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Ted Talks: Barry Schwartz: The Real Crisis? We Stopped Being Wise
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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.
Feb 16, 2009 11:33 AM
Re: Ted Talks: Barry Schwartz: The Real Crisis? We Stopped Being Wise
Somehow, I need to get my bosses to watch this one.
By: EmanResu
Finally!
It's wonderful to hear this...
About time someone stood up for virtue, wisdom and applied philosophy.
I would add that part of the solution to a more stable world is to learn to use a systemic aproach in our decision-making processes...
We really ought to stop acting as if we were in the center of the universe – because that would make us even more ignorant than those who believed the planets and the stars revolved around the Earth...
More ignorant, because we'd go down in history as educated fools...
I'm not a religious person, but I wholeheartedly believe that we must learn to trust the forces that are beyond our comprehension. We can investigate these forces (that should be the primary purpose of science), but we must think twice before we try to harness and control any of these forces.
We must gain the humility to start doing the right things – even if we know we'll never see the fruits of our labor, and even if we'll never be certain what the results will be.
How do we know what the right thing to do is? That's not such a tough question anymore, as many answers can be found in the history of all great civilizations...
You don't regret a wise decision that truly comes from the heart... but like many of the "educated" people who took part in the atrocities conducted in concentration camps, you just might never forgive yourself once you realize you've used your brains for the wrong reasons.
Let us all redefine our common conception of "intelligence"... because no IQ test can measure that.
About time someone stood up for virtue, wisdom and applied philosophy.
I would add that part of the solution to a more stable world is to learn to use a systemic aproach in our decision-making processes...
We really ought to stop acting as if we were in the center of the universe – because that would make us even more ignorant than those who believed the planets and the stars revolved around the Earth...
More ignorant, because we'd go down in history as educated fools...
I'm not a religious person, but I wholeheartedly believe that we must learn to trust the forces that are beyond our comprehension. We can investigate these forces (that should be the primary purpose of science), but we must think twice before we try to harness and control any of these forces.
We must gain the humility to start doing the right things – even if we know we'll never see the fruits of our labor, and even if we'll never be certain what the results will be.
How do we know what the right thing to do is? That's not such a tough question anymore, as many answers can be found in the history of all great civilizations...
You don't regret a wise decision that truly comes from the heart... but like many of the "educated" people who took part in the atrocities conducted in concentration camps, you just might never forgive yourself once you realize you've used your brains for the wrong reasons.
Let us all redefine our common conception of "intelligence"... because no IQ test can measure that.
By: kalikronos
Re: Ted Talks: Barry Schwartz: The Real Crisis? We Stopped Being Wise
Just ****ing WOW.
Where has this guy been all my life.
My brain have been roiling with this sentiment and thought but I could never figure out how to verbalize it in any other way than "lets just not be douchebags".
I am so glad to hear this articulated in such a succinct and relevant manner.
Don't know who posted this, but thanks.
Where has this guy been all my life.
My brain have been roiling with this sentiment and thought but I could never figure out how to verbalize it in any other way than "lets just not be douchebags".
I am so glad to hear this articulated in such a succinct and relevant manner.
Don't know who posted this, but thanks.
Re: Ted Talks: Barry Schwartz: The Real Crisis? We Stopped Being Wise
OH, idealism. I commend his message, but like every modern-day philosopher he provides no solutions, just the same rhetoric we all agree with. Do the right thing, not the selfish thing? What a revelation.
Please, philosophers and hope-mongers, tell me how to reverse our commercialistic ways. Please tell me what we should do to convince everyone that they should have similar morals. I would love to hear your solutions.
But, of course, you don't. You can't. You don't have any answers. You have the same baseless idealism that the rest of us slaves to history do.
Carlin was a wiser man than this. He said, to paraphrase; the world is a freak show and America has front row seats. Sit back and enjoy the show.
Please, philosophers and hope-mongers, tell me how to reverse our commercialistic ways. Please tell me what we should do to convince everyone that they should have similar morals. I would love to hear your solutions.
But, of course, you don't. You can't. You don't have any answers. You have the same baseless idealism that the rest of us slaves to history do.
Carlin was a wiser man than this. He said, to paraphrase; the world is a freak show and America has front row seats. Sit back and enjoy the show.
By: Chewbot
Re: Ted Talks: Barry Schwartz: The Real Crisis? We Stopped Being Wise
I think it is just as easy for you to demand a solution as it is an idealist to contemplate what that solution is.
If you have no use for a man that desires a better world, i ask you to think about a world without that man.
