My Fragmented Bisociation Thought Experiment on Belonging, Being and Becoming
I want to see the future. We are living through a global pandemic. Anthropogenic climate change is threatening once-known conceptions of living and working, and technological leaps divide generations. Our world is once again volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambivalent. How can we as people advance and thrive despite this given tentativeness? Psychological maturation unfolds when new information is actively absorbed. Growth is a continuous, playful elaboration on contemporary and complex knowledge.
One key feature that defines being human is complexity. It is in complexity and contrast that humans stand out as personalities or as communal beings. Intriguingly, the same complexity may break an individual or a social movement – as some opposites become incomprehensible. Often so, perplexity re-enforces examinations of meaning-making that encompass misery and distress, hence inflicting either adaptation or peculiarity. Creative processes unfold along this path, innovations happen, and history is written.
Imagine childlike free-play prolonged and drawn upon in adulthood as a means to explore ourselves, others, and our world; we envision, build, abolish and re-create. We are profoundly intertwined with an egocentric need to become and belong at the same time. Some feel intrinsically motivated to have an impact, to contribute, to change the environment, to communicate, and to be noticed by others. If we have no control over our lives, fail to translate our thoughts and emotions into words or actions, and are invisible to others – we fall into chaos. Yet, was it not chaos from where life sprung?
There is a temptation to extend one’s influence beyond the immediate moment. Politics, literature, art, architecture, music, dance, science, knowledge, and technology are sustained past their setting of a prevailing Zeitgeist. They form a society’s identity and influence our thinking long after the influential people have perished.
We are all active ‘conductors’ of knowledge: what we attend to, our interpretations, the emotions we let arise, and the actions we take. We are all ‘creators’. Our volatile time needs ‘Artists‘, whose work is guided by intuition and imagination, ‘Sages’, who use careful observations and analytical thinking to find solutions, and ‘Jesters’, to apply satire and humour to surprise and amuse us.
How does a mind conjure up creative ideas? Mihaly Csikzentmihalyi writes that creative people combine extremes in one person: They are wise yet childish, smart yet naïve, playful yet disciplined, responsible yet irresponsible, humble yet proud, and rebellious yet conservative. Such complex individuals are willing to take risks and open to exploring suffering as well as enjoyment. They do not fear ambivalence.
Friedrich Nietzsche wrote (1872 to 1888) during a similarly uncertain time. In his mind, God died – and with ‘It’ longstanding morality. No longer slaves with a need for equality to overcome our condition of inferiority, we are free to create the ‘Übermensch’. This existence stands above good and evil, with curiosity for power to rise above deep-rooted superstitions and imposed morals. The ‘Übermensch’ can look back on life and accept all failures and misdeeds, to see the past as neither good nor bad. Growth through suffering.
Twenty years after Nietzsche collapsed, Maslow was born. His later humanistic view comprehended our goals, projections, and emotions – people are full of potential. To become who we are truly meant to be, physical and psychological needs must first be met – self-actualised beings are spiritually, socially, and emotionally connected to their work and environment. Creative self-manifestation and collaboration to live in harmony with oneself and others. Growth through peak experiences.
Both above concepts involve innovation, courage, and risk-taking. Nietzsche stated that mass culture and the press precede mediocracy, conformity, and lack of intellectual progress. The ‘Übermensch’ lacks compassion for others; there is no need for connection. Self-actualisation, however, emphasises belongingness to enable full ‘un-tanglement’ of potential. Both concepts wish for the individual to follow an innate growth drive to fulfil one’s desire to be true to oneself. Both gleam self-esteem and empowerment.
We live in a challenging time. I fear for my children’s future. I see people striving to be ‘Übermenschen’ and ‘Self-Actualizers’, in need of recognition.
What if it is belongingness that matters foremost? Acceptance of complexity and diversity. Consequently, provision of basic physical needs for all. Now, we can bravely play in childlike harmony and actualise a world that allows all organisms to be.
“There is an old Sanskrit word, Lila (Leela), which means play (...), the play of creation and destruction and re-creation (...). Lila, free and deep, is both delight and enjoyment of this moment, (...). It also means love. Lila may be the simplest thing there is – spontaneous, childish, disarming. But as we grow and experience the complexities of life, it may also be the most difficult and hard-won achievement imaginable, and its coming to fruition is a kind of homecoming to our true selves.” (Stephen Nachmanovitch, 1990)
Bibliography
Belonging, Being and Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia.
(2009). [Ebook] (1st ed.). Retrieved 20 May 2015, from https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/belonging_being_and_becom ing_the_early_years_learning_framework_for_australia.pdf.
Csíkszentmihályi, M. (2000). Beyond boredom and anxiety. Jossey-Bass.
Friedrich Nietzsche (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). Plato.stanford.edu. (2021).
Retrieved 12 May 2021, from https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/nietzsche/.
Genovese, J. (2003). Piaget, Pedagogy, and Evolutionary Psychology. Evolutionary Psychology, 1(1), 147470490300100. https://doi.org/10.1177/147470490300100109
Jester, Sage & Artist. Ripplespedagogy.com. (2021). Retrieved 12 May 2021, from http://www.ripplespedagogy.com/jester%2C-sage---artist.html.
Maslow, A. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50(4), 370- 396. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0054346
Nachmanovitch, S. (1991). Free play: Improvisation in Life and Art. G.P. Putnam's Sons. Nietzsche, F., & Mann, T. (2008). Also sprach Zarathustra. Insel Verlag.
Rothenberg, A., & Hausman, C. (1976). The Creativity Question. Duke University Press.
