Sunday, May 17, 2009

Cultural Transformation: Television

TV's Fuzzy Future: Left to Their Own Devices, Viewers Are Cutting the Cord - washingtonpost.com

Cultural transformation, fostered and encouraged by the effects of media...

In this case, the Internet is changing television, which changed radio and movies, and which (Internet) is also changing newspapers.

And each of these media promulgate metaphor, which we all use to construct our own philosophy.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Ecojoy and War Words

White House Czar Calls for End to 'War on Drugs' - WSJ.com

By GARY FIELDS

WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration's new drug czar says he wants to banish the idea that the U.S. is fighting "a war on drugs," a move that would underscore a shift favoring treatment over incarceration in trying to reduce illicit drug use...


This illustrates the third leg of Ecojoy: cultural transformation fostered and encouraged by media. In this case, I the medium to which I refer is the spoken word.

When we use words of war to describe things, words like war on drugs, war on terror, war on poverty, attacking a problem, battle against cancer, and so on, we invoke a metaphor for hierarchical connections.

When war metaphor is used, the mindset is that change is not possible without great cost and peril. War metaphor predisposes us to entrenched thinking, categorizing people as opponents and the assumption that opponents will not change without great pain and loss.

As President Obama's head of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy Gil Kerlikowske said Wednesday, the bellicose analogy was a barrier to dealing with the nation's drug issues.

Drug addiction is a serious problem, but drugs can also be seen as a way for people to seek the same feelings as the natural endorphins released during the experience of joy. The purpose of the philosophy of joy is to show people that joy is a natural emotion and is a realistic, indeed optimal approach to success in life.