Author: Marilynne

Groupthink vs. Freethink

Conformity, obedience, diffused responsibility, and  groupthink control behavior,  challenging an  individual’s reactions to an emergency. The power of the crowd compels conformity. We all have a desire to fit in, be liked, and not be considered a fool.  People often seek company from those worse off than themselves to maintain a sense of self-worth. When subjects in a research project were asked if they got an 85% on a test whether they’d prefer to associate with someone who received a 95% or a person with 78%, more chose those with the lower than higher score.

Though groups have a positive influence on human behavior by adding harmony, security, and social support, they can also lead to faulty decision-making. In 1963, Stanley Milgram, a social psychology professor at Yale, designed an experiment that recruited volunteers to participate in a study they were told was to improve learning and memory. 

The participants were instructed to teach students (learners) correct answers to a series of test items by using a device that supposedly delivered electric shocks of varying intensities up to 450 volts. They were instructed to shock the learners when they gave a wrong answer to a test item, assuring them that the shock would improve the learner’s memory.

When responding to incorrect answers from the learners, the volunteer participants obediently and repeatedly shocked them, raising the voltage when instructed to do so. The learners acted out by crying for help and begging the participants to stop. Some even complained of heart trouble.  Yet, when told  to continue, 65% of the participant volunteers did so, raising the maximum voltage to the point that learners became unresponsive. 

Milgram wondered why someone would throw away reason and values to the point of potentially causing serious harm to another individual. He found that the setting seemed to make a difference. When the experiment was conducted in an office rather than a school, the highest shock rate dropped to 40 percent. If the orders were given by phone, the rate dropped to 20 percent.

Groups often manipulate members to act against their own values. Political parties develop platforms that many members don’t support. Groups stop people from hearing opposing information as happened under George Bush in 2003 when the U.S. government convinced a coalition to invade Iraq based on faulty information saying that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. The war resulted in 6,000 American soldiers killed and thousands of civilians dead or maimed.

Groupthink occurs when perceiving the group as invincible and morally right, believing that it can do no harm. The thought that others  know more than you, makes people willing to give up their responsibility to search out the truth and com to their own conclusions. Some groups censor members by withholding information, quashing dissenting opinions, and shielding the leader from dissenting views. Leaders fan an illusion of unanimity among the members and promotes negative stereotypes of  those who aren’t. It makes members  making less likely to help humanity outside their circle.

The media is filled with examples of people standing by while someone is raped or assaulted without  anyone intervening or calling the police. Though the crime may occur  in front of their eyes, they don’t act. People have been caught taking photos and even laughing as they observe the outrage. Social Psychologists label their behavior as the bystander effect—not offering help when in a group. 

Reasons to act this way start with not recognizing someone is actually in need of help.  When those around us are calm and don’t react to what is happening, then we may fail to acknowledge the need for emergency action. I witnessed this when a man I was talking to at a trade show suddenly stopped breathing and collapsed. Turning to the crowd that was forming, I shouted for CPR assistance, certain someone in the group of educated people could assist. When no one stepped forth, I used my rusty skills, updated by watching television med-series and thankfully brought him back to life well before the paramedics arrived. 

People are afraid to get involved when no one rushes to assist. They won’t take personal responsibility, in part, for fear of appearing foolish. The more bystanders there are, the less responsible an individual feels. They imagine as I did at the trade show, that someone in the crowd was more qualified to help. Since I stood apart from the group, I acted.  I feel certain that among those watching my then-dead colleague, there was a more qualified person.  Alone, I acted immediately.

If you ever find yourself among bystanders watching an emergency, recognize that most people’s first instinct is to deny responsibility for the victim. This awareness can help you snap out of a bubble and realize everyone in the crowd is responsible. If assistance is called for, don’t shout as I did to a wall of bystanders, but look one person in the eye and ask for help, either by calling 911 or assisting with CPR if trained.  Even if that person is unable to assist, it may stimulate someone else to come forward. Trust yourself, not the group, to do the right thing.

As crime increases throughout the country, we need to be vigilant. Thefts of catalytic converters are commonplace, and since the Ukraine fiasco, gas is being siphoned off or taken by drilling a hole in gas tanks under the car. We have to stay diligent and do our part to stop such behavior.

If someone looks suspicious, don’t be subject to groupthink. If the crowd appears unconcerned, yet stays to watch, there’s a problem. Don’t fall into the trap of waiting for someone else to act. We are all on neighborhood watch and must speak up. Talk to the person in question and find out what he or she is doing? Get a nearby person to approach the suspect with you, so you are not alone. Act fast. You may be the next victim needing someone’s assistance.

