EUROPAS Training & Consulting - Blog

The Future of Work without work (the future of humankind)

Wed, 15 Dec 2021 04:33:00 +0000

Futures studies (aka futurology) & singularity warns us about the need to come back to the natural education of youth and promotion of entrepreneurial drive (the core of natural education) in order to survive the disruptions to come.

Changing our mindset and beliefs about nowadays education and work (created during the XIX century, actually) is the only way to walk the brand new world to come when no need to be employed to survive and the core of our lives is (may be) the importance of creativity and entrepreneurial mindset (just the ones not developed in formal education), to survive the singularities to come.

We should be aware about about some asumptions we were educated to believe as universal truths (e. g. the need to work in order to survive) are just sociohistorical inventions and not natural facts, which are actually very recently created and soon totally outdated and surpassed by the deep global socioeconomical crisis and technological revolution the plandemic is just speeding up and we soon will be finally aware about, instead of continuing believing the economy and labour force will be the same in the next decades as it was during the XIX century.

We should be aware about he crucial importance of entrepreneurial drive and mindset for the future of humankind and not only to get one of the rare and scarce jobs available in the (near) future under the evidence that automatitation and Artifical Intelligence (AI) will manage most of the ordinary and qualified work needed in a more efficient, productive and sustainable way. The last is not an opinion but actually what is expected by the main minds behind the development of AI with the vission of getting rid of the need to work to survive so we may enjoy our lifes and develop our societies in a real human and prosperous way...

The AI (transhuman) Utopia?

Integral education?

Thu, 04 Jan 2018 23:00:00 +0000

Abstract: - You have a body. It reacts under your sensations of pleasure, pain... it allows you to move in the space and to express your (secret) inner needs, sometimes reacting in ways you didn´t want or expected.

- You have a mind. It commands your body in order to survive attending the real or virtual needs of your environment and your internal 'personality' programmation. You plann with it and add a lay of virtuality to the outside reality, creating your vision of the other and the others.

- You have a spirit. It makes you feel, live and die.

Are they separated? If you think so go to a phisician, psychologist or guru to readjust you. You (most) have a real problem! So, why education and culture treat them as if they were separated or one under control or supervision to the others?

- When the expert of the aboved video mentions there is no western educational system which considers as important subjects as dancing than mathematics (not even usal physical education is considered as important nowadays) it is not totally true. There is at least an example of an 'heterodoxal' educational system where movement (eurythmy - you can see an intro what is it about here) is as important (as it is crafts, art, nature awareness...) as pure abstract knowledge like mathematics. The schools using this pedagogy are called Waldorf schools.

+ So there is already existing alternatives which have been used for decades (and conveniently hidden or disaccredited by the powerful mainstream) and space of hope... It is not necessary to reinvent the wheel!

1) The schools founded by the educator Maria Montessori are another example. Just letting go the natural inner capacity of children to lead their own development throug observance and facilitation instead of imposition and indoctrination. The basic philosophy of action behind it is mainly experimental, learning by doing.

2) Waldorf schools founded by the father of Antroposophy, Rudolf Steiner, uses a methodologhy pretty much similar to the one used in what later was called non formal education: facilitation of the learning of what really should be and nowadays is wrongly called 'Learning to learn'.

In this case the basic philosophy (Antroposophy) is just the collection of ideas and 'discoveries' of his founder adopted acritically by his followers... Nothing different regarding what happens in 'public' education. Even thought there is no scientifical proves about his theory of human and children development, the implementation of his ideas into the pedagogical practice of Waldorf schools seems to be proved by comparative studies as being beneficial for the development of learning strategies and performance (e.g at the University entrance exams).

One example: children in Waldorf schools start to learn how to read or to write later than in mainstream schools, focusing in storytelling and critical thinking and understanding before they are allowed to read others´ books (ideas). The studies do not indicate the performance in reading of their 'late readers' children is worse than other reading kids but indeed their understanding of what they read is pretty higher than mainstream school kids.

Communities of education

+ The social intergenerational disenchantment started in our 'brave new world' with the Industrial Revolution. Somehow, a group of 'pissed of' but 'socially minded' youngsters took the challenge of their integral education in London and created the oldest and one of the five biggest youth organisations in the world: YMCA.

