Scott - I realize this post isn't truly about productivity even though that is the term used in the title. When examining productivity theory, it is worth taking a look at David Allen's book "Making It All Work" (even just Google's AI summary of the key messages in the book is enough). The culture got overly fixated on his methodology while relegating gate underlying philosophical tenets to an annoyance that slowed down their gamifying it like Tetris for time. The point I hope to convey is that the OG of productivity has actually always been highly aligned with the points you've been making recently about the issues within the cult of productivity.
I love all this Scott, AND I wonder if we can give people a measure of what a good inner life feels like? It’s easy to measure connectivity (followers, likes,etc). Maybe if we can show people qualitatively what a good inner life feels like, even if it’s as vague as “my spiritual cup feels full today“, at least we give them a new dashboard, a new signal a new metric to monitor that Rewards spending time in the inner life and also let them know they’re making progress.
My preference and opinion is that the culture that values ,transmits and prescribes habits that are treasured by the contemplative/ humanistic domains, remain in the forefront, while valuing the necessity of transactional exchanges in the service of surviving and thriving.
Evolutionary Biology/Psychology:
I understand that Evolutionary Fitness Theory( of Darwin ) describes the Hardwiring that every species embodies in order to survive, give birth to offspring and care for them long enough for any species to survive and thrive.
Adaptation simply put, is the species( in this case Humans ) capacity through Hard Wiring and Cultural Evolution to not only survive but thrive as well.
Transactional interchanges at all levels , seem to be the domain that facilitates survival and thriving to a great degree.
Cooperation and Competition in small face to face groups have been the primary mediums that served to keep people alive, survive , procreate and care for offspring.
I wonder if the more introspective domains had much adaptive influence on early humans?
Is there an Evolutionary Mismatch in modern times , from what Hunter Gatherers required 10 to 50,000 years ago?
Is it possible that a more dominant reflective culture enable human groups to reduce existential tension between human beings ; between in groups and out groups; minimize competition and maximize Cooporation ?
Can we move toward a more reliable Protopian World and get closer to an improbable European World, that many wish for and strive for.
I hope my meanderings weren’t overly distracting from the points I was attempting to convey.
This is so timely and relevant. Thank you.
I love this, but of course you must know that I'm not going to tell anyone about it on social media. 🤷♂️
Is catching up on your podcast on Spotify a decent way to support you? Many thanks.
Scott - I realize this post isn't truly about productivity even though that is the term used in the title. When examining productivity theory, it is worth taking a look at David Allen's book "Making It All Work" (even just Google's AI summary of the key messages in the book is enough). The culture got overly fixated on his methodology while relegating gate underlying philosophical tenets to an annoyance that slowed down their gamifying it like Tetris for time. The point I hope to convey is that the OG of productivity has actually always been highly aligned with the points you've been making recently about the issues within the cult of productivity.
Continuing-
Your excellent overview may also be looked at from the Contemplative/ Humanistic Psychologies perspective and the Evolutionary
Biology/Psychology perspectives.
1- Contemplative / Humanistic Domains
This way of being determines how individuals , groups and cultures define SUCCESS.
Some of the sacred values that define and determine success are-
introspection, mindfulness, awareness of virtue signalingparticipation with our internal and external worlds.
The basic needs that Maslow describes , requires quite a bit of transactional interchanges with individuals , small and large groups.
The cultural determinants that facilitate survival and thriving.
I love all this Scott, AND I wonder if we can give people a measure of what a good inner life feels like? It’s easy to measure connectivity (followers, likes,etc). Maybe if we can show people qualitatively what a good inner life feels like, even if it’s as vague as “my spiritual cup feels full today“, at least we give them a new dashboard, a new signal a new metric to monitor that Rewards spending time in the inner life and also let them know they’re making progress.
Great post. Made me Pause and Reflect about my online behaviour. I preserve my Rich inner Life by Staying Aloof and Detached from the Society.
Thanks Scott for an excellent overview
Real wisdom here.
Great read!!!
I appreciate this ❤️
Continuing—
My preference and opinion is that the culture that values ,transmits and prescribes habits that are treasured by the contemplative/ humanistic domains, remain in the forefront, while valuing the necessity of transactional exchanges in the service of surviving and thriving.
Evolutionary Biology/Psychology:
I understand that Evolutionary Fitness Theory( of Darwin ) describes the Hardwiring that every species embodies in order to survive, give birth to offspring and care for them long enough for any species to survive and thrive.
Adaptation simply put, is the species( in this case Humans ) capacity through Hard Wiring and Cultural Evolution to not only survive but thrive as well.
Transactional interchanges at all levels , seem to be the domain that facilitates survival and thriving to a great degree.
Cooperation and Competition in small face to face groups have been the primary mediums that served to keep people alive, survive , procreate and care for offspring.
I wonder if the more introspective domains had much adaptive influence on early humans?
Is there an Evolutionary Mismatch in modern times , from what Hunter Gatherers required 10 to 50,000 years ago?
Is it possible that a more dominant reflective culture enable human groups to reduce existential tension between human beings ; between in groups and out groups; minimize competition and maximize Cooporation ?
Can we move toward a more reliable Protopian World and get closer to an improbable European World, that many wish for and strive for.
I hope my meanderings weren’t overly distracting from the points I was attempting to convey.
🤠