References:

Forcyth, D. (2022) The Psychology of Groups. NOBA project. University of Richmond. retrieved from https://nobaproject.com/modules/the-psychology-of-groups

Website. (2022) Group Behavior. Lumen Introduction to Psychology. retrieved from https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wmopen-psychology/chapter/conformity-compliance-and-obedience/

Burkley, M. (2009) Why do we Help Less When there is a Crowd. Psychology Today. retrieved from

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-social-thinker/200911/why-do-we-help-less-when-there-is-crow

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Art is always for sale. Contact me at marilynne@eichingerfineart.com.

The Village is a 6′ by 2′ acrylic painting. available for $ 699.

Have you ever seen the negative effects of groupthink?

I look forward to hearing from you and invite you to share your experiences below.

Pulled from Fear

People overcome by fear receive lots of advice. If you belong in this category, I’m sure you heard it all.

1. Take time out. It’s impossible to think clearly when you’re flooded with fear or anxiety. …
2. Breathe through panic
3. Face your fears
4. Imagine the worst
5. Look at the evidence
6. Don’t try to be perfect
7. Visualize a happy place
8. Talk about it.

What isn’t addressed, is what makes people fearful in the first place. Though fear is in the mind, it triggers strong physical reactions.  Adrenaline is released and blood pressure and heart rate increase. Breathing quickens and blood flows from the heart to your limbs making you ready to run and fight back. 

When hearing a bear growl in the wild or gunshots go off, fear is a good emotion to have. It protects you by initiating your fight or flight response. It isn’t hard to imagine how people feel in Ukraine knowing they could be bombarded at any moment. Fear makes most people run to underground shelters of flee the country while others take up weapons to fight back. 

But, there are those who become so overwhelmed with fear they are unable to react rationally. They may hyperventilate, freeze in place, or scream to no avail needing to be led to safety by someone else. There are also those who worry so much about bad things that might occur in the future that they experience continuous anxiety. Feelings of pending doom prevent them from enjoying life. Most often, their worst fears are never realized. Yet, there are times when fear spurs action that prevents the bad outcome. 

For those who live in continuous angst, there is a separate list of suggestions to build mental muscle. The more you have of it, the easier it is to face your anxieties and get the best out of life. 

1. Don’t figure things out by yourself
2. Be real with how you feel
3. Be OK with some things being out of your control
4. Practice self-care
5. Be conscious of your intentions
6. Focus on positive thoughts
7. Practice mindfulness.

According to Psychology Today, the top three fears that hold people back are change, loneliness, and failure. Resisting change can cause you to miss out on many opportunities. Fear of loneliness keeps people in bad relationships and can cause them to obsessively use social media. Fear of failure brings with it the fear of embarrassment. Believing that you don’t measure up can make you avoid doing things where success isn’t guaranteed.

People who enjoy my paintings often ask where I studied or how I got started. My art career began forty years ago when needing relief from anxiety at work and the stress of raising five young children. My husband made me an easel for my birthday and suggested I paint for my own pleasure. He advised me not to take lessons and not set  a goal of selling my work. I didn’t have to get good. All I was to do is have fun messing around with paint. His instruction was a gift that let me proceed without judgment, self-inflicted or external. 

Painting relieved my mind from daily problems. It is impossible to draw a line on a canvas without concentrating on where it is going. I started paying attention to colors and shapes in the environment and noticed how objects were shaded under different types of light.  For forty years I painted and to my surprise improved. These days, I sell my pictures, donate some to charity, and others in my house for my own enjoyment. I still have my first painting and look at it occasionally to see how I’ve improved. Most of all, I continue to paint for pleasure and for the freedom it gives my mind. 

I write this blog because we live in fearful times. We are surrounded by horror stories of wars, killings, disease, rising temperatures, and the unhoused. On top of these nightmares are the personal difficulties each of us faces. This is why it is important to find a calm way to navigate through it all. My way of building mental muscle may not be yours. And, what worked in the past may not be the same as you age. Whatever it is, reassess, seek it out and develop a path that works for you.

References:

Schwantes, M. (2022) 8 Successful Mental Habits to Defeat Fear, Worry, and Anxiety. INC. retrieved from https://www.inc.com/marcel-schwantes/8-mental-hacks-that-will-keep-you-strong-under-control-during-tough-times.html

(2020) 5 Things You Never Knew About Fear. Northwest Medicine. retrieved from

https://www.nm.org/healthbeat/healthy-tips/emotional-health/5-things-you-never-knew-about fear#

Fagan, (2020) Top 10 Fears that Hold People Back in Life. Psychology Today. retrieved from about fear#:~:text=As%20soon%20as%20you%20recognize,pressure%20and%20heart%20rate%20increase.

Art is always for sale. For information, contact me at marilynne@eichingerfineart.com.

Please comment below. It is always wonderful to hear from you.

With much of life shrouded in mystery people, choose different ways to embrace the unknown. Living with uncertainty is difficult, and knowing how to adapt to new information, even more so. The pandemic unveiled a prime example of the confusion uncertainty causes.

The public wanted absolute answers and consistent directions in how to respond to covid. But the virus and our scientists playing an outsmarting each other game of chess left us not knowing who would win.