YMCA spreaded all around the world very quickly adopting the mainstrem ideology (Christianity) looking for using it in a way which foster and develop young people integrally against the lack of opportunities and future as cheap labour force of the robot/producing society which was rocking at the moment.

The image heading this article is from the early YMCA logo made upon an inverted triangle which vertix representing the 3 main concerns in the work they do for the strong and healthy growing of children and youth into life: body, mind and spirit.

Body is clear, YMCA has a name for inventig sports like basketball or volleyball or having teached how to swin to several generations in the USA. You make phisical exercise through sports and you develop a healthy body.

Mind is clear, you get educated so you become a respectable and profitable member of adult society and YMCA has a name in the foundation of several universities like the one in Springfield and dozens of training centers and schools all over the world.

What about spirit? For YMCA is clear as well. To spread the salvation message of Jesus Christ.

Ok, it looks simple but specially the last point, the spirit, is more troublesome because hardly few (if any) have a Christ spirit alike. Actually, the so called Christians (as Mahatma Ghandi said) are so unlike their Christ than it looks like even if these three spheres of the human being are connected in a triangle, can somehow being divided and treated individually according to the times fashions instead of growing our natural capabilities and potentialities...

We only use the 10% of our brains

Wed, 03 Jan 2018 23:00:00 +0000

Abstract: The aboved mentioned is a famous phrase considered as a very foolish for the "scientific" skeptics. Under the scanner, indeed there are barely no areas of the brain which are not activated at one time or another in our mental activity. Therefore, believing most of our brain is waiting to be used makes no sense.

The famous phrase has also been discredited because it is frequently used by people who offer all classes of techniques and exercises to use that 90% we apparently do not use to foster our cognitive capabilities (speed reading, super memory, speed thinking) and even going further attributing this 'fact' to the possibility of unveiling 'supernatural' (clairvoyance, telepathy, telekinesis, levitation ...) 'powers' with special training.

What could be somewhere in between these two views in the light of what is 'scientifically' known about our brains? My idea is that you may certainly know and use it consciously to 10% of our brain (probably less) what we call reason and / or consciousness and move into the neocortex (the newest part of the human brain and external) and 90% remaining active and working but does not know what or how it does not consciously employ it at will (the parts most evolutionarily ancient brain that are responsible for regulating basic bodily actions necessary for our survival, what we call intuition, what we call the unconscious ... that is what is called brain neurology reptileáneo, limbic, etc.).

Well, this may seem obvious, what is new in this? What's new (eastern philosophies that is rather old and they know it for millennia) would actually think that 90% do not know of our mind can be known or even used at will (as the true faquieres and yogis) and not to obtain supernatural powers but to have a vision of reality more comprehensive and more holistic vital interaction.

It is wrong to think that this is logical that if we were to occupy us in a conscious and voluntary beating of our heart or the digestion process could not have much time or resources to think, reflect and create. While this is true is not to say that the important thing is to try to get control of a conscious and continuing this process (which would be possible) but that unconscious processes are effectively our service conscious. Think that the unconscious is subject to the conscious is a Western idea already illustrated expires and think that the unconscious is 'evil' and the conscious "good" or better is also something that keeps us from believing experience.
We may think of reason as a computer software and the unconscious as the processor or hardware. The hardware has a tremendous potential and can do anything a program request, however, the software, once programmed can only comply and follow the instructions created and therefore limiting the power of the hardware to them. At the moment the software is changed things change.
What is the equivalent in your mind to it? When referring to the software equivalent would be the "states of consciousness", the hardware, which has been called mind 'unconscious', parts of the limbic brain, reptiláneas, etc. Who is the programmer? Therein lies the crux of the matter to know who your brain is fundamental program to access different states of consciousness that allow you to use the potential 'unconscious / hidden' in your brain at will.

Who is the developer?

The first thing you must know if you have an answer to this question is that you know not mastered your mind and your brain and your mind dominates.

Most people would think that the programmer is the conscious mind to think, analyze and reflect with abstract thinking (ie, the youngest of the brain called the neocortex and gives us that capability analytical / conceptual / virtual lacking in most other animals).

