RSA Animate - 21st century enlightenment

Comment 33 Comments

  • Behaviour change
  • Cognition
  • Social innovation

 

Matthew Taylor explores the meaning of 21st century enlightenment, how the idea might help us meet the challenges we face today, and the role that can be played by organisations such as the RSA. View Matthew Taylor's lecture at the RSA

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  • Picture of Capt Huffnpuff

    "There are no sinners, only people who do things 'differently'". I suppose murderers, theives, rapists are not "sinners"; they only look at the world differently. Though I'm all for increasing empathy between beings, like everything else, it has its limits.

  • Picture of Bettina Zwerdling

    Very excited to have discovered the RSA, which along with things like Ted.com, I am visiting and beiing stretch and nourished by regularly. The Animates were first discovered by a Facebook friend in England (I live in the States) sharing it. Animates make me so happy it feels like a cool compress on a over-heated brain. Exciting So I also frequently distribute RSA lectures * animates to my wide circle of Facebook friends.

    Just watched the 21st Century Enlightenment full lecture plus Q &A (even more dazzled and engaged than animate which I love.) Bravo - many things came to mind and I learned and was reminded of as Mathew Taylor spoke and fielded points from questioners, like.
    I especially appreciated places where you talked about mindfulness (I have been studying Ron Kurtz & Jon Kabat-Zinn work) as part of developing empathy and even in getting that it is central to know WHO and HOW (distorted we can be) as we experience, perceive, decide, act. Here I refer to coming to understand how appetites & needs differ, the nature of our reactive mind, & the value of knowing how our own emotions and unconscious is always more in play and ripe for manipulation than we generally admit, or even feel.

    As for some of the 'get real, society as it is' questions, I just wanted to say two things came to mind. Your brilliant quick mention of how all people get more engaged over DOING, vs. committees on doing -- and one gentlemen's point to you that 'does any of this matter - young disaffected people don't get together in galleries...', etc.
    It brought to mind Mohamed Yunus and microlending - this social venture model which is about empowering people (women) with seed money credit services, and their getting together to participate in and whole entrepreneurial chain while paying back the loan. And how affecting women tends to spread the benefit wider, etc. It seems a bridge between what we have now, the latent talents in all sorts of people, and what's missing even as social financial belt tightening occurs. Perhaps we need microlending and that model in our so called 'Rich World too!' -- many aren't rich or feeling engaged, hopeful or connected - and gov't can provide less relief thanks to bank collapse/recession.
    Last point to make here is that the www.thegirleffect.org insight and project speaks to one key place we might have to addressing the coming en-darkening....the reality of exponential population growth with all its global impllications.
    Thank you for wonderful work and valiant effort. I too believe in social dialogue.