Zoe Weil » Uncategorized

Is Gaming the Answer to Our Global Problems?

zoeweil — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:00:52 +0000

Watch this TED talk about gaming as a solution to our problems:

As a non-gamer, this TED talk raised many questions for me:

Will gamers like real-world solutionary games as much as Warcraft?
Is the speaker’s vision and call for more gaming likely to achieve the results she suggests?
Does gaming 22 hours/week on top of school or work leave time for real-life solutionary efforts?
Does the optimism of gamers spill over into engaged changemaking work?

If there are gamers out there who read my blog, I’m eager to know. Please share your thoughts.

For a humane world,

Zoe Weil, President, Institute for Humane Education
Author of Most Good, Least Harm, Above All, Be Kind, and The Power and Promise of Humane Education
My TEDx talk: “The World Becomes What You Teach“

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Non-human and Human Animals: More Similarities Than Differences

zoeweil — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 13:00:35 +0000

Image courtesy of braindamaged217
via Creative Commons.

For my blog post today, I’m sharing a recent post I wrote for Care2.com, an online community for people passionate about creating a better world. Here’s an excerpt from Non-human and Human Animals: More Similarities Than Differences:

“It’s common to read books about issues related to human psychology, sociology, behavior and history and find references to and comments about the essential differences between humans and other animals (more often referred to as just “animals”). It’s as if in every era and from every author, a new fundamental difference must be named. I generally find these irritating.

I realize that humans are, in a very obvious way, quite different from all other species currently residing on Earth (but imagine if we still shared this planet with Neandertals!). Our built world is a far cry from a termite nest. Our ability to adapt to every clime by creating and wearing clothes, building elaborate structures, and harnessing energy sources for warmth and light certainly stands out. The complexity of our languages and our ability to use representational symbols to convey information through writing (and now computing) doesn’t have a counterpart among other species; and yet, these lie along a spectrum, and what essential quality do humans really have that does not lie on a continuum with other species?”

Read the complete post.

For a humane world,Zoe Weil, President, Institute for Humane Education
Author of Most Good, Least Harm, Above All, Be Kind, and The Power and Promise of Humane Education
My TEDx talk: “The World Becomes What You Teach“

Like my blog? Please share it with others, comment, and/or subscribe to the RSS feed.

The Day We Buried Grif

zoeweil — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 13:00:56 +0000

We buried our beloved dog, Griffin, Sunday, July 10, and I wrote this poem in his honor for my blog post today.

The Day We Buried Grif
by Zoe Weil

We buried our dog this morning
In heavy clay soil.
He was light on the earth
a tiny three-legged boy
still so soft,
though no longer fierce.

We remembered him aloud,
sharing stories,
His love affair with our big three-legged shepherd;
our son’s biggest scar
when he tried to prevent him from biting friends
who’d stopped by and were chased back
to their car
by pugilistic Grif.

He likes that scar.
He loved that dog.
Whom he’d rescued at two and a half
Saying in no uncertain terms to his reluctant parents,
“We HAVE to adopt him,”
and we did.

Fifteen plus years together;
our son’s whole childhood,
the photos in the albums like proof,
one after another:
Griffin in his arms;
Griffin and he floating on a raft;
Griffin in his lap;
Griffin on his bed.
Always with Griffin,
the dog he saved.

Grif is in the earth beside Sophie, next to Maia,
flanked by Uba, Buddha, Pere, and Mish,
marking the inexorable passage of time,
marking years of love,
of joyous puppy and kittenhood,
and the solid decade each of companionship and devotion,
and then arthritis and kidney failure and decline
and their inevitable deaths.

Meanwhile, three others wait in the house,
banished from this burial.
Elsie, two;
Ruby, eight;
Sir Simon, thirteen.
The cycle continues.
Loving them a bit more tenderly today;
The day we buried Grif.

zoeweil — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 00:26:08 +0000

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Zoe’s at Bioneers – Back Next Week

zoeweil — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 21:37:17 +0000

Hello, Everyone,

I’m off for the Bioneers conference this weekend in San Rafael, California. I’ll be really busy attending sessions, networking, and tabling for the Institute for Humane Education, so I won’t have a chance to do any blog posts until next week. In the meantime, in case you don’t already know about it, please visit IHE’s Humane Connection blog, which is updated 4-5 times a week.