Science is based on educated guesses and testing based on suppositions. As scientists learned more about the human body and genome sequencing, as in the case of covid and other deadly diseases, they became more adept at halting its progress. As I mentioned before, the covid vaccine was developed in a year because of new gene-editing technology, but the virus kept throwing curveballs calling  for adaptations. What did many people do when faced with uncertainty? They got angry at the men like Dr. Anthony Fouci and research scientists, calling them liars. 

There were those who turned to God in search of absolute authority. Rather than using their brains to unpack the unknown and adjust as new information was revealed, they preferred security, and so died in record numbers. According to CDC, between October and November of last year, when Delta was prominent, unvaccinated people had 13.9 times the risk for infection and 53.2 times the risk for death compared to fully vaccinated persons with booster doses. Then again the virus changed with the Omicron variant and vaccinated people got covid.

Does this mean we shouldn’t accept science? The vaccine still reduced the chance of a serious infection leading to death due to Omicron.

Should we stop looking for cures for devastating diseases and put our trust in existential beings? And if not, how do we change our behavior so we can live with what scientists say about the environment. What will it mean if the new James Webb Space Telescope is able to see back to the big bang and the origin of the universe? Will it change people’s beliefs and behaviors? Some people still cling to the notion that humans have only been on earth for 6,000 years concurrent with the dinosaurs when carbon dating shows us that we’ve been here for millions after the dinosaurs died off.

It saddens me to see people on religious and political bandwagons leaning right or left as the wind blows rather than question and explore on their own. If we don’t accept the notion that we can be logical and rational beings as well as spiritual ones, then there is little chance we can solve the difficult problems facing us today.

Human beings let the earth’s population expand to a point of being out of control. We poisoned our air and streams for the sake of trade. We built cities with high-rise condos for the rich, allowed drugs and alcohol to mess with people’s brains, let the poor live in tents on the street, and permitted lawlessness under the guise of individuality–something that may have worked when few people populated the earth. It certainly, doesn’t work with 7.9 billion people.

There are rational ways to deals with the issues we face and ways to help us adapt to change. Religion gives us moral values and lessons in how to be compassionate so we live with one another peacefully. Injunctions, like in the Ten Commandments in Judaism and Christianity and collective morality expressed in the Qur’an, call on people to be just, fair, and responsible for their actions. Meditation focuses us inward on emotions and on thoughts outside of possessions.

Science also has a place in connecting us to the natural world, letting us live in harmony with the universe rather than fight it. Social, biological, and physical scientists along with spiritual and existential thinkers are needed to explain and find ways to change. The one thing most people agree on is that change is a constant and has to be dealt with. 

Art is always for sale. For information contact me at marilynne@eichingerfineart.com

Mystère is a 36″ x 48″ acrylic painting with a silver metal frame. available for$895.00

I enjoy hearing from you. Please comment below.

A Ninth Intelligence?

Is there such a thing as existential, spiritual, moral Intelligence? Harvard Professor of Cognition and Education, Howard Gardner, says it is worth considering. He defines it as “the ability to be sensitive to, or have the capacity for conceptualizing or tackling deeper or larger questions about human existence, such as the meaning of life, why are we born, why do we die, what is consciousness, or how did we get here.”

It was in 1983 that Gardner coined the concept of Multiple Intelligence in his book Frames of Mind. He wrote of intelligence as “biopsychological potential to process information that can be activated in a cultural setting to solve problems or create products that are of value in a culture,” —a mouthful, for sure. 

Gardener identified eight intelligences: logical-mathematical, linguistic, musical, visual-spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalist. For example, logical-mathematical intelligence is applied to individuals who are sensitive to logical or numerical patterns and can handle long chains of reasoning. Their ideal career is as scientist, mathematician, computer analyst, or accountant. Linguistic intelligence may lead to being a lawyer, author, speaker, curator, or journalist. Gardener suggests human beings possess all eight of these intelligences to varying degrees of proficiency, and that they are capable of being observed and measured.

His theory had a profound impact on education. It inspired teachers to explore new ways of teaching aimed at the different intelligences, though linguistic and logical-mathematical remained the most valued in school and society. But, it’s wise to consider a variety of mental strengths individuals possess for everyone doesn’t  fit into those two categories. 

Cognitive psychologists who criticize his theory say the idea  of a single general intelligence is supported by years of giving intelligence tests. Gardner doesn’t dispute their claims but insists overall intelligence is but one measurement equal in weight to the other intelligences. n other words, some people are generalists while others are not, but a multiple intelligence framework is a fairer test of ability than IQ tests measuring one aptitude.

In 2011, Gardner wrote of other possible categories, among them, spirituality, existential, and moral intelligence. Typically the purview of religious leaders like the Dali Lama, these intelligences ponder questions of human existence. They are wondering, cosmic, and metaphysical smart people who question who we are and what our purpose is. 

