City University of London, Music

Epistemologies (Framed Cabinet), 2018

Affording Visual Causal Epistemologies in Epidemiology by Jordi Vallverdú in  Biomedical Journal of Scientific & Technical Research (BJSTR)https://biomedres.us/fulltexts/BJSTR.MS.ID.000557.php

For more articles on BJSTR please click here: https://biomedres.us/index.php

Planetary Cultural and Literary Studies: New Epistemologies and Relational Futures in the Age of the Anthropocene

updated:  Tuesday, September 12, 2017 – 11:16pm Research Center for Planetary Literary and Cultural Studies, Université de Montréal deadline for submissions:  Sunday, October 15, 2017

(An Interdisciplinary and Multilingual Conference on Planetary Literatures and Culture—March 22-23, 2018, Université de Montréal)

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As I have reflected on our conversation in Monday’s class, and as I read your past digital journal posts, and as I think back through our conversations in this class, as I do so often, I am reminded of compassion. I am reminded that compassion for and with others is such a powerful thing to offer another. I am reminded that wisdom traditions teach us that when we can move our own egos out of the way, I mean truly move our ego out from right in front of ourself, move our own ego out from the front-piece of our brain, then we might really be able to see others. I do hope that you have, in these last weeks, found something that may speak to you or at least allowed something to speak with you openly. 

I offer you this TedEx speech that addresses compassion and empathy. It is not mandatory that you listen to it. But, here is the link nonetheless: https://www.ted.com/talks/joan_halifax?language=en#t-782296. The speech is just over 13 minutes in duration. You might download it and listen to it while you drive to classes, or while you are grocery shopping, etc. It is titled “Joan Halifax: Compassion and the true meaning of empathy.” (Here is the link to the transcript as well: https://www.ted.com/talks/joan_halifax/transcript?language=en)

This is a speech given by Joan Halifax on the same day in the same auditorium Tony Porter gave his speech we watched at the very beginning of the semester. Remember, Tony Porter’s “A call to men”? (linked on the title)

Halifax says much more than this about compassion. But, I offer you this section here,

So we can ask: What is compassion comprised of? And there are various facets. And there's referential and non-referential compassion. But first, compassion is comprised of that capacity to see clearly into the nature of suffering. It is that ability to really stand strong and to recognize also that I'm not separate from this suffering. But that is not enough, because compassion, which activates the motor cortex,means that we aspire, we actually aspire to transform suffering. And if we're so blessed, we engage in activities that transform suffering. But compassion has another component, and that component is really essential. That component is that we cannot be attached to outcome. Now I worked with dying people for over 40 years. I had the privilege of working on death row in a maximum security [prison] for six years. And I realized so clearly in bringing my own life experience, from working with dying people and training caregivers, that any attachment to outcome would distort deeply my own capacity to be fully present to the whole catastrophe. And when I worked in the prison system, it was so clear to me, this: that many of us in this room, and almost all of the men that I worked with on death row, the seeds of their own compassion had never been watered. That compassion is actually an inherent human quality. It is there within every human being. But the conditions for compassion to be activated, to be aroused, are particular conditions. I had that condition, to a certain extent, from my own childhood illness. Eve Ensler, whom you'll hear later, has had that condition activated amazingly in her through the various waters of suffering that she has been through. And what is fascinating is that compassion has enemies, and those enemies are things like pity, moral outrage, fear. And you know, we have a society, a world, that is paralyzed by fear. And in that paralysis, of course, our capacity for compassion is also paralyzed. The very word terror is global. The very feeling of terror is global. So our work, in a certain way, is to address this imago, this kind of archetype that has pervaded the psyche of our entire globe. Now we know from neuroscience that compassion has some very extraordinary qualities. For example: A person who is cultivating compassion, when they are in the presence of suffering, they feel that suffering a lot more than many other people do. However, they return to baseline a lot sooner. This is called resilience. Many of us think that compassion drains us, but I promise you it is something that truly enlivens us. Another thing about compassion is that it really enhances what's called neural integration. It hooks up all parts of the brain. Another, which has been discovered by various researchers at Emory and at Davis and so on, is that compassion enhances our immune system. Hey, we live in a very noxious world. (Laughter)Most of us are shrinking in the face of psycho-social and physical poisons, of the toxins of our world. But compassion, the generation of compassion, actually mobilizes our immunity. You know, if compassion is so good for us, I have a question. Why don't we train our children in compassion? (Applause) If compassion is so good for us, why don't we train our health care providers in compassion so that they can do what they're supposed to do, which is to really transform suffering? And if compassion is so good for us, why don't we vote on compassion? Why don't we vote for people in our government based on compassion, so that we can have a more caring world? In Buddhism, we say, "it takes a strong back and a soft front." It takes tremendous strength of the back to uphold yourself in the midst of conditions. And that is the mental quality of equanimity.

Many of you have already watched Miss-Representation, the others of you will see it tonight. (Don’t forget to find me to sign-in, either before or after the event.)

At 1.10 in the documentary, the filmmakers give a list of statistics, dates, and policy recommendations by societal entities that carry with them a great deal of trust and credibility. One of those dates and research findings reads, “2004, The Centers for Disease Control finds that media violence enhances violent behavior.” Now, this finding has been heavily contested. With that said, this film is speaking to parts of society that take in media in its many, many forms with “little to no mediation.” At 1.11 the filmmakers offer another, “2007, Congress holds special hearing on the prevalence of women’s sexualization in music videos.” Malkia Amala Cyril, Executive Director for Media Justice, then states, “Without a media system that is publicly accountable, what you have is not only widespread content bias, but what you have is a completely inaccessible public conversation.” 

Considering what we have learned thus far about epistemologies and the creation and continuation of knowledges, how we come to know what we know. I add to this for this week, how do we come to know ourselves? How do we come to judge ourselves and others around us?

Your assignment this week: 

Look around to the media you take in, look around to the media others around you take in, what do your friend watch, what do you talk about in your communities with regard to television, advertisements, social media, visuals, games (whether online or via Xbox, Playstation, etc.), movies, music, etc. What choices do we all make about what we are taking in as human beings? Do you feel that because we take in so much, we often become numb to those decisions? 

Consider them. Really consider them. 

Choose 1 piece of media. This could be a visual, an ad, a song, a music video, etc. You choose. 

Post it.

Then deconstruct it as we have done in class, and as the filmmakers of Miss-Representation do. It might help you to begin with a quote from the film or from the chapter in WVFV. What is happening in this piece of media? Who is the intended audience? (Was this intended for adults only?) Who is actually seeing it? (When is it aired? where is it published? Is it behind some type of wall that mandates that you seek it out? Or is this piece of media seeking you out?) What is the message of this piece of media? What is it selling? (Because let’s be clear, every piece of media is an argument, therefore, inherently they are all “selling: us something, whether that be ideas or material items.) (This should take you at least 2 well-written paragraphs to complete. If you have not read and/or have not watched the film, this will be a very difficult post and chances are you will not respond very well. So, read and watch!)