“when it comes to voter support, physical appearance matters”
“the reasons we vote for particular candidates could have less to do with politics and more to do with basic cognitive processes—in particular, perception.”
On the Face of It: The Psychology of Electability: here
Em terra de cegos.. ninguém é eleito!
Alternative forms of the market economy / We can't change the world without ideas
"What we need, is to give very large parts of the labour force access to these advanced productive practices. [...] We we do not have, and need, is the example of a decentralised partnership between governments and firms to the end of disseminating these advanced practices to large parts of each national economy. [...] We need a form of education that is ... cooperative. [...] The limited forms of democratic politics that we now have in the world, are forms that require crisis to make a change possible. I want us to organize politics in democracy so that we do not need trauma as the condition for transformation. [...] It's easy to be a realist if you accept everything and it's easy to be a visionary if you confront nothing. What we have to do is accept very little and to confront a great deal. [...] No one knows, today, what socialism means, so why be hung up on these abstractions? [...] I don't want finance to serve itself. I want finance to serve production. [...] We [the Humanity] need to associate the state with civil society."
Sobre Roberto Mangabeira Unger
Caetano Veloso entrevista: Mangabeira Unger
New frontiers in social innovation research: here
We only live once!
"Happiness is amazing. It's so amazing that it doesn't matter if it's yours or not."
Uma opinião aqui.
The Porto Alegre Treaty
We proclaim these truths to be universal and indivisible;
That the intrinsic value of the Earth’s gene pool, in all of its biological forms and manifestations, precedes its utility and commercial value, and therefore must be respected and safeguarded by all political, commercial and social institutions,
That the Earth’s gene pool, in all of its biological forms and manifestations, exists in nature and, therefore, must not be claimed as intellectual property even if purified and synthesized in the laboratory,
That the global gene pool, in all of its biological forms and manifestations, is a shared legacy and, therefore, a collective responsibility,
And,
Whereas, our increasing knowledge of biology confers a special obligation to serve as a steward on behalf of the preservation and well being of our species as well as all of our other fellow creatures,
Therefore, the nations of the world declare the Earth’s gene pool, in all of its biological forms and manifestations, to be a global commons, to be protected and nurtured by all peoples and further declare that genes and the products they code for, in their natural, purified or synthesized form as well as chromosomes, cells, tissue, organs and organisms, including cloned, transgenic and chimeric organisms, will not be allowed to be claimed as commercially negotiable genetic information or intellectual property by governments, commercial enterprises, other institutions or individuals.
The Parties to the treaty - to include signatory nation states and Indigenous Peoples - further agree to administer the gene pool as a trust. The signatories acknowledge the sovereign right and responsibility of every nation and homeland to oversee the biological resources within their borders and determine how they are managed and shared. However, because the gene pool, in all of its biological forms and manifestations, is a global commons, it cannot be sold by any institution or individual as genetic information. Nor can any institution or individual, in turn, lay claim to the genetic information as intellectual property.
Aqui.
Oh sweet denial! Where have all the adults gone?
Sometimes a profound sadness seems to slowly push it's way in... resulting in sleepless nights and sleepy days.
The 'big picture' keeps forcing itself into my head, and it's not pretty. I know it's not fair to force it on others. They're entitled to their simple and denying ignorance. To be happy in their own way, deluded with the sense of knowing and controlling everything.
Oh sweet denial!
I love the human race. I truly do. I want to believe it's going to make it but something doesn't allow me to.
I'm a tired and scared (of being hurt) person.
People live their lives automatically, thinking everything is under their control, whilst I'm becoming more and more sensitive and intolerant to vile and gratuitous violence exercised upon those who in some or other way don't fit in the 'norm'.
Oh the low blows!
People, in general, don't think properly. They aren't capable of objective thinking. They just 'throw into the air' unprepared thoughts, to show off, or to defend their ignorant knowledge about almost everything. They confuse true pure argumentation with discussion and then go into a kind of self-protect mode prepotently shooting ad hominem hurtful arguments.
I find myself living my life like constantly 'avoiding the raindrops in a storm'. Being invisible for the sake of respect for everyone else. Understanding everyone and having to forget about myself for the sake of everyone's peace (except for my own). A tremendously difficult task that is making me very tired.
Something is building up in me. I don't know what. I'm just fed up, very sad, and very very tired.
All that is expected of me is to be nice and comply. If I don't... It is war, insults and more violence.
If I happen to clarify, set boundaries, saying clearly what I like and what I don't, then... "I'm throwing a tantrum"!
All this is something I do not need.
All this is something I do not want.
All this is something I've had quite enough of.
Are we not all entitled to have a bit of fun before we die?
Where have all the adults gone?
On sharing
"Most economists would be nonplussed because their discipline is so wedded to the idea that human nature is purely self-interested and that each individual seeks to optimize his or her autonomy. The very idea of freely choosing to pursue the collective interest is anathema to many market-oriented economists. They might be well served by boning up on findings of evolutionary biologists and neurocognitive scientists. A spate of studies and discoveries over the past 20 years is shattering the long-held belief that human beings are, at their core, utilitarian-seeking loners prowling the marketplace for opportunities to exploit their fellow human beings and enrich themselves.
We are learning that our species is the most social of beings, boasting a very large and extremely complex neocortex. The worst punishment that can be imposed on a human being is ostracism. Cognitive scientists tell us that our neural circuitry is soft wired for experiencing empathic distress and that evolutionary survival has depended far more on our collective sociability than our self-directed proclivities. Far from being an anomaly, the Commons approach to marshaling economic activity appears to be much better suited to our biological instincts than the stark picture of an anonymous marketplace where an invisible hand mechanically rewards selfish behavior in a zero-sum game."
Jeremy Rifkin, in Zero Marginal Cost Society [pg197]