Though Gardner didn’t add these intelligences to his original eight, he made an interesting observation recently. There was a sudden uptick in the number of inquiries he received about existential intelligence and he wondered why? He writes that the trend started in 2016 when Donald Trump raised worries about the threats to democracy, decency, and other values people hold dear and that spiritual concerns escalated in a world unprepared for the COVID-19 pandemic.

When long-term plans had to be scuttled and daily routines altered with no end in sight, it sent people into crisis mode. They began asking the big questions, the kind they pondered as children, confronting issues around life and death. Some wondered if contracting COVID was a message sent from heaven.

I too ask questions about the meaning of life but conclude there is no hidden message or reward from having COVID. Like in Camus’ book The Plague, pandemics come and go without reason. The only choice we have is to make meaning out of the time we spend on earth. What type of person do you want to be? How do you want to act towards living things that inhabit the earth with you? With compassion and decency or hatred, destruction, and rudeness? 

These are questions that matter a great deal to me. They guide how I use various intelligence strengths to mold me into the person I want to be.

I look forward to reading your comments below.

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Would you like to take a Multiple intelligence test? go to https://www.idrlabs.com/multiple-intelligences/test.php. IDRlams.com conducts individual differences research around the world. The test is in the middle of the page. It asks you to rate 45 preferences and scores where you stand with each intelligence.

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Art is always for sale.. Contact me at mariynne@eichingerfineart.com.

Elaine Most Pensive— 32” x 32” acrylic painting/ $799.

References:

Cherry, K. (2020) Howard Gardner Biography and Theories. Verywell Mind. retrieved https://www.verywellmind.com/howard-gardner-biography-2795511

Marenus,M. (2020) Gardner’s theory of Mutiplue Intelligences. SimplyPsychology. retrieved from A Ninth Intelligence?https://www.simplypsychology.org/multiple-intelligences.html

Clarken. R. (2012) Howard Gardener on Spiritual, Existential, and Moral Intelligence. the Clarken Chronicles.retrieved from https://rodclarken.wordpress.com/2012/04/21/gardener-on-spiritual-existential-and-moral-intelligence/ 

Gardner, H. (2020) A Resurgence of Interest in Existential Intelligence: Why Now?

Howard Gardner. https://www.howardgardner.com/howards-blog/a-resurgence-of-interest-in-existential-intelligence-why-now

For the past three years, I’ve been grandma to two African-American children whose parents immigrated from Ethiopia and Somalia. We meet weekly to do art and science projects,  read, and take excursions in area parks. The escalation of Omicron brought a halt to my visits. Until we can meet again outside, I have to be wary because they attend school unvaccinated. But, I do miss them. They are a large part of my life.

As I often do when bothered, I escape to my studio. In this instance, I made a painting of the girls showing them wearing masks made at Halloween. I find figurative paintings difficult, but in this case, I persevered. Looking back, I realized that painting them was cathartic. It provided a way to give vent to emotions without languishing and becoming depressed. 

Out of the Doldrums

Languishing: a) To be or become feeble, weak, or enervated b) to be or Iive in a state of depression or decreasing vitality  c)  to become dispirited or suffer neglect

Catharsis :a) the process of releasing, and thereby providing relief from, strong or repressed emotions 

While having my hair cut this week, I asked the stylist how many of her customers she would label as languishing. After thinking for a while, she answered, “about a third.” That’s a lot, I thought, wondering why so many. We both agreed that the Omicron variant was making a large number of people feel dispirited, bored, and without hope. Those who put dreams, activities, and family visitations on hold, were finding it most difficult to deal with repeating waves of viral infections.

“But, what about the two-thirds who don’t feel that way?” I asked. “What’s different about them?” The question led to a lively discussion of emotions and the tools people have to heal and keep themselves sane. This led to the importance of ingrained curiosity, and the role music, dance, and the visual arts play in people’s lives..

My hairdresser, an accomplished dancer, and choreographer said that she releases her emotions daily through movement dance. Unlike repetitive exercises, the way she moves varies with her mood. Feeling the music helps her express happy, sad, and angry emotions that send messages outwards so audiences will feel them too. She stays motivated by having an outlet for her creativity that at the same time is cathartic. It gives her purpose and passion. 

It is those two tools, purpose and passion, that help people avoid languishing. “How do I get there, you may ask?” My answer is basic. It starts with a hungry mind. Curious people are not prone to languishing—they’re too busy asking questions and tracking down answers. 

Curiosity is a state of arousal. It is energizing when stimulated, and it tends to snowball as one thing leads to another. As Annie Paul says, it “is the engine of intellectual achievement—it’s what drives us to keep learning, keep trying keep pushing forward.”  When you find a gap in your knowledge, curious people feel deprived and are motivated to obtain the missing information to eliminate the feeling of deprivation. 

