Humainologie creative dialogue on Nonviolence tonight Wednesday May 5

“Optimism doesn’t wait on facts. It deals with prospects. Pessimism is a waste of time.” - Norman Cousins https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Cousins

Nonviolence https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonviolence is our topic tonight. Shinobu will guide us through the program, including the film “The Third Harmony” https://vimeo.com/453487010 We’ll find time at the end of the dialogue to choose our theme for May. We may also have time at the end to explore some questions I had previously suggested (appended below), including one about a transformative life experience of your own. Here once again is the Zoom link that Shinobu has provided:

Topic: Humainologie creative dialogue Time: May 5, 2021 06:30 PM Mountain Time (US and Canada) Every week on Wed, until Jun 30, 2021, 9 occurrence(s) Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86972034113?pwd=M2g3MzEvMWs5dXhHcFVCbVNkVG1idz09 Meeting ID: 869 7203 4113 Passcode: 12345

For our creative land acknowledgement tonight: Let the voices of the rivers in Calgary remind you of what we have lost when Indigenous cultures were displaced from this land: the higher levels of trust in their cultures and their environmentally sustainable ways of living and respect for the earth. We are part of the ecosystem, and without it we would not be. Indigenous peoples probably understood this well, and we have lost that understanding. When you have time this summer, find a place where you can listen to the voice of the river.

Arthur

Possible themes for May include Active Listening and the Art of Loving.

At last week’s dialogue, I asked participants to think ahead in preparation for the May 5 dialogue and consider the following: Please share a life experience that resulted in a positive transformation in your own life.

On the topic of Nonviolence, a “macro” question, and then a “micro” question for you:

· Macro question (with background): (Assume that high levels of social capital are associated with lower levels of violence. For example, compare the frequency of mass killings in Canada – higher social capital - with the frequency in the United States – lower social capital.) How do we accelerate our learning (right here in Calgary) to live together as brothers and sisters? In other words, how do we actively build social capital in Calgary each and every day?

· Micro question (with background): James Hoggan (who grew up in a rough part of Calgary and was bullied as a youngster), in his book I’m Right and You’re an Idiot: The Toxic State of Public Discourse and How to Clean It Up, emphasizes that deep listening and respect for the other are essential. “People need to feel respected and supported, not criticized.” Create a nonviolence exercise for us, based on a hypothetical everyday scenario, in which most people might miss the opportunity for building social capital, and in which our challenge in that hypothetical situation is to use our imagination to come up with a brilliant response that would build social capital on the spot right here in Calgary.