Over the last few years the places I have worked have been heavily focused on wellbeing and resilience of their staff. We all have neuroplasticity - which is an ability for our brains to change an adapt throughout our life (and I guess for a brief time after we die - we kind of shut down slowly). For example O\our clever wet-wear is able to reconfigure itself so that say if part of it gets damaged other parts can take over those functions. OMG so much to talk about in this space, consciousness, free will, the power of our unconscious minds - focus, focus. The part I've been thinking about in the last few minutes is regarding our neural pathways. Lets do some biology education. Neurons are like a standard nerve cell or building block that makes up our nervous system. So we have a head full of these neurons and throughout our lives these will die in response to things like alcohol, head injury, Jazz music, religion, getting beaten by your parents, isolation, or just becoming tired of life (boomers had it rough!). We also constantly grow neurons and this is encouraged by aerobic exercise (mind body connection people - a million Yogis were not wrong!), and 'enriched environments'. This is why late generation x have really good neuroplasticity as we grew up with 90's grunge music, white bike shorts, plaid shirts around our waists, and the uncomfortable relationship between Adidas and the rise of Nu Metal. So we have these things called synapses which are like routers for electrical signals between neurons. Taken together our brain has all these pathways made up of synapses and neurons which represent experience, skills, memory, thought etc... Basically the sum of you. The more you use a path, the more entrenched it becomes, This is why properly and regularly practicing a skill makes you better at it, or why negative repetitious thoughts become their own goal. The good news is we have ways to rewire out brains - mindfulness, being aware of negative thought patterns, good habit forming, objective self -reflection, meditation. This is supported by encouraging the growth of new neurons through good nutrition, exercise, and enriching your environment through mental stimulation, Alice'n'Chains, and learning new skills. There are also some psychological hacks which I'm not really qualified to talk about and need to be led by a trained person (Ok I have thoughts on this, like I think CBT is kind of balls for most people, maybe I'll talk about that later). So my office workplaces for the last few years have been jumping on this bandwagon to build workforce who can take more punishment by holding sessions on mindfulness, resilience, and wellbeing. However this is mostly in a very shallow way which only really benefits the mentally fit.
The thing that bothers me about all this is why are workplaces so invested in building resilience? It suggests to me that our work life is fucked up to the point we need regular mental support to keep us functioning. It feels like a cynical attempt at washing over the fact that working is shit and so the focus is on making people able to hack it longer than actually changing the environment itself. The science suggests that money would be better spent on creating more opportunities for social connection, new skill acquisition, physical activity, yoga and meditation, zero tolerance to bullies, paying those at the bottom more and less at the top, and investing in a 4 day work week just to name a few. If only we were so brave.
Maybe our whole society and modern living is shit too. We are doing something terribly wrong. Or, radical thought here, is it in our nature to live stressful lives? Like for most of our history we have lived in societies which blow chunks. Should this be normal? I've read anecdotal stuff about hunter gather societies living happy lives. But then as a parent I can't see it being cool seeing your kid die from an easily cured disease by modern standards. To be fair this is still the reality of many modern people who can't afford or get access to healthcare because some humans are garbage - perhaps it is better to die of venereal disease watching the flames of your campfire and singing songs of your ancestors than dying in an alley next door to the chemist. Where is our balance?
For the last 4 months I've been gainfully unemployed, and aside from job security anxiety and the stress of accidently overhearing the 'Aural Diarrhea' that is jazz, I've never been so creative or slept so well in my life. I'm also fitter than I have been in a long time. There is something in that, an unprecedented freedom which our modern world is actually able to deliver when you look at worker productivity over time which incidentally our wages are falling waaaaaaaaaaaay behind. Somebody is skimming off all the juicy extra productivity - fucking space billionaires as an example.
Just you watch - AI as exciting as it is will probably increase our productivity as a species by a bunch, but I predict very few of us will benefit in material terms, and many people will lose out. Maybe the real solution is called universal income, housing, food and healthcare, and income caping. Some people think this will lead to a lazy society where nobody works and will stifle innovation. I call bullshit.
I don't want to leave this on a sour note. We are all complicated biological beings, living in complex societies. We have the power to change our brain physiology through thought, behavior and physical action. How incredible is that? I would say I am pretty jazzed about it, but you all know by now how I feel on that topic....
well, maybe I'll make an exception for Gunhild Carling. She is fucking awesome...
Yippe-kay-ya mother-f'er...
I'm supportive of the 4 day work week, or at least a super flexible work week. That and a belief that AI will only benefit those that have free access to it... It'll allow those without access to access what they wouldn't normally and allow those that don't understand a channel through which they can learn or don't need to know, but enables them regardless.