I won't mention the name of it, but I just listened to an unusually vacuous podcast by Important And Serious People. No gory details, but this - in the discussion of whether 1.5 degrees target was dead, they didn't even have the wherewithal to look at the history of it as a target (let alone... Continue Reading →
On the difficulty of history…
Two great (imo) quotes from two novelists. Laing is doing an Acker-cosplay (and doing it well. Actually, I am being a bit unfair/dismissive. There's more to it than that, but you need to know your Acker (and I don't) to get all the gags). Hartmann's book, which I read maybe 15 years ago is a... Continue Reading →
On really thinking about how power works on bodies, and the need for seeing your privilege
Someone my age just went to Dignitas, the assisted dying place in Switzerland. It concentrates the mind, of course. She had stage 4 bowel cancer and things were about to get seriously unpleasant. There's an interview with her in the Guardian, conducted the night before she did the deed. Asked about the dangers of people... Continue Reading →
The interpersonal trajectory in SMOs
This is an “ideal type,” as in Your Mileage May Vary etc. It’s loosely based on the hype cycle, for what that’s worth. I wrote about this in the context of Strategic Action Fields a few years ago, it never got published. I should dig that out. Whatever. The Honeymoon Phase The Honeymoon ends The... Continue Reading →
Wilfred Bion, psychoanalyst, and the current Conservative meltdown
You know when you properly encounter a new idea and then you "see" its applications everywhere (and you overuse it/misuse it). To riff on a good saying - "when you've got a new shiny hammer that feels good, every problem looks like a nail" (1). Well, that's me and Wilfred Bion's idea of the work-group... Continue Reading →
The Antigroup… Oh, such important stuff, not widely known…
So, I sent my last blog post, about Wilfred Bion and his ideas of the basic assumptions mentality and the work-group mentality to someone I have ENORMOUS respect for (seriously, this person is one of the smartest people I know, and I know a lot of very smart people. This person is the real deal.)... Continue Reading →
On social movement organisation disintegration – isn’t it Bion-ic, yeah I really do think…
Quick post. I am fascinated by the ways groups start with high hopes/expectations (high hopes = hype) and within a few months tend to be all gone, or else fighting like dysfunctional rats in an itchy hessian sack. Seen it so many times. Been one of those rats too, for my sins. This below about... Continue Reading →
“The cure for everything is salt water: sweat, tears, and the sea”
I got this from Liz Jensen's article in the Observer, about the death of her youngest child. It's a quote of Karen Blixen. Seems legit. See also Robert Frost being asked what he had learned about life, and he replied "it goes on." And see also this https://www.salon.com/2014/07/19/why_our_brains_love_the_ocean_science_explains_what_draws_humans_to_the_sea
Nice two sentences about communication. And yet…
,I bought a book in a charity shop (I know, I know). It's called "Managing Difficult People." I hoped it might have some tips for self-management, and it does. So expect New and Improved Marc any day now. Oh yes. The book a slender thing, seven chapters. On page 36 there is the following "The... Continue Reading →
The sociological function of the sponsors’ speeches at academic workshops
Am listening to one now (1). I do wish I had made a buzzword bingo card. Might have made it more tolerable. Obviously if sponsors are sponsoring something, they have to be given their moment in the bully pulpit. But are they ever going to say anything interesting, that people attending the workshop don't already... Continue Reading →
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