First, citizens need to be more engaged, by which I mean more willing to appreciate the choices society faces, to get involved in those choices, to give permission to their leaders to make the right decisions for all of us for the long term, and to recognise how their own behaviour shapes those choices.

For example the trade off point between economic growth and environmental sustainability depends in part on our own willingness to accept some changes in our lifestyles.

Second, with the cost of labour intensive public services bound to rise, citizens need to be more self-sufficient and resourceful.

Whether it is looking after our health, investing in our education, saving for our retirement or setting up our own business, we need to be comfortable with managing our own lives and confident about taking initiative.

An excerpt from a paper by RSA’s Matthew Taylor’s, Twenty-First Century Enlightenment (which you can find here).

I encourage you to read more about the movement, or if you’re a visual learner (or a fan of RSA Animate) like myself, check this out.

I <3 TED talks

latimes:

An average high school graduate has spent 10,000 hours at school in the company of 20 teachers. It’s no wonder almost everyone has a story about a teacher who changed his or her life.

amen.

TEACHERS UNITE!

oh those silly neurons.

npr:

Think of Jennifer, or as we like to call her, “Jen.” Jen of the dazzling smile, Jen of the gorgeous chin, Jen with her hair down, Jen tousled, Jen as Rachel, Jen with Brad; Jen without Brad, Jen with Vince, Jen at the Oscars, and, of course, Jen as a neuron in the medial part of the temporal lobe.

Maybe you missed that last Jen.

A few years ago, a UCLA neurosurgeon named Itzhak Fried, while operating on patients who suffer from debilitating epileptic seizures, discovered what he now calls the “Jennifer Aniston Neuron.” -Robert Krulwich

(Vilayanur Ramachandran on the human brain)

Yeah Ramachandran!  But seriously, the brain is a wondrous thing.  It is such a small part of our body but governs the entire organism.  Funny how with anatomical/physiological/neurobiological/psychological knowledge our understanding of where our essence lies has migrated just about a foot above where it used to be centuries ago.  What might be the moral implications of this migration?

(via valenceelectrons-deactivated201)

Are you out there?

[Newlyweds,] these optimistic young bastards, promise to honor and cherish each other through hot flashes and mid-life crises and a cumulative 50-pound weight gain, until that far-off day when one of them is finally able to rest in peace. You know, because they can’t hear the snoring anymore.(Jenna McCarthy)

In a culture where being social and outgoing are prized above all else, it can be difficult, even shameful, to be an introvert. But, as Susan Cain argues in this passionate talk, introverts bring extraordinary talents and abilities to the world, and should be encouraged and celebrated.

Consciousness and the self.  TED talks for life.