acolo, de ce nu?

Si uite asa am inteles de ce nu vrea fiul meu (ditamai galiganul de 14 ani si 1.80) sa se duca cu bicicleta la scoala sau la baschet si de ce cind era mai mic ocolea pe departe zona. Doar pentru ca unii se simt bine ‘ocrotind’ niste ‘biete animale’ iar altii sunt fericiti ca masinile lor (cele sub care dorm ‘ocrotitii’) sunt in siguranta.

Nu, nu am o obsesie cu chestia asta ci cu jumatatile de masura.
Abia ajunseseram la concluzia ca nu se mai poate cu haitele astea de caini vagabonzi care salasluiesc pe strazi sau prin parcuri ca procuratura a blocat activitatea ASPA iar ‘iubitorii de animale’ au reinceput manifestatiile impotriva eutanasierii cainilor vagabonzi neadoptati.
Si atunci ce facem mai departe?
Se pare ca ASPA inca nu este o organizatie pe atat de eficienta pe cat ar trebui sa fie (asta ca sa ma exprim politicos) si ca “iubitorii de animale” inca nu au inteles ca standardele europene cu privire la adapostirea cainilor (2 metri patrati pentru fiecare) se refera la adapostirea temporara, pana la adoptie sau pana la eutanasiere. Daca tii un caine in doi metri patrati mai mult de doua saptamani animalul acela innebuneste.
Ma intreb din nou: si atunci ce facem?
– Facem ‘ordine’ la ASPA, incepem sa curatam strazile si curmam suferintele cainilor care nu au fost adoptati dupa doua saptamani?
– Strangem cainii de pe strazi si ii tinem, pe bani extrem de multi, in niste conditii absolut neomenesti?
– Ne resemnam – in Romania nu se poate – si lasam haitele pe strazi, eventual pana la o noua tragedie – pe cei 8000 de oameni deja muscati de caini anul asta oricum nu ii ia nimeni in calcul?

Aflam de la Realitatea TV (14:30) ca Ionut si fratele sau ar fi petrecut doua ore in parc fara a fi fost supravegheati in toata aceasta perioada de catre bunica lor.
Din discutia ce a urmat am aflat ca:
– Asertiunea se bazeaza pe faptul ca intr-o intregistrare video NU apare nici o interactiune intre bunica si cei doi copii timp de doua ore, Camera aceea nu acopera tot parcul si in articolul citat nu se precizeaza daca in parc mai sunt camere video si daca inregistrarile acestora au fost verificate sau nu.- Copii au fugit prin parc si nimeni nu i-a intrebat daca sunt singuri sau daca au patit ceva.
– Ca o echipa de televiziune a facut un experiment: un ‘actor’ barbat s-a prefacut ca agreseaza o ‘actrita’ in zona magazinului Unirea, aceasta i-a cerut, strigand si vociferand, sa o lase in pace, barbatul a continuat ‘agresiunea’ si cu toate acestea nimeni nu a intervenit.

Cu alte cuvinte nimanui nu prea ii mai pasa de nimeni. Spun ‘nu prea’ pentru ca pe fratele lui Ionut l-a adus totusi cineva inapoi.

Sunt curios ce se va intampla in continuare.
Vor striga aparatorii cainilor vagabonzi: “Uite, vezi, bunica e de vina: nu i-a supravegheat pe copii! Putem reteritorializa cainii!” ?

Ar fi o situatie extrem de interesanta. Ipoteza “nimanui nu-i mai pasa de nimic” ar fi infirmata. Ar rezulta ca mai sunt romani carora le pasa de ceva.
DE CAINII VAGABONZI.
Si nu doar ca le pasa de cainii vagabonzi dar le pasa mai mult de caini decat de oamenii muscati. Acestia nu au decat sa isi supravegheze mai bine copii, sa nu cumva sa fie nervosi sau sa le fie frica de caini, sa umble cu bucati de paine la ei ca sa aibe ce sa dea cainilor, sa ocoleasca locurile unde stau haitele sau, si mai bine, sa stea dracului acasa si sa lase strada cainilor.

Sper din toata inima sa ma insel.

One of the first novels I read was “The Naked Sun”  by Isaac Asimov.
In a nutshell it depicts the contrast between an overcrowded Earth whose population lives basically underground in close resemblance of an ant mole, both architecturally and socially, and Solaria – a planet long ago colonized by humans who now live individually, with almost no personal contact between them, except for long Skype-like machine intermediated interactions.
The Earth cannot evolve any further because they have locked themselves in a corner in search for safety inside the herd and Solaria cannot do anything more than survive because the inhabitants do not have even the slightest idea of what close cooperation means.