Curiosity doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It starts with something about which you have some knowledge but want to know more. It primes the pump as George Lowenstein wrote in “The Psychology of Curiosity,” and sets in motion ways to fill the gap. Researching a topic online or in-person isn’t enough. Communicating findings is equally as important, for it adds different perspectives from friends and coworkers and leaves the participant curious to know more.

So what can you do if you are languishing? Look at the houses you pass by as you take your daily walk and imagine what type of people live inside. What personality does it take to purchase a contemporary as opposed to a classical home? If you see them outside, get into a conversation to see if the house matches their personality.  

Keep the phrase “I wonder if…” at the top of your mind. Look for novelty, something new to keep you stimulated—a game, a class, a book club, a lecture, listening to a new piece of music. Make predictions and then follow up to see if they come true. Get your hands dirty. Try doing instead of observing. Make art, woodwork, play an instrument, experiment with vegan recipes.  A man I know retired and took voice lessons. He now composes and writes music for his own pleasure and that of his friends. Another person I met was interested in geodes. For his own amusement, he set up a saw in his backyard to cut them in half. Now he has dozens of saws working day in night and his lawn is filled with fossilized wood and rocks waiting to be cut for people wanting slabs. 

Most of all—whether you have one year left to live or sixty, ask yourself who you are, who you want to be, and how to get there. Life is before you, not in the past. It is up to you to make every minute count. 

References:

Stulberg,B. (2021)Languishing and the Art of Showing up. the Growth Equation. retrieved from https://thegrowtheq.com/languishing-and-the-art-of-showing-up/

Paul, Annie, (2013) How to Stimulate Curiosity. Psychology, Time Magazine. retrieved from https://ideas.time.com/2013/04/15/how-to-stimulate-curiosity/

Straker,D. (website) Creating Curiosity. Changing Minds. retrieved from http://changingminds.org/explanations/motivation/creating_curiosity.htm

Please comment below. Are you languishing or are your energized? What factors in your life keep you on the go?

Most of us don’t know what is going on in our family’s or neighbor’s heads, let alone the country. You might be pleasantly surprised they’re engaged in many activities aimed at improving lives.

How can you be happy if you perceive your country’s falling apart? After talking to people on the left and right sides of the political spectrum, I realized their main area of agreement is that the United States is on a downward spiral. An immigrant from Ukraine told me that she came here to live in a democracy that followed the rule of law. Increased lawlessness, homelessness, and poverty make her feel like she moved to a third-world country. With the media dwelling on tragedy, promoting falsehoods, and taking pleasure in reporting about backbiting politicians, the woman no longer knows what to believe. An uncomfortable rumble resides in her chest that doesn’t subside.

I agree that our political system has lost its way, but also believe many individuals haven’t. Though congress and oil magnates may not be combating global warming, private citizens are. Behind closed doors, in homes, and office buildings a great many innovations are being worked on to right society’s wrongs.

For example, Hydrogen Fuel Cell technology is on a fast track to revolutionizing transportation. Hydrogen, the simplest and most abundant element in the universe and a major component of water, oil, natural gas, and living matter, is in great abundance. For years, engineers and scientists have been searching for a way to release the energy in hydrogen to power machines. 

Hydrogen is a fuel that when consumed in a fuel cell produces only water. Turned into electricity it is clean, highly efficient, and has low power loss. Honda began selling Clarity, its fuel cell car, in 2021. Toyota put the Mirai Fuel Cell vehicle on the road this year. General Motors is expanding the market for hydrogen fuel cells beyond vehicles. They are designing emissions-free generators to power large commercial buildings. Manufacturers of autos, busses, trucks, trains, ships and planes have fuel cell designs in the planning.

How wonderful it will be when we can breathe again without ingesting carbon fuels. I’m excited by this technology and what it will do for the planet.

But, fuel cells are only one of many innovations. Biotechnology has spurred a revolution that will impact our lives the most. Watson’s discovery of the Double helix, mapping the human genome, and now CRISPR, a tool to edit genes adapted from a naturally occurring genome editing system in bacteria gave scientists tools for a better understanding of biology. Their labs are opening possibilities in health care and agriculture never before imagined.

Because of CRISPR, scientists developed a vaccine against COVID-19 in one year rather than the twenty years it took for a polio vaccine or 200 years for the one to irradiate smallpox. It won’t be long before we see a vaccine targeted against the Omicron variant.

CRISPER is being tested as a means of curing cancer, sickle cell anemia, and other chronic diseases. It might even be possible to resurrect extinct species. CRISPER benefits the agriculture community by improving crops to be more tolerant to drought, heat, cold, and pests. It is being used to develop crops with a longer shelf life and greater nutritional value.

Excited? There’s more. Agroecology, the science of managing farms as ecosystems, is a burgeoning field. Scientists study ways to build and maintain healthy soil, manage water wisely, minimize air, water, and climate pollution, and promote biodiversity. The emphasis is away from large ag to locally grown produce eliminating long supply chains.