VUCA World - LEADERSHIP SKILLS & STRATEGIES. VUCA-WORLD. (2021). Retrieved 12 May 2021, from https://www.vuca-world.org/.
One key feature that defines being human is complexity. It is in complexity and contrast that humans stand out as personalities or as communal beings. Intriguingly, the same complexity may break an individual or a social movement – as some opposites become incomprehensible. Often so, perplexity re-enforces examinations of meaning-making that encompass misery and distress, hence inflicting either adaptation or peculiarity. Creative processes unfold along this path, innovations happen, and history is written.
Imagine childlike free-play prolonged and drawn upon in adulthood as a means to explore ourselves, others, and our world; we envision, build, abolish and re-create. We are profoundly intertwined with an egocentric need to become and belong at the same time. Some feel intrinsically motivated to have an impact, to contribute, to change the environment, to communicate, and to be noticed by others. If we have no control over our lives, fail to translate our thoughts and emotions into words or actions, and are invisible to others – we fall into chaos. Yet, was it not chaos from where life sprung?
There is a temptation to extend one’s influence beyond the immediate moment. Politics, literature, art, architecture, music, dance, science, knowledge, and technology are sustained past their setting of a prevailing Zeitgeist. They form a society’s identity and influence our thinking long after the influential people have perished.
We are all active ‘conductors’ of knowledge: what we attend to, our interpretations, the emotions we let arise, and the actions we take. We are all ‘creators’. Our volatile time needs ‘Artists‘, whose work is guided by intuition and imagination, ‘Sages’, who use careful observations and analytical thinking to find solutions, and ‘Jesters’, to apply satire and humour to surprise and amuse us.
How does a mind conjure up creative ideas? Mihaly Csikzentmihalyi writes that creative people combine extremes in one person: They are wise yet childish, smart yet naïve, playful yet disciplined, responsible yet irresponsible, humble yet proud, and rebellious yet conservative. Such complex individuals are willing to take risks and open to exploring suffering as well as enjoyment. They do not fear ambivalence.
Friedrich Nietzsche wrote (1872 to 1888) during a similarly uncertain time. In his mind, God died – and with ‘It’ longstanding morality. No longer slaves with a need for equality to overcome our condition of inferiority, we are free to create the ‘Übermensch’. This existence stands above good and evil, with curiosity for power to rise above deep-rooted superstitions and imposed morals. The ‘Übermensch’ can look back on life and accept all failures and misdeeds, to see the past as neither good nor bad. Growth through suffering.
Twenty years after Nietzsche collapsed, Maslow was born. His later humanistic view comprehended our goals, projections, and emotions – people are full of potential. To become who we are truly meant to be, physical and psychological needs must first be met – self-actualised beings are spiritually, socially, and emotionally connected to their work and environment. Creative self-manifestation and collaboration to live in harmony with oneself and others. Growth through peak experiences.
Both above concepts involve innovation, courage, and risk-taking. Nietzsche stated that mass culture and the press precede mediocracy, conformity, and lack of intellectual progress. The ‘Übermensch’ lacks compassion for others; there is no need for connection. Self-actualisation, however, emphasises belongingness to enable full ‘un-tanglement’ of potential. Both concepts wish for the individual to follow an innate growth drive to fulfil one’s desire to be true to oneself. Both gleam self-esteem and empowerment.
We live in a challenging time. I fear for my children’s future. I see people striving to be ‘Übermenschen’ and ‘Self-Actualizers’, in need of recognition.
What if it is belongingness that matters foremost? Acceptance of complexity and diversity. Consequently, provision of basic physical needs for all. Now, we can bravely play in childlike harmony and actualise a world that allows all organisms to be.
“There is an old Sanskrit word, Lila (Leela), which means play (...), the play of creation and destruction and re-creation (...). Lila, free and deep, is both delight and enjoyment of this moment, (...). It also means love. Lila may be the simplest thing there is – spontaneous, childish, disarming. But as we grow and experience the complexities of life, it may also be the most difficult and hard-won achievement imaginable, and its coming to fruition is a kind of homecoming to our true selves.” (Stephen Nachmanovitch, 1990)
Bibliography
Belonging, Being and Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia.
(2009). [Ebook] (1st ed.). Retrieved 20 May 2015, from https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/belonging_being_and_becom ing_the_early_years_learning_framework_for_australia.pdf.
Csíkszentmihályi, M. (2000). Beyond boredom and anxiety. Jossey-Bass.
Friedrich Nietzsche (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). Plato.stanford.edu. (2021).
Retrieved 12 May 2021, from https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/nietzsche/.
Genovese, J. (2003). Piaget, Pedagogy, and Evolutionary Psychology. Evolutionary Psychology, 1(1), 147470490300100. https://doi.org/10.1177/147470490300100109
Jester, Sage & Artist. Ripplespedagogy.com. (2021). Retrieved 12 May 2021, from http://www.ripplespedagogy.com/jester%2C-sage---artist.html.
Maslow, A. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50(4), 370- 396. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0054346
Nachmanovitch, S. (1991). Free play: Improvisation in Life and Art. G.P. Putnam's Sons. Nietzsche, F., & Mann, T. (2008). Also sprach Zarathustra. Insel Verlag.
Rothenberg, A., & Hausman, C. (1976). The Creativity Question. Duke University Press.
VUCA World - LEADERSHIP SKILLS & STRATEGIES. VUCA-WORLD. (2021). Retrieved 12 May 2021, from https://www.vuca-world.org/.
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