Nowadays there is a hot debate about video games. One party deplores the fact that the young generation is morally perverted by the high level of violence they are exposed to while others point to the fact that ancient tales are even more violent and that there is no difference between spoken, written, seen on screen (cinema and then TV) and video-played violence.

Yes and no.
The level of violence might be the same but the level of ‘immersion’ is different.
For most of (pre)human history everything happened in the ‘public square’, including punishment. It was customary that everybody attended even the most gruesome executions, children included, as lessons for the future. This had consequences: life was cheap in those times because it could be ended by the whims of the powerfuls of the day but everybody was fully aware of the practicalities (excruciating pain) of losing it and – most important – that there were ways of avoiding it: social cooperation by obeying the rules.
Afterwards, when printing and later radio, cinema and TV were invented, this level of immersion was no longer necessary and executions retreated inside the prison walls. People read about what rules bending meant and discussed about it among themselves. Human direct interaction was not as intense as directly seeing an execution but reading about it managed to preserve a sufficient level of impact while discussing about it preserved a sane level of compassion with both victim and criminal.
The advent of the video games changed all this. The virtual world influences real life two ways: it robs people of ‘the practical touch’ and of time otherwise spent interacting with real people.
A real execution was indeed gruesome but it left a powerful impression. If you read about one, and the writer is any good, you are left with a not so intense experience but sometimes with a more lasting one, precisely because the writer knew his job. If you witness ten deaths in a 15 minutes video game you start to not care anymore, once because of the reset button and secondly because the human brain is set to discard stimuli than come in a steady flow, for instance we stop feeling a certain smell after a while or we stop hearing the constant hum of the engine when enjoying a cruise on a ship.
Even more nefarious is the fact that young people do not interact directly as more as they used to. Playing with other children with minimum or even no adult supervision is the best and fastest way to acquire social skills and to learn empathy. Nowadays shrinking families (one or two children per family drastically reduces the number of playmates) and increased focus on safety means that children no longer play amongst themselves but in an environment closely monitored or eve sometimes suffocated by adult intervention . Video gaming only meant that even this closely monitored interaction with one’s peers almost disappeared and was replaced by interactions with a machine…

I’m afraid that this may be one of the explanations for why nowadays nuances are becoming so hard to find, everything is treated as in ‘black and white’ and empathy has become a dirty word describing the feelings of a ‘sissy’.

Not so fast, ladies and gentlemen, things are not so clear cut.

First let me introduce you to a very good article which puts things in wider perspective.

Now I’d like to tell those of you who are not familiar with the Romanian language that we have here a variant of this saying:
“You might have to befriend the devil in order to cross that bridge!”
And this really got my mind going. The Romanian version, as raw as it is, hits the nail on the head:

Before befriending the devil in order to cross that bridge make sure that you really want to be on the other side having the devil as your business partner!

And here we have a practical application of the principle, as brought to our attention by Michael J. Totten

Am ascultat piesa asta de vreo cateva zeci de ori.
Pentru inceput la radio, e la moda. Dupa aceea pe Youtube, deja eram curios (Astfel am aflat si ca are ceva audienta, 6 milioane si jumatate de vizionari e ceva.
In sfarsit azi dimineata mi-am dat seama ce pot eu intelege din ea – evident ca nu am de unde sti cu certitudine ce a vrut Chirila sa spuna: Orice ‘reinventare’ trece absolut inevitabil printr-un proces de separare, de individualizare. Nu putem trai singuri, avem nevoie de ajutorul celor din jurul nostru, dar noi nu-l putem cere si ei nu ni-l pot da pana cind nu ne lamurim, de unii singuri, ce vrem sa facem si unde vrem sa ajungem.
Drum bun!

1945-1948: Declaratia Drepturilor Omului, instaurarea comunismului in Europa de Est si in China, inceputul decolonizarii.
~1968: Revoltele studentesti, Primavara de la Praga, Revolutia culturala din China, decolonizarea din Africa se apropie de sfarsit – dintre coloniile importante doar cele portugheze si Rhodesia nu si-au cistigat inca independenta.
1990: caderea comunismului in Europa, Piata Tien-An-Men in China.
2011: Primaverile Arabe.

Romania:

1945-1948: Instaurarea comunismului, inceputul rezistentei armate in munti.
1964-1968: Eliberarea ultimilor 10 000 de detinuti politici, declaratiile de independenta fata de Moscova, relaxarea produsa de schimbarea de garda de la virful PCR, entuziasmul popular si mandria cu care romanii au receptat condamnarea  de catre Ceausescu a interventiei rusesti din Cehoslovacia.
1989: Caderea extrem de sangeroasa a lui Ceausescu. (1990 Piata Universitatii)
2012: Demisia lui Boc in urma unor lupte de strada destul de violente (2013 din nou demonstratii, pasnice – ca si in 1990, in Piata Universitatii, de data asta avand ca pretext Rosia Montana dar, si de data asta, in realitate fiind rezultul nemultumirii a cel putin unei parti a electoratului cu privire la insuficientele schimbari aparute dupa schimbarea de regim.