Regenerative farming is the common term used for implementing sustainable methods to grow and harvest produce. Farms are redesigned to enhance biodiversity and eliminate pesticides and herbicides with plants that protect and nourish soils. Regenerative farming is climate-specific agriculture in that it varies depending on threats like droughts, flooding, or rising temperatures. Soil, weed, and pest management are integrated. 

An example of how symbiotic relationships enhance agriculture is in three sisters planting, a practice used by indigenous communities for generations. Corn, beans, and squash seeds planted together help one another thrive. Corn provides tall stalks for beans to climb, wrap around, and stabilize the stalk during heavy winds. The beans have rhizobia that take nitrogen from the air and convert it into forms absorbed by plant roots. Squash plants spread along the ground large leaves that provide shade, retain soil moisture and prevent weeds. A diet of corn, beans, and the squash provides a complete and balanced nutritional meal.

There is so much I could write about–artificial intelligence, robotics, 3D printing, virtual reality, and brain implants that will enable paralytics to operate a smartphone with their mind rather than thumbs. Individual technologies are combined in transformative ways to affect healthcare, supply chains, utilities, and consumer trust. Quantum computing and nanotechnology are leading to small, light, self-contained devices using little energy. We’ll have to save this for another day. 

Suffice it to say, change is occurring at great speed despite so many people languishing hopelessly in their homes. It is worth getting out of armchairs to look past politicians and media pundits and learn what’s going on in the garages, gardens, and labs of innovators. Perhaps you thought you knew your neighbors–check it out. You will find that creativity abounds where you least expect it.

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Do comment on my blog site at www.eichingerfineart.com/blog. What exciting things do you see happening that people aren’t aware of but might enjoy taking time to explore. 

REFERENCES:

CRISPER EXPLAINED

CRISPER stands for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats.

Palindromes are words that can be read the same way backwards and forwards. They are common in DNA, serving as backups for damage to our genetic code. Some are common in cancer mutations. Crisper allows the information to be inserted in the middle of a DNA sequence. In the case of COVID, The insertion, or spacer, as its called, contains the genetic code of viruses that have invaded in the past and developed immunization

Website: Fuel Cells. Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office. Energy.gov. retrieved from FUEL

Tabb, M.& Gawrylewski, A. & DelVIscio,J. (2021) What is CRISPR, and Why is it so Important. Scientific American, retrieved from CRISPER

Colarossi, N. (2020) How long it took to develop 12 other vaccines in history. Insider. retrieved from VACCINES

Website (2021) What is Sustainable Agriculture? Union of Concerned scientists. retrieved from AGRICULTURE

Eight emerging technologies and six convergence themes you need to know about. EmergingTechnology . retrieved from TECHNOLOGIES

Art is always for sale: Contact me at Marilynne@eichingerfienart.com.

I THOUGHT I KNEW YOU is a 3D painting / 36″ by 18″/ mixed media / framed/ $ 399.

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It’s no secret that I write my blogs with a cause in mind. I hope to stimulate thought about issues rarely discussed.  The research I do pries my eyes open so I can see the world more clearly.

Last week I wrote about the moment my son discovered Jolly St. Nicolas didn’t arrive with a bag of toys on a sleigh led by Rudolf. I received a thoughtful response you might enjoy.

“I want to thank you for your excellent work in maintaining your blog and sharing your wisdom. I always look forward to seeing your art and well-researched essays promoting the wonder of discovery.

“Regarding Santa, I’d like to share my discovery experience. At the time my wiser and more worldly pals began to sow seeds of doubt about Santa, I considered him to be one of a group of magical characters that adults took delight in charming children with. Included in that group were the tooth fairy, easter bunny, Jesus, God, Paul Bunyan, and a host of others. While I thought it was good fun being immersed in the fantasy of these characters.

“I felt a fulfilling sense of coming of age as I discovered the truth behind the secrets adults kept from children. Of the aforementioned group, I thought Santa was the most impressive. He had the best marketing hype, and even when his existence became suspect, I was hesitant to make disparaging comments when the holiday season was upon us. My take away from the well-intentioned, elaborate hoax was that I had to discover my own truth with a questioning curiosity. 

“Overall, the experience served me well, as it taught me to rely on self-discovery and not too heavy on the conclusions of others. Thank you for sharing your life of discovery.”

Thank you, Al, and all of you who read my blog. Hearing from you is wonderful. I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

  Fractured America 

The events of January 6th brought the realization that half the people in the country don’t believe in or want democracy. They are willing to throw majority rule away to armed mobs. I wonder if these people know what the consequences of their actions will do to the country?  Perhaps their belief in democracy dissolved many years ago. 

The line drawn between political and economic systems is blurry. Fifty years ago, an economics professor at Boston University lectured that the United States was headed towards a fascist rule. He said that as corporations become more powerful, capitalism will give way to a dictatorship benefiting business, industry, and the wealthy.  I fear his prediction rings true.

