Campaign for Adventure is a strong supporter of the Big Society initiative. At planning a CfA session 24 points of potential were set into a Big Society Vision Plan. We now offer these as ideas for improvement. Tell us what you think...
We all know we only come to know ourselves when we push limits. Failure tends to be about not reaching potential rather than opportunities not being found/sought/offered. These 24 points came from discussions on the statement 'If we are to create an enterprising society of creative individuals, the learning process itself must be adventurous.'. Tell us what you think about the educational and societal implications and opportunities related to these statements....
More people getting closer to achieving their potential
Everyone knows their future is in their own hands
Every young person has experience of Adventure & Enterprise.
When people go travelling they don’t get the guidebook out
Increase in trespass in the countryside [eco-conscious pioneering].
Decrease in TV/Video/computer games
National survey shows a belief in doing adventurous things
People do something new every day
UK is in the top 3 of adventurous societies [Adventure Olympics?]
Index of adventure – use existing statistics – is created and monitored
Young offenders’ institutes close – no need to commit crime to get a thrill, or status
Groups writing their own prescriptions for adventure
A groundswell of popular opinion exists that balances the culture of fear
No adverts re suing people
Hospital occupancy drops by 50% - due to greater health, judgement & responsibility.
Councils stop identifying risks that don’t exist/start balancing risks
Increase in unsupervised use of playgrounds
More children walking to school by themselves
Regular power-cuts enthuse real creativity in the home and are no problem
More start-up businesses, particularly more staying alive beyond 3 yrs
Re-introduction of wolves into remote parts of UK – the positive side is seen
Communities [not councils/quangos] feel in control of their local economy
Peoples’ lives are more adventurous overall, with higher self esteem evident
Old people are more adventurous – life into years puts years onto life.
Saturday 30 April 2011
Monday 18 April 2011
Human Potential - 97% dormant?
Of the 3 billion codings of human DNA, only 3% is utilised in humanity’s existence today. So what is humanity’s potential? What might be unrealised within us?
Evidence of this hidden potential is emerging from studies of isolated breeding – those places where religious, cultural, geographical, caste and temporal restrictions have inhibited the averaging out of potential and the breeding away of dominant genes, allowing the recessive gene to exist, even flourish.
Now some genes produce obvious characteristics - brown eyes, height, specialist awareness (spatial, colour, relational, etc.), yet there are many characteristics which are not obvious….and as this is an invitational writing, you invited to postulate on the unobvious, the desirable and the amazing.
If the sum of our human existence and amazing capability amount to 3%, the lost 97% allows a lot of scope. For instance, it allows for all living matter’s characteristics to individually, as well as jointly, be within human potential. Yet all living matter only exhibit a further 10% of possible genetic codes, leaving a full 87% for our imagination and for human possibility and potential.
Do you have any favourite possibilities?
Evidence of this hidden potential is emerging from studies of isolated breeding – those places where religious, cultural, geographical, caste and temporal restrictions have inhibited the averaging out of potential and the breeding away of dominant genes, allowing the recessive gene to exist, even flourish.
Now some genes produce obvious characteristics - brown eyes, height, specialist awareness (spatial, colour, relational, etc.), yet there are many characteristics which are not obvious….and as this is an invitational writing, you invited to postulate on the unobvious, the desirable and the amazing.
If the sum of our human existence and amazing capability amount to 3%, the lost 97% allows a lot of scope. For instance, it allows for all living matter’s characteristics to individually, as well as jointly, be within human potential. Yet all living matter only exhibit a further 10% of possible genetic codes, leaving a full 87% for our imagination and for human possibility and potential.
Do you have any favourite possibilities?
Thursday 7 April 2011
Each day we need to say to ourselves something of deep integrity, beauty with potential, for example
Would that human creativity were focused only on the truly wonderful, amazing and sustainable...there is so much wiggle room there. Who needs to risk our planet, integrity and peace?
Tuesday 5 April 2011
Controlling our World...I Robot rules
Do organisations out-control humanity and thus threaten our extinction through their survival?
Organisations now dominate the Earth. They routinely damage ecosystems, act ignorantly of human need and damage all and everything in favour of their own survival. Whilst human-made and apparently/overtly human controlled, they are now human-unfriendly and many are human dangerous.
They now occupy the top of the food chain changing food acres to fuel acres, ancient sustaining forests to desert and fast-run-off, short term low yield producers of food and even dangerous chemicals and biofuels. They are now the greatest threat to our human well-being and the survival of all species. The decision-maker over this great wave of current extinctions is sitting in the boardroom right now. In short they organisations place their survival above that of humanity.