O intrebare sare in ochi!
Oamenii astia nu pricep o data???
Care dintre ei?
In principiu primii ar trebui sa priceapa cei din elita, intelectualii – elita ganditorilor – si politicienii – elita administratorilor treburilor publice – nu?

Cu vreo citeva zile in urma am auzit la BBC pe cineva spunand: “Trebuie sa ne invatam lectia dar in nici un caz nu trebuie sa ramanem prizonierii ei!”. A doua zi un altul, vorbind despre criza financiara la CNN: “Oamenii au invatat ceva din criza asta, numai ca, din pacate, atunci cind vine vorba sa faca ceva se intorc la siguranta lucrului cunoscut si incearca sa aplice din nou o masura care a functionat in trecut”.

Asa o fi?

Pai sa vedem:
– Drepturile Omului fusesera inventate cu vreo 150 de ani in urma in timpul Revolutiei Franceze, comunismul fusese inventat de Marx cu 100 de ani in urma si deja aplicat de Lenin iar decolonizarea a fost inventata, in epoca moderna, de Americani.
– Revoltele studentesti au semanat uluitor de mult cu ce s-a intimplat pe vremea Comunei din Paris, Primavara de la Praga cu modul in care India si-a declarat independenta in 1945, Revolutia culturala chineza a fost o parodie tragica a traiului dintr-o manastire budhista – toti muncesc – indiferent de rang, disciplina stricta, respect pentru reguli si conducatori, iar tarile africane au continuat dupa decolonizare sa foloseasca aceleasi politici pe care le aplicasera inainte fiecare dintre puterile coloniale, fiecare cu specificitatile invatate de la europeni.
– Dupa caderea comunismului fiecare dintre tarile ex-comuniste a revenit la ce invatase inainte – polonezii, cehii si ungurii s-au apucat de treaba, noi si bulgarii de bizantinisme, etc. – iar chinezii au inabusit revolta in sange, cum s-a intimplat, de exemplu, si cu revolta Boxerilor din 1900.
– Se vede cu ochiul liber ca Egiptul s-a reintors sub regim militar, ca autoritarismul islamic din Tunisia nu este diferit, din punct de vedere practic, de cel al lui Ben Ali iar in Libia domneste in continuare bunul plac – mai demult cel al lui Ghadaffi, acum al sefuletilor care s-au instalat la putere.

In Romania tot asa:
– I-a bagat Siguranta lui Eugen Cristescu pe comunisti la puscarie? Hop si Pintilie cu Departamentul Securitatii Statului. Se declarasera comunistii ‘avantgarda clasei muncitoare’? Pai atunci inseamna ca toate mijloacele de productie vor fi ‘nationalizate’ si conduse de acum inainte de… comunisti, in nici un caz de proletari. Li se povestise oamenilor despre eroismul partizanilor rusi si despre faptele de vitejie ale haiducilor si ale motilor lui Avram Iancu? Au incercat oamenii aceleasi metode si impotriva comunistilor…
– Oricat ar parea de ciudat destinderea care a avut loc Romania intre 1964 si 1968 a avut si ea un precedent, NEP-ul lui Lenin. Va invit cu caldura sa cititi linkul, veti gasi acolo atit pe ‘mandatarii’ lui Ceausescu cat si explicatiile macro economice a ce si de ce s-a intimplat in economia romaneasca intre 1960 si 1990.
– Sper ca nu este nevoie sa cititi aici ca dupa ’89 marea majoritate a celor care au ajuns la putere in Romania au provenit din esalonul II, nu? Si ca ‘Piata Universitatii’ a fost o rabufnire de nemultumire a celor care isi dadeau seama, constient sau nu, ca schimbarea nu fusese suficienta!

Va las pe voi sa trageti concluziile cu privire la ce ar trebui sa faca Ponta si Antonescu, mai ales avand in vedere ca protestele contra ‘Rosia Montana’ si procentul de 60% a celor ‘nemultumiti cu directia in care se indreapta tara’ sugereaza clar ca am mai parcurs deja drumul asta spre Canossa – adica spre o alta confruntare cu nemultumirea populara. Poate de data asta de o intensitate si mai redusa numai ca in cazuri din astea nu se stie niciodata. Si de ce sa riscam?