With varying ways to organize an economy, we put capitalism together with democracy and have Fascism and dictatorship lurking in its right-wing. The Netherlands chose Socialism and democracy with Communism and dictatorship as its left-wing. I ask myself what the right combination is for a country of our size and cultural complexity?

Economic Systems

1.   Socialism advocates ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, capital, and land in the hands of the community. It is under a centralized government that is usually democratic but sometimes autocratic.  In its purest form, the system is meant to empower the working class with services provided by the government and paid for by taxes.

1a) Communism, the left-wing movement within socialism favors a classless society based on property held in common. Ownership may be ascribed to the community as a whole or the state. A command economy is when the state controls planning and redistributing resources. In communist nations like North Korea, the state owns and operates industry on behalf of the people. There are capitalist countries that allow communes to operate within their borders. An Israeli kibbutz and a communal housing unit are examples of groups that share ownership make operational decisions. 

2) In a market economic system like capitalism, private individuals own and control property in accord with self-centered interests. Proponents say that the interest of society is best served by having free-markets set prices. Capitalism’s essential feature, to make a profit, over time concentrates wealth and promotes the growth of large corporations causing economic inequality. Increased government action and control are needed to bring the economy in balance.

2a) Fascism, a right-wing movement within capitalism, is led by powerful dictators who forcibly suppressed opposition and criticism. It is a command economy with centralized power. The leader’s regime sets all parameters for industry and  commerce, often emphasizing aggressive nationalism and racism. Hitler’s Germany, Mussolini’s Italy, and Franco’s Spain are well-known examples. Parents also run fascist households, especially when their children are young. They tell them when to come home, what to eat, and when to go to bed. These authoritarian, hierarchical governments may last well into the child’s teen years. The federal government expects parents to be benevolent dictators acting in the best interest of their children. 

3) Traditional economic systems are the most ancient types of economies. They tend to be in rural, second, or third-world countries closely tied to the land. The barter system, where goods and services are traded, was prevalent in primitive societies. It is, making a comeback in the United States as it tends to do in times of economic hardship. A barter is when two or more parties, individuals, businesses, or nations, make an even exchange without using money. You can exchange a piece of art for braces as my husband did when our son was in his teens.

Political systems

Capitalist and Socialist countries tend towards democratic political systems. Fascist and Communist countries tend to be ruled by dictators. The advantage of a command economy by dictators, in theory, is that the government can develop a healthy supply of resources, create jobs, reward people with affordable prices, and move quickly.  In reality, that doesn’t tend to happen for most dictators t focus on acquiring wealth through their most valuable resources like oil. 

1) In  true democracies, leaders are chosen by citizen voters who retain ultimate power.  Towns do still exist within the U.S. giving all adult citizens a voting voice on governing issues. For instance, New England Town meetings are public forums that enable residents to share opinions, deliberate, and vote on public issues. Larger municipalities typically have elected representatives instead of direct participation. Of the few places in the world operating by consensus, Guernsey in the Channel Islands is one. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) operates by consensus rule as well. 

2)   Dictatorships give one individual an absolute right to govern as he or she sees fit. Hitler is an example of an elected official who took control to remain in imperious, overbearing power for years.  Today, monarchies like the one in England are primarily ceremonial.  Countries where the monarch still maintains absolute power are found in Saudi Arabia, Vatican City, and Brunei, among others. The United Arab Emirates is a federation of individual monarchies.

3)  Authoritarian capitalism, is a capitalist market economy with an authoritarian government.  Examples include Hungary under Viktor Orban, Russian under Vladimir Putin, Singapore under Lee Kuan Yew, Augusto Pinochet in Chile, and Batista in Cuba. China also operates a free market economy within an authoritarian regime. Communist revolutions, like the one in Cuba, often come about because capitalist dictators swing the pendulum too far to the right.  Regulations, government contracts, and protectionist policies around business, at first increase the dictator’s influence. Eventually, citizens become tired of the self-centered system and demand accountability. 

The United States has not been a true democracy run by majority rule for a long time. It is guided by a small number of financial, political, and corporate elites. Voting is corrupted by gerrymandered districts and an electoral college as an intermediary to direct voting.  A better description of our country’s political system is to define it as a capitalist dictatorship with powerful businesses pulling the purse strings.

Is this what you want?

Reference:(2021) 

Ruthenberg, J. Letter: Democracy or Capitalist Dictatorship. Times Union. retrieved from https://www.timesunion.com/opinion/article/Letter-a-capitalist-dictatorship-16246400.php 

Agarwal, P. (2021) Economic System. Intelligent Economist. retrieved from https://www.intelligenteconomist.com/economic-systems/

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Art is always for sale. Contact me at marilynne@eichingerfineart.com

Fractured America is a 24” x 24”, acrylic on deep canvas painting. Available: $425.

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        The Cave

Imagine the number of changes in the world since caveman days. Often accompanied by war, famine, and cruelty, they weren’t always welcome.