You know, "do the right thing, not the selfish thing" is a revelation for many people, and the fact that someone gets a non-religious pulpit to shout it from is awesome. We hear all the time about conventional wisdom, but what about plain old damn wisdom. I don't hear that word very often. It used to be the goal to grow wise with age, but the purveying message in our society it is to grow rich with age. No wonder we have a "Cribz" show on 3 different channels.
You wanna know how to end your commercialized ways? Stop buying shit from exploitative companies. Do your RESEARCH. Find out who's responsible and who isn't. You want to stop commerce altogether? That's a bit extreme. You really an anarchist? Then sell your shit and move into the woods.
And if a "philosopher" is spewing "rhetoric", then hes not really a philosopher at all. If a philosopher could solve any problem easily, he wouldn't be a philosopher, he'd be a mathematician. What societal problem is solved instantaneously? None. Once one problem is solved, another comes to take its place, or it morphs into something else. A philosopher does not give instant answers, a priest does. A philosopher poses the question, then seeks the most logical answer in his and others' minds. He tries to find a goal in the distance and point it out to those ready to move there (hope-mongers).
No one is saying we all need to have similar morals, the imperialists and religious institutions do. What Mr. Shwartz is trying to say is that we need to appeal to openness and higher judgment to deal with our dilemmas and not have a lock-step system of problem solving; you agree with him!
You know, maybe Carlin was right. Maybe the world is a freak show. But as long as at the end of the day everyone has a roof over theirs head and food on their plates, its a good freak show in my book.
If you have no use for a man that desires a better world, i ask you to think about a world without that man.
You know, "do the right thing, not the selfish thing" is a revelation for many people, and the fact that someone gets a non-religious pulpit to shout it from is awesome. We hear all the time about conventional wisdom, but what about plain old damn wisdom. I don't hear that word very often. It used to be the goal to grow wise with age, but the purveying message in our society it is to grow rich with age. No wonder we have a "Cribz" show on 3 different channels.
You wanna know how to end your commercialized ways? Stop buying shit from exploitative companies. Do your RESEARCH. Find out who's responsible and who isn't. You want to stop commerce altogether? That's a bit extreme. You really an anarchist? Then sell your shit and move into the woods.
And if a "philosopher" is spewing "rhetoric", then hes not really a philosopher at all. If a philosopher could solve any problem easily, he wouldn't be a philosopher, he'd be a mathematician. What societal problem is solved instantaneously? None. Once one problem is solved, another comes to take its place, or it morphs into something else. A philosopher does not give instant answers, a priest does. A philosopher poses the question, then seeks the most logical answer in his and others' minds. He tries to find a goal in the distance and point it out to those ready to move there (hope-mongers).
No one is saying we all need to have similar morals, the imperialists and religious institutions do. What Mr. Shwartz is trying to say is that we need to appeal to openness and higher judgment to deal with our dilemmas and not have a lock-step system of problem solving; you agree with him!
You know, maybe Carlin was right. Maybe the world is a freak show. But as long as at the end of the day everyone has a roof over theirs head and food on their plates, its a good freak show in my book.
Re: Ted Talks: Barry Schwartz: The Real Crisis? We Stopped Being Wise
Solutions are what the individual comes up with when confronted with the choice: "Do I follow the rule here, or do I do the right thing?"
Personally, I would not cast selfishness as direct opposition to selfishness. I have heard it said that no one does anything except that they think that in the doing of it they would feel better. When the right thing to do is the thing you do because it feels better, it's selfish in addition to being the right thing to do. Win-win-win! Why do I want a more cooperative, more peaceful, less-commercial world? Because I think I'd feel better living in it. How do I get there? By doing the right thing. How do I know it's the right thing to do? Because it feels better!
What can I do about anyone else's decision (like their "commercialistic ways" or their war mongering or trying to get me to do something I don't want to do? Well, I can try to control it (how's that going for me?) or I can sit back and enjoy the show. Preferably, I'll turn my attention to shows like Barry Schwartz and TED are putting on. But I'm still going to do the right thing when it's my turn, especially when it feels good.
Personally, I would not cast selfishness as direct opposition to selfishness. I have heard it said that no one does anything except that they think that in the doing of it they would feel better. When the right thing to do is the thing you do because it feels better, it's selfish in addition to being the right thing to do. Win-win-win! Why do I want a more cooperative, more peaceful, less-commercial world? Because I think I'd feel better living in it. How do I get there? By doing the right thing. How do I know it's the right thing to do? Because it feels better!
What can I do about anyone else's decision (like their "commercialistic ways" or their war mongering or trying to get me to do something I don't want to do? Well, I can try to control it (how's that going for me?) or I can sit back and enjoy the show. Preferably, I'll turn my attention to shows like Barry Schwartz and TED are putting on. But I'm still going to do the right thing when it's my turn, especially when it feels good.
By: bushbaby