Be well,

~ Zoe

The New Yorker Cover of Barack and Michelle Obama

zoeweil — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 15:30:44 +0000

By now, most of us have heard about the recent New Yorker magazine cover depicting Barack and Michelle Obama in the White House, fist pumping in their Muslim and terrorist garb while the American flag burns and a picture of Osama Bin Laden looks on. I grew up in Manhattan, and The New Yorker magazine arrived at our doorstep weekly. I loved the cartoons, and I grew to enjoy reading the essays and stories when I was old enough to appreciate them. And truth be told, I felt a bit smug about my appreciation for this rather elite magazine that only truly appealed to the highly educated and highly literate. Yup, I was a proud member of that liberal elite so disdained by the so-called “red states,” even though the very concept of the liberal elite was created by the conservative elite.

This recent New Yorker cover, however, unveils the seed of truth that generated the disdain for the liberal elite. It’s clever all right. All those stereotypes and lies thrown Obama’s way this past year all artistically executed in one cartoon. The New Yorker so elite it can show the rest of the world their prejudices and fears all in one fell swoop of a cover. But at what cost? For whom was that cover drawn? For the liberal elite to laugh at the silly racism, bigotry, and fear of the less educated masses? To discuss at art openings in Tribeca?

Barack Obama represents a historical tide change that so many people have worked so hard to achieve. The New Yorker subtly diminished that achievement, leaving us to ponder why we don’t want to continue the effort to break down persistent forms of bigotry, rather than reinforce them.

~ Zoe

The 3 Is: Inquiry, Introspection, Integrity

zoeweil — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 16:54:00 +0000

Readers of my blog, books, and essays know about the 3 Cs and the 3 Rs of humane education: Fostering Curiosity, Creativity, and Critical Thinking and Instilling Reverence, Respect, and Responsibility. These are components of quality humane education largely because, without them, positive personal change and problem-solving are impaired.

Now that we’re offering MOGO (Most Good) workshops to people striving to make their lives more aligned with their values, I’ve come to recognize that there are 3 Is involved in lifelong learning and the pursuit of personal change. They are: Inquiry, Introspection, and Integrity. These are not elements specific to the teacher offering humane education, but rather they are elements for all individuals to bring to their own journeys toward humane living.

Inquiry: In order to align our life choices with our values, we need to inquire about the effects of our actions (and inactions) on ourselves and others. Although we are always stumbling upon knowledge that shifts our choices and life direction, bringing conscious inquiry to the forefront of our minds means that we will continually and consciously ask questions that lead us to the information we need to make informed decisions.

Introspection: As we ask questions and gather information, if we are to make meaningful changes we will need to introspect, that is to look inward and see where the confluence of new knowledge and our life choices lies. It’s likely we’ll periodically feel some conflict between our habits and desires and the truth of what we’ve learned, but this is why a commitment to introspection is so important. We dive below our surface desires and habits to discover our deepest visions, dreams, and commitments.

Integrity: As we open our hearts and minds to inquiry, as we acquire the information we need to make informed and conscious decisions, and as we introspect, we are then called upon to act in accordance with our new knowledge and our deepest values. This is integrity.

Together, these 3 Is bring our dreams and hopes for a better world to life. They provide a simple map for lifelong learning and choicemaking that can inform our everyday decisions, as well as our careers, relationships, political involvement, volunteer work, and all of the ways in which we participate in creating change in the world. Using the 3 Is brings about not only a better world but a more joyful, meaningful life.

~ Zoe, IHE President

What a Great Time to Be Alive!

zoeweil — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 18:30:00 +0000

In the current issue of Ecologist, a UK environmental publication, you’ll find excerpted quotes from environmentalists and visionaries interviewed in Leonardo DiCaprio’s new film, The 11th Hour. One in particular, from Paul Hawken, environmentalist, businessperson, and author, popped out for me:

“The great thing about the dilemma we’re in is that we get to reimagine every single thing we do… there isn’t a single thing that doesn’t require a complete remake. There are two ways of looking at that. One is: Oh my gosh, what a big burden. The other way, which I prefer is: What a great time to be born! What a great time to be alive! Because this generation gets to essentially completely change the world.”