Living with Uncertainty This week, I passed the following quote posted outside a yoga studio: “Life is not about answers. It is learning to live in the middle of complete uncertainty and doing it gracefully.” It was written by Swami Chetunananda, a 2021 Lifetime Achievement Recipient for his interfaith work. The Swami is a well-published, American, spiritual leader who from college on devoted his life to creating positive change in the world. 

I went to his website to learn more. He writes that we are in the world to grow so that we can express the possibility that exists within us. The path to get there is a spiritual practice based on meditation, one that releases tensions and expands awareness. Controlling the flow of your breath enables energy to expand in your body creating a desire and capacity to give back in service. By dissolving yourself in deep breathing, you become liberated of problems, waves of anger, and petty grievances. It frees you from delusions about what life is. He preaches that the freedom obtained through this type of practice brings happiness and unimaginable possibility. 

The Swami speaks of other things I have a harder time accepting. And, though I am not one of the Chetunananda’s followers, I do adhere to some of his ideas. I practice aTranscendental Meditation and have been doing so for forty years. \

After hearing health professionals and politicians trying to guide us through mutating viruses and listening to scientists discuss likely disasters to come from rising temperatures, my belief that we have to learn to live with uncertainty is reinforced. Constant change is inevitable. It always has been, though many of us wish the world was more stable. We attempt to add consistency to our lives and resist transitions that might make us think differently. Living with uncertainty and being graceful about it, is not easy.

It’s why so many follow religious or political leaders who claim to have all the answers. Sorting through reams of information and continuously readjusting behavior to meet evolving situations is exhausting. Since it is easier to have someone do the work and interpret for us, we blindly follow charismatic speakers. 

Unfortunately, too many of them tell followers that their way is the only way, the right way.  Those who don’t agree are labeled traitors and deemed bad. All-knowing influencers can inflame crowds to make them angry and willing to hurt those with differing opinions. Yet, having violent emotions is neither good for the perpetrator nor the target of their displeasure. They’re the stuff from which ulcers are made and they bring down cultures unwilling to compromise and change.

There is another way forward that is less destructive. To live with equanimity requires a person to be centered so new information flows calmly through body and mind like a soft breeze. As it swirls around and connects with the old, it evolves and opens your mind to changing ideas without experiencing angst. You gain the ability to view what is happening through the eyes of hundreds of thousands of people rather than just your own. It builds a strong center that helps move you gracefully in an uncertain world.

Do share how you live with uncertainty in my comment section below

Art is always for sale. Contact me for information at marilynne@eichingerfineart.com. The Cave / 30” x 40”/ acrylic painting on canvas/ $699.

Resources:

Website, (2021)  Swami Chetamamamda. Open to an Unimaginable Possibility. retrieved from http://chetanananda.org/teachings/

Oriental Maple

Thirty-five years ago I planted an oriental maple that, on the way to my front door, greets with lacy red foliage. Walking past, I am filled with gratitude. 

Happy Thanksgiving, Happy Brain

A few weeks ago I wrote about how dopamine in the brain is stimulated to provide feelings of joy. One way to release it is to become a workaholic and act dishonestly to get money and further selfish interests. But, there are other, more positive, ways as well. Practices like generosity and gratitude also provide dopamine jolts.

Thanksgiving is a time we are reminded of why it is good to be alive. By joining with family and friends, shopping for Black Friday sales, and remembering the country’s Pilgrim heritage, we flush our brains with serotonin and bring out feelings of well-being. We are all immigrants to this land–even First Nations.

By thinking positive, grateful thoughts, the prefrontal cortex, the area of the brain linked to learning and decision making, is stimulated. We feel good and even better when our thoughts are expressed verbally. We become healthier and happier and more likely to spread positivity to those we work, live, and play with.

Since retail stores are having Black Friday sales weeks before the Friday after Thanksgiving, I don’t see why we can’t make New Year’s resolutions months before January 1st. Resolving to start practicing gratitude will lead to greater emotional intelligence. It will strengthen your brain’s neural circuitry so it is easier to notice the beauty of the land, water, and sky. It will help you appreciate the many people who are good.

I am grateful for my family, friends, the trees, rock formations, and starry nights. I love thunderstorms and pouring rain that is over as fast as it starts. I am happy to be alive, to have a partner I love, and am able to spend my retirement years writing and painting. . . and so much more.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving, Marilynne

Please share what you are grateful for below

Oriental Maple is one of thirty paintings made during the pandemic. You can see them on my art website, www. eichingerfineart.com under COVID series.

Reverences:

Wong, K. & Brown,J. (2017) How Gratitude Changes You and Your Brain. Berkely Ed. retrieved from Berkely

Lechner, T. (2019) The Neuroscience Behind Gratitude” How Does Cultivating Appreciation Affect your Brain. Chopra. retrieved from Gratitude.