Yes, collective ownership does prevail. Yes, that's right, we all own some part of of most of these institutions – through pensions, taxes, public or charity organisation. Of course owning it (even if we mutually own all the shared parts) is not directly being in control. We have not the competence to communicate, control or understand the systems which will remove the undesirable effects of its existrence.
It is an interesting rule which they are governed by: “Directors must act in the interests of the organisation”. No suggestion of caring for humanity, the planet or the future unless it is a future for themselves.
Now I sit on boards, five to be precise, two global, two (UK)national and one European. No decision is made without deeply concerned discussion on ethics including environmental and cultural impact. We look over our shoulders to see who is watching as well as feel in ourselves the impact of decisions. Yet in our decisions which appear not only sustaining but potentially enhancing of humanity and environment, of well-being and happiness, the effect of damage to all continues.
I have seen this so often. The survival of the organisation – public, private, non-profit, led by the board, is passed down to people who need to work and who will almost always choose job-survival over job-loss. It is this need to protect one's livelihood that causes the problem When jobs can be lost and ethical choices made at every level in the organisation, without fear of hunger, our family's hunger, our status, progression, pensions and all, being threatened, we can sieze back the power of the organisation and enjoy the ethical sustaining rich fruits of our labours.
What to do?
Treat organisations as robots and apply the Asimov 'I Robot' Laws. First Law: "A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm." Second Law: "A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law." Third law is about self-preservation, as long as it did not conflict with the First or Second Laws. All laws are to be applied with both short and long-term considerations taken into account, including ecological and diversity.
Unusually I am even in favour of some application of the precautionary principal – taking risks of the unknown and uncertain is not acceptible. No risk, even if we do not know there is a risk. The World Court should have basic powers to restrict and charge flaunting and cause organisations to cease existence if necessary quickly to prevent existing damage or risks. They should also have power to supervise the making-good of past damage, recovering from recipients any funds generated.....quickly and with questions following not preceding action.
This will allow humanity to regain control of itself and of its effects on the World. We should then move to the repair phase – regaining what we have already destroyed and put at risk.
Organisations now dominate the Earth. They routinely damage ecosystems, act ignorantly of human need and damage all and everything in favour of their own survival. Whilst human-made and apparently/overtly human controlled, they are now human-unfriendly and many are human dangerous.
They now occupy the top of the food chain changing food acres to fuel acres, ancient sustaining forests to desert and fast-run-off, short term low yield producers of food and even dangerous chemicals and biofuels. They are now the greatest threat to our human well-being and the survival of all species. The decision-maker over this great wave of current extinctions is sitting in the boardroom right now. In short they organisations place their survival above that of humanity.
Yes, collective ownership does prevail. Yes, that's right, we all own some part of of most of these institutions – through pensions, taxes, public or charity organisation. Of course owning it (even if we mutually own all the shared parts) is not directly being in control. We have not the competence to communicate, control or understand the systems which will remove the undesirable effects of its existrence.
It is an interesting rule which they are governed by: “Directors must act in the interests of the organisation”. No suggestion of caring for humanity, the planet or the future unless it is a future for themselves.
Now I sit on boards, five to be precise, two global, two (UK)national and one European. No decision is made without deeply concerned discussion on ethics including environmental and cultural impact. We look over our shoulders to see who is watching as well as feel in ourselves the impact of decisions. Yet in our decisions which appear not only sustaining but potentially enhancing of humanity and environment, of well-being and happiness, the effect of damage to all continues.
I have seen this so often. The survival of the organisation – public, private, non-profit, led by the board, is passed down to people who need to work and who will almost always choose job-survival over job-loss. It is this need to protect one's livelihood that causes the problem When jobs can be lost and ethical choices made at every level in the organisation, without fear of hunger, our family's hunger, our status, progression, pensions and all, being threatened, we can sieze back the power of the organisation and enjoy the ethical sustaining rich fruits of our labours.
What to do?
Treat organisations as robots and apply the Asimov 'I Robot' Laws. First Law: "A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm." Second Law: "A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law." Third law is about self-preservation, as long as it did not conflict with the First or Second Laws. All laws are to be applied with both short and long-term considerations taken into account, including ecological and diversity.
Unusually I am even in favour of some application of the precautionary principal – taking risks of the unknown and uncertain is not acceptible. No risk, even if we do not know there is a risk. The World Court should have basic powers to restrict and charge flaunting and cause organisations to cease existence if necessary quickly to prevent existing damage or risks. They should also have power to supervise the making-good of past damage, recovering from recipients any funds generated.....quickly and with questions following not preceding action.
This will allow humanity to regain control of itself and of its effects on the World. We should then move to the repair phase – regaining what we have already destroyed and put at risk.
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