This idea is similar to the famous phrase lost in time and history that the West is echoed in the inscription on the door of the oracle at Delphi: "Know thyself"

Both phrases are closely interconnected, if one does not know his mind can not 'programmed' at will, if you can not program can not know himself, and if one does not know can not have self control.

This may seem a logical gibberish is easier to understand than it seems. We'll split.

1) What I do not know about my mind? More than 90% of whatever your brain does to stay alive without you having to deal with it (which is good because otherwise we could not dedicate ourselves to 'think' and 'create' new things external to us as animals can not), what is called unconscious (this includes what is called intuition, which are called reflex impulses, experiences conditioning, conditioned responses, etc, and something that is often overlooked, process all the information is received from the senses to the rational brain only has to deal with significant information.) That is, the 'hard and dirty work' to know what they spontaneous and our vision of reality which only reaches the scheduling parameters of the CPU of our unconscious passes.

2) What I do not know about myself?

We don´t need no Learning to learn

Tue, 02 Jan 2018 23:00:00 +0000

“We don´t need no education” Pink Floyd, The Wall…

Abstract: Our nowadays educational systems are just a barcode to register each person in their future social and especially working/producing sphere.
<<Early in life humans learn to walk and talk. Later on, nevertheless, they have to learn to sit down and shut up>> Marcel Pagnol

During the first 3-5 years of your life, they let you learn on your own. Of all the immensity of abilities a baby and child has to learn in order to conform its neocortex (which makes us humans throughout its 'left side' which enslave us in the world of egos, ideas and (ir)rationality) the habilities most apreciated by the others is that you learn to walk and talk . This milestones being so fundamental and important for everybody, once you got them, they sent you to school where they force you to sit down and shut up.

The fraud of 'learning to learn'

- After seeing this video maybe you are wondering: "Where this terrible idea about we do not know how to learn by ourselves comes from? Isn´t it just a natural human talent? One we needed historically to survive in this world?. What is different now?

- Of course it was(is) a natural human talent, 'the others' just made us to forget it and try hard to make it not to remember about again through what we call education.

'Learning to learn' nowadays is officially a very important key competence for everybody, recognised as such by the European Commission as essential.

- Yes but, what for essential? For our societies to be competitives citizens instead of integrally full developed and self-learned citizens?. Let´s take a look at the Comission´s learning to learn definition:

learning to learn is related to learning, the ability to pursue and organise one's own learning, either individually or in groups, in accordance with one's own needs, and awareness of methods and opportunities (Source here)

- Pretty cool, it seems there is nothing suspicious or to be worry about that definition, right? - If this were true maybe yes and a big supranational structure like European Union is often good with nice theories which end up in terrible stream practices on regards of the economical interests (as the key competences were established to fulfill an strategy to become Europe a competitive economy and not a citizens aware one) So the governments should just make available the needed resources for their citizens to learn what they want and are interested about. - How could they do that? Changing the educational systems? Not only but of course, and they are doing it, especially the European Higher Education Area (Universities) system through the so called Bologna process. But, this is for the citizens development needs? of for the 'market' needs? which are the resources allocated from the governments in Europe? (See Bologna process Criticism)

Public schools were always a tool for the states to create a labour force competitive enough to increase the wealth of nations, artificially separated but merging slowly in a tragical cultural competition towards an universal human culture. Social skills and non fomal education were only a matter of churches and the army.

When the inner human nature was screaming for liberation of this anti-human education for a robots society (industrial revolution) the newer generations became a problem which neither schools, churches or army could handle property. Then appeared new social movements and organisations (e.g YMCA of which I talk about in the article regarding "Integral education?") trying to be a relief of that screaming to coming back our own nature but still in a controlled, economi and 'social wise' context.

Educators treated their 'pupils', especially young people, as if they were simple machines. No considerations about developping the individual own capabilities, especially if they are not productive for the system. This way interrupted a needed facilitation to make a real and not biased impact on society, through leaving a 'learning' life with oneself and the others and not against oneself and the others.

Even if we long ago know where is the problem, we are still afraid of the necessary changes and the 'old ones' fighting hard to keep the power of the artifical 'safe zone' they have created at the expenses of ourselves, of our real human nature.