By now, if you’ve been reading this blog, you know how I feel about either/or statements. Many will confront the challenges we face in saving our planet with a combination of feelings, among them trepidation, commitment, anger, excitement, apathy, enthusiasm, horror, sadness, tenacity, hope, and energy. And I think that we must acknowledge and deal positively with the range of emotions and attitudes that these times elicit. But I love Hawken’s essential point – this is the generation with the opportunity and necessity for creating change.

The role of humane education is pivotal to this challenge. For this generation to change the world for the better, they need knowledge, skills, and passion for the job. That’s what humane education provides.

It’s difficult for me to imagine how we can succeed in changing the world for the better without a change in our educational approaches and systems — without a shift in our thinking about the very purpose of education. If the greatest challenge we face is restoring the earth and creating peace, then this should be the goal of education at all levels.

~Zoe, IHE President

Photo by Tansan

Relativism and Absolutes

zoeweil — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 03:34:00 +0000

Once again, I was confronted with an either/or, and found myself thinking “yes, and….” The subject was moral relativism versus absolutism. You know the issue, too often painted in a broad stroke that delineates the religious conservative against the liberal elite. One caricature happens when some anthropologist-type insists that he or she can’t judge another culture or social norm, but can only study and report on it. Then you have a group insisting that this other culture or social practice is evil and its traditions must be stopped. It’s not uncommon that this is a fundamentalist versus progressive battle, or so it’s portrayed. And in my mind, this does a disservice to the problems and challenges we face in creating positive change for all.

I see relativism as a perspective that is key to understanding, appreciating, and communicating with others with different beliefs, values, traditions, and behaviors. And I see absolutism as a perspective that is key to protecting all of us from cruelty and exploitation. In other words, I believe in practicing both when applicable (in other words, in a relativistic way).

Here’s an example, one that turns the “religious conservative” versus “liberal elite” on its proverbial head. I’m opposed to female genital mutilation (FGM). In my mind, ending FGM is essential; it’s not a practice we should accept as a relativistic norm of another country or religion. Girls should not have their genitals mutilated, period. But the way to end FGM is to ask questions, communicate fully, and engage respectfully with the people whose cultural norms and religious edicts perpetuate this practice, so that this same culture and religion can progress toward greater embodiment of its core values, rather than continue abusive traditions that violate individuals’ rights. We can end FGM through dialogue, understanding, communication, and openness, and ultimately through laws that are accepted by the majority.

If we choose to bring a “Yes, and…” attitude and approach to what confronts us, we may more often be able to offer different paths, as yet unseen, that are even better than the either/ors that confront us. They’ll likely be more complex, and they won’t force us into pigeon-holed labels like “religious” or “godless,” “conservative” or “liberal,” which belie the complexity of the vast majority of our beliefs, values, and choices. There is a reason that FGM continues, and it is understanding and saying, “Yes” to the fears, concerns, hopes, and needs of others to which we can add, “And” to the equation and help find paths that solve the needs without the abuse.

~Zoe, IHE President

Photo by said&done

Kiva.org

zoeweil — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 21:40:00 +0000

Yesterday, I loaned a woman in South America $25 to help her buy parts for her bicycle repair business. I was one of several people who helped her meet her loan goal of $295, and I can expect to be repaid the loan in full within the next 6 months. So little effort on my part, but a huge opportunity for her.

I loaned this money through Kiva.org, a non-profit that brings together people who want to help others with those who need help, in the form of non-interest paying small loans.

Charitable giving is important, and all of us who have the means to give, in my mind, should. But there is something breathtakingly simple and powerful when the tool of the Internet allows each of us to make small loans, not gifts, that carry such great benefits. Doing so doesn’t offset the call to give rather than loan, as necessary and as we are able, but we can easily and effortlessly help in this other way that empowers and creates prosperity for others.

I hope you’ll visit Kiva.org.

~ Zoe, IHE President