RSA (Royal Society for the
encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce) uses the strapline or slogan 21st Century Enlightenment because as it
states on their website, they pay “tribute to the 18th century founders of the
organisation and to the pioneering spirit that inspired them” (RSA website, n.d.). In essence, their introductory video serves
as an introduction to their idealisms and beliefs regarding modern day human
evolution (Taylor, 2010). I believe that this organization has
used the slogan “21st century enlightenment” as a way of comparison
of the era we live in now and the original period that coincides with the Age
of Enlightenment. The Age of
Enlightenment was a cultural movement between the period of 1700 to 1800, a type
of rebirth of society. It was a shift in
thinking. For 18th century
philosopher, Emmanuel Kant “the enlightenment was mankind's final coming of
age, the emancipation of the human consciousness from an immature state of
ignorance." (as cited by Porter
"Age of Enlightenment," 2014).
I believe that the mission of RSA and the message that the video tries
to convey, is that people today need to shift towards a more conscientious way
of thinking and a more humane way of acting.
In the video, Matthew Taylor says "to live differently, you have to think
differently" (2010). I believe that
this statement mirrors the rising need to shift our awareness and perspectives
towards another way of thinking in order to continue evolving as human
beings. It seems that in this era of
consumerism, we have become stuck in a stagnant process of an illusory sense of
self-betterment. In my opinion, the
economic crisis was the entity of human consciousness itself shaking off a very
bad illness: Self-serving individualism.
It seems that the lack of financial stability has woken people up from a
narcissistic consumerist slumber. We now
realize we don’t have the resources to change out our iphone every time a new
model comes out, we’re not able to change out our slightly used 5 year old
Honda accord for the newest model, and we’re no longer able to dine out 7 days
a week. The statement “to live
differently, you have to think differently is the new Modus operandi needed in today’s society to continue evolving
towards a better species of human being.
Taylor also argues that we need "to resist our tendencies
to make right or true that which is merely familiar and wrong or false that
which is only strange". What he
means by this is, don’t judge a book by its cover, don’t discriminate, broaden
your perspectives, and be open-minded.
So much of the hatred and misjudgments that occur are based on pure
ignorance and small world mentalities. I
sometimes get into arguments with my husband about cultural issues that we do
not agree on. I am American/Spanish by
nationality but was born in England. My
father is Filipino and my mother is Spanish.
I am a Navy brat and have lived and travelled the world. I would consider myself quite multicultural. My husband on the other hand is Spanish, born
and raised. Lived in Sevilla all his
life until he moved to Rota where we are now.
Besides leisurely travel to surrounding European countries, he’s really
not been exposed to cultural backgrounds long enough to appreciate or
understand them. His knowledge and
acceptance of other cuisines besides Spanish food is very limited. One of his common phrases that really gets to
me is “no one thinks like that”. His
profile of “no one” is based on 20-40 year old southern Spanish men from
middle-class backgrounds. What Taylor is
suggesting is that we be willing to accept that our beliefs could be wrong or
that contrasting beliefs may be right; taking into consideration that “wrong”
and “right” are really subjective terms since each person has their own unique
perspectives of the world and its relative polarities of “good and evil” or
“black and white”.
I definitely agree with Taylor in that we need to
avoid pop culture that degrades people.
So much of today’s television revolves around reality shows that focus
on ridiculing and criticizing people. This
focus on the mundane happenings of celebrities, who are not even part of our
circle of family or friends, forces us to focus our attention and empathy on
the insignificant problems of a stranger, instead of seeing the greater needs
and issues of the real world around us.
Our infatuation with pop culture has “dumbed” us down and made us into a
superficial and narcissistic culture.
How can you possible worry about world hunger when Brittney has been
dumped again by another Hollywood loser.
We cannot fathom a world outside of those blinders. Pop culture today is successful if it creates
a reaction in you, regardless of whether it is positive or not. We want to be shocked, offended, frightened,
and if we are not, then we were not fully entertained. Psychologist Robert Kegan claims “that
successfully functioning in society with diverse values, traditions and
lifestyles requires, in his words, to have a relationship to our own reactions
rather than be captive of them” (Taylor,
2010). I think what he means by
“have a relationship to our own reactions” is that we need to be conscious of
why we react to things and analyze our thought processes. Don’t just take for granted how you initially
react or feel about something; instead ask yourself why you feel that way. So
much of what we feel is influenced by our environment and those around us
instead of a reflection of our own true beliefs. I believe that the only way that we will be
able to transform into empathetic citizens is to begin becoming more self-aware
instead of reactive.
At the end of the video,
Taylor uses a quote by Margaret Mead to emphasize how the enlightenment and how
our modern day society has crushed individualized creative thinking “never
doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world,
indeed it is the only thing that has” (Taylor, 2010). As positive as this statement might sound,
might we have moved away too much from intuitive and self-autonomous thinking
that we have stunted innovation and growth in our society? So much focus is on teamwork and collaborative
ideas that it doesn’t leave much room for the independent thinker. Although I think it is important that
entities such as organizations, governments and companies have some kind of
democratic system of consensus, we need to make sure that we are also nurturing
environments for creative and independent thought and creating safeguards for
this type of thinking. If not, we can
potentially be killing off amazing new discoveries.
My takeaway from this video is the
idea of going back to practices that are founded in compassion, respect and
integrity. In the video Taylor points
out that “we live in a world where so many of us feel that the shape of
our lives is dictated not by the idea of a life fully lived but by the social
convention and economic circumstance” (2010). I believe that most of us want to make a
difference in the world and that genuinely we are an empathetic species. I also believe that people will resonate
better with an organization that inspires an empathetic work culture which in
the end will create positive outcomes. Another
takeaway is the idea of practicing more intuitive ways of thinking. I think that we have become such logical
thinkers that we have completely snuffed out the type of conscious thinking
that creates greatness. Conscious
thinking also gives way to self-awareness which is an essential behavior that
leads to empathy.
References