+ What is learning to learn today? a good new idea to use people as if they were out-of-date robots who need to get to an advanced level in order to being able to reprogramme themselves without an expensive external ingenier/educator needed to do it. Of course, the (re)programming only will be expected to be done under the conditions of the first sociocultural programming, as far as no robot (slave) is aware about itself.

+ What do you prefer? To be a robot? (I know a lot of you prefer to be one , to live under your programation schemes instead of daring to life under your huge human capabilities and complex but enriching challenges connected with all of this) or to get back your natural potential to learn which made our specie (a very phisically weak one condemned to disappear) to survive thanks to our capability to make abstractions of our natural and spontaneous learning power.

The education through memorisation is still in use even though the already old revolution to change the model into a one more 'understanding' oriented. But, was it a real revolution for the benefit of our learning or just our indutrial society became too complex and competitive so to bear in mind plain knowledge was not enough?? Is it not happening now the same? When it is advertised as something new an revolutionary (it is not at all) the idea we now must not only learn things by heart and understand them (the way our societies wants us to understan them not the way a critical thinker should understand them in order to make changes when needed or offer alternatives) but to find out how to learn them!!!

Is it not sounding more like, if you do not learn which is useful for the 'factory' by your own and adapt yourself to our never ending competitive nonsense production system you can consider yourself and outsider which can not leave among us.

+ So now is your choice ( a not easy one) --> Entering in the new brave world where it is not needed so much people to keep the machines working or just trying to remember how you learnt when you were a child, get ride of the adulthood and take the other direction that you took when you were obliged to chosse as teenager.

Do you learn something or it is just your 'dangerous memes' trying to infect others?

Youth workers and educators should be the ones facilitating and showing all the possible paths outside and inside for the newcomers and not trying to impose the path they took (most of the times, just their dangerous memes leading them to the chosen path and making them to forget completely how the other paths look liked).

The now so famous concept of 'Learning to learn' is just a ingenous word tramp to make people forget that the real learning capacity is inside themselves. We naturally know how to teach ourselves and how teach others without obliged them to believe in our processes of learning. A lot of people is freaking out because they need somebody who teach them how to learn 'Learning to learn' - Was it possible to name this competence in a different way? - Yes, I am sure you could offer some proposals. - Why finally this name was adopted? - I think to become people fascinated by the word game in order again to make us to forget our natural learning capacity. Feeding the resistances to be aware and learn by ourselves (with ourselves) instead of by their 'memes' orders.

All of us are infected, you and me are not exceptions...

+ Could you show others how they really are and how they really learn? Could we do it really together?

© 2018 Pablo Castiñeiras

Be the change you want to see

Mon, 01 Jan 2018 23:00:00 +0000

Abstract: "We need to be the change we wish to see in the world." This quotation is attributed to Mahatma Ghandi. It is a key concept to transform society which played a major role in the revolution he initiated.

Do you know about Ghandi´s changes in life or only the external facts in his theatre of life?

Do you dare to find out about his own (whoever) growing and 'experiments with truth' to find a different personal context which could be lately applied and lead to a different reality for the others?

I recommend you read the Top Ten Things to Think About If You Want to Change the World

The sometimes called philosopher, prophet and lately not-coped enlighted, Friedrich Nietzsche, talked about the (super)human as the one which makes philosophy and play. Should we understand this quote in terms of life being a game we must play and reflect upon it? what for? who for?

The universe is there waiting for us to give all we need to achieve our goals... but it is waiting for us to move and change. If we do not do it the universe will become an obstacle, coming to us without permission granted to confuse us and avoid to be ourselves and act as free consciousness. That´s not freedom. Do you want to be free?

When a child grows up leaving his playing and living chilhood for entering into the teenager years to experiment the shocking and tragical rational competitive life we name adulthood. Could educators let them remember themselves and the change they could be or just should speed up this entering process in a "brave new world" making it less traumatical and more efficient for the "status quo"?

If you want to understand the others you must first understand yourself

If you want change the others, you have first to play with yourself and life, as when you were a child.

