Author: stevendouglasblog

Born in 1954. Chequered career including Lecturer in English, Social Worker and Lecturer in Social Work. Had breaks related to mental health that also meant I worked in social care. Now retired.

I like to think I value the fact that critical thinking is an early response when I approach questions asked of me. But is critical thinking a trait? And why is it so unpopular? This blog is on whether trait theory helps in self-understanding.

September 30, 2023

What’s the trait you value most about yourself? Trait theory derived from the work of the psychologist, Gordon Allport. It contends that human personality is characterised by traits that resemble states of being, feeling and thinking but which are stable and enduring.They emphasise a view of psychological development that is heavily influenced by innate oor … More I like to think I value the fact that critical thinking is an early response when I approach questions asked of me. But is critical thinking a trait? And why is it so unpopular? This blog is on whether trait theory helps in self-understanding.

And for the living … I wish you a good death. A beautiful production at York Theatre Royal.

September 29, 2023

Naomi, the only role in this play despite its huge local cast literally powering the production on bikes which really or in fiction, and no doubt only partially, by generating energy from bikes on the stage, has been left to tell the story of the great Extinctions that have occurred through geological time. We are … More And for the living … I wish you a good death. A beautiful production at York Theatre Royal.

Work from which you learned, grew as a person and gained personal fulfillment used once to exist. Here are 3 examples from my past career.

September 29, 2023

During my working life which started in the late 1970s, work changed its nature, the largest symptom of which was the growth of public service managerialism. In the name of efficiency and resource economics, work changed to match business models. It followed that  objectives like increased well-being and secure attachment in relationship-based work were turned … More Work from which you learned, grew as a person and gained personal fulfillment used once to exist. Here are 3 examples from my past career.

Looking for Bliss in Masculine Objects: A blog on an Exhibition at Bishop Auckland Town Hall named ‘Quest for the Perfect Shirt’ by Richard Bliss.

September 28, 2023

Looking for Bliss in Masculine Objects: A blog on an Exhibition at Bishop Auckland Town Hall named Quest for the Perfect Shirt by the Newcastle artist Richard Bliss. The catalogue and the artist, Richard Bliss. A wonderful man to chat with: but what will he do with what you say? Me and my husband, Geoff, … More Looking for Bliss in Masculine Objects: A blog on an Exhibition at Bishop Auckland Town Hall named ‘Quest for the Perfect Shirt’ by Richard Bliss.

The assumptions in this question that concern me are those of ‘ownership’ and ‘pride’ in ‘one’ culture. Are those implicit claims compatible with an open attitude to the world we live in and the beings that inhabit it?

September 28, 2023

As soon as we seek to possess and venerate a ‘culture’ (even assume its its nature as thing with boundaries that has internal integrity or unity, wholeness and exclusive definition) we are already in deep water. Even ‘pride’ is problematic except as a claim for recognition for a culture that has been marginalised and is … More The assumptions in this question that concern me are those of ‘ownership’ and ‘pride’ in ‘one’ culture. Are those implicit claims compatible with an open attitude to the world we live in and the beings that inhabit it?

There is a terrible truth in the origin of the term ‘brand’ for me, which stops me ever associating with it.

September 27, 2023

Wikipedia is, as always, helpful, wherein on the subject of ‘Human branding’ it says: Human branding or stigmatizing is the process by which a mark, usually a symbol or ornamental pattern, is burned into the skin of a living person, with the intention that the resulting scar makes it permanent. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_branding A further extract on the use of … More There is a terrible truth in the origin of the term ‘brand’ for me, which stops me ever associating with it.

More! But isn’t it true that less is more! Hardly! And here’s why. LOL.

September 26, 2023

It horrified Bumble the Beadle when Oliver asked for ‘More’. The very word turned his face to burning coals; his heart, so hard for so long, crumbled as if for a moment it were becoming ash and falling away. But return it did to its ancient, petrified state: the kind of fear that is as … More More! But isn’t it true that less is more! Hardly! And here’s why. LOL.

The best advice is to, by all means, listen to advice but be wary of acting as it prescribes that you do.

September 25, 2023

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received? Perhaps the best advice about how to act next in any complicated human situation is to be wary of acting in the way you are told to act, however respectfully one listens to and hears out the advisor. Keep in mind too that the advice will … More The best advice is to, by all means, listen to advice but be wary of acting as it prescribes that you do.

If we thought as much about what energy is for as about seeking selfishly for the ideal sources of it for our individual selves, a world that is going bad might get better.

September 24, 2023

What things give you energy? Philosophers tell us that Aristotle used the term ἐνέργεια (it transliterates as ‘energeia’ – the possible root of the work ‘energy’) in a very different way to the use of the word in modern science, whether that be in physics, chemistry or biology, where it names various kinds of measurable … More If we thought as much about what energy is for as about seeking selfishly for the ideal sources of it for our individual selves, a world that is going bad might get better.

‘It seems very stupid to miss a piece of wood and yet I do’. Can anyone, even a horse called Diego whose consciousness is imagined in this statement, ever convince us that it is possible to love someone ‘absolutely and forever’? A reflection on the driving ideas in Rose Tremain (2023) ‘Absolutely and Forever’.

September 23, 2023

‘It seems very stupid to miss a piece of wood and yet I do’.[1] Can anyone, even a horse called Diego whose consciousness is imagined in this statement, ever convince us that it is possible to love someone ‘absolutely and forever’? A reflection on the driving ideas in Rose Tremain (2023) Absolutely and Forever London, … More ‘It seems very stupid to miss a piece of wood and yet I do’. Can anyone, even a horse called Diego whose consciousness is imagined in this statement, ever convince us that it is possible to love someone ‘absolutely and forever’? A reflection on the driving ideas in Rose Tremain (2023) ‘Absolutely and Forever’.

Is Ragnarök on its way? It is but if we ‘knew’ that and were fully informed by that knowledge, we would be urging Governments to act – and now!

September 22, 2023

Which topics would you like to be more informed about? The TV Series of Ragnarök (Netflix) On Norwegian TV it made sense to call a series Ragnarök that was based on a community on the fjords that learn the hard and irreversible way the effects of climate change, and environmental / ecological degradation on them … More Is Ragnarök on its way? It is but if we ‘knew’ that and were fully informed by that knowledge, we would be urging Governments to act – and now!

“The man that hath no music in himself,/ … Let no such man be trusted”. We can’t escape the ambiguous personal politics of music.

September 21, 2023

What would your life be like without music? The sound of the concord or discord of the world are only unheard in the cold of a tomb. There is no life where music does not happen, for the nervous system is attuned to the to a range of sounds that align with feelings of security … More “The man that hath no music in himself,/ … Let no such man be trusted”. We can’t escape the ambiguous personal politics of music.