To be the change you want to see, indeed, it is the only work anybody can do. It is not simple neither easy but life is worthwhile doing it.

What is the meaning of life? It is not a philosophical never-answered question. It is about what YOUR life means to you and if you are able to switch and/or (un)focus the 'contexts' throughout you are 'apparently' living it. You can realise about till what extent you can change, -in terms of growing for the best- no matters whatever happened in your past.

--> Do you want an alive example of what I mean? There are thousands but I recommend you the one of Steve Pavlina <--

Nowadays a famous personal development blogger, author and practitioner, Steve Pavlina´s webpage is worthwhile the visit. Of the things I fully agree from his website -and I can say I experienced my self- I pick up the next quotation connecting with the change you want to see:

<<When people first begin to experience the transition from unconscious growth
  to conscious growth, it can be a difficult time. Initially it may feel like self-sabotage
  is taking over. Old patterns begin to die before new patterns have time to emerge.
  When you're going through this transition, you may feel apathetic and disconnected
  from things that used to matter to you, such as your job, your schoolwork, or
  your primary relationship. Rest assured you aren't going crazy. You're going
  through a natural awakening process. You're becoming more conscious and aware>>

This will happen to you and to the world if more and more people take the challenge to be themselves and not just a slave of their education and mental programation (family, school, work, institutions, blind faiths, fixed non-critizised ideas, fears, comfort zones, etc).

It is all about Focusing not about Consumption

Sun, 31 Dec 2017 23:00:00 +0000

Open your eyes and watch what it is in front of you, what it is in behind, inside, outside, around, with empty mind and fully awareness, as the first time, waking up, escaping from the time and space prison...

Abstract: Focus on yourself, unfocusing your artificial ego. Focus on the world of now, unfocusing the virtual reality and then, you will be able to change (you) the world.

And focusing is all about GESTALT THERAPY

What lays behind Gestalt therapy, the reasons why it works, are not new at all. And this technologies someones call Gestalt can be found in old technologies which have been used through centuries by a lot of people, especially in the Easterns civilizations. It is not only my opinion, but actually the one of the founder of the therapy as well:

<<I have been often called the father of Gestalt Therapy. However, it is right only if you call me the finder or rediscoverer of Gestal Therapy. Gestalt is as old as the World. The World, and especially each organism, is keeping itself, being the only constant law the creation of whole Gestalts, of wholeness. In Gestalt you can find the socratic mayeutic as far as the chinese tradition. The novelty is the therapeutical use of these elemental principles. Here it is the real newness>>

Fritz Perls

Claudio Naranjo, a disciple and expert on Gestalt wrote 9 'commandments' to life in Gestalt:

Live now: worry about the present before you do about the past or future.
Live in here: worry about what is going on and not about what is missing.
Experience the real world: stop using your imagination as a substitution of experiencing your life.
Stop thinking about the nonsenses; just enjoy and watch what is going on.
Express yourself instead of manipulate, explain, justify or judging.
Don´t put limits to your counsciousness: experience and let yourself into pain as you would let yourself into pleasure.
Be a fan of nothing: do not accept other 'musts' or 'shoulds' beyond the ones you impose yourself,
Be fully responsible of your actions, feeling and thinkings.
Accept yourself: you are the way you are.

And now. How this commandments are taked into consideration when somebody adopts the role of 'educator' to others? How can those be facilitated?

Technology could maybe help to realise where is the problem...

...but about the solution.... there is already a lot of 'technologhy' being tried out for milleniums, by Eastern researchers of the mind.

While, in the Western civilization, we were trying to evolve our technology to get rid of the outside (natural) threats. The Eastern civilizations were developing technology to get rid of the inner (natural) threats in our mind and bodies.

Is it possible both civilizationscan work together to develop a more integral technology for the inside and outside? Yes, indeed. China was (is) an example of that. Unfortunately not a good example as, again, the social structure is pretty much 'Western' developed and the other part is only let on individual basis (when to be an individual is allowed).

The solution could be, to try to integrate the technologies of knowing yourself and working upon yourself to the society and become the technologies concerning the outside world fruitful ones for the own development and real awareness (as could be the case with the technology showed in the above video).

Waking up. New awareness. Zen management of needs.