Social Brain

RSA Event: Love, Death, Self, and Soul

Blog

20 Nov 2014

Last night’s RSA event examined a profound yet largely unexplored possibility in the 21st century: integrating a modern preconception of spirituality (grounded in an increasingly sophisticated understanding of human nature) into the public realm.

Jonathan Rowson on Spirituality

Video

19 Nov 2014

In the final event of the series, project director Dr Jonathan Rowson addresses the often unacknowledged spiritual roots of public life, and proposes a new framework for a ‘post-religious spirituality’.

I don’t believe in climate change…

Blog

03 Nov 2014

Rowan Conway

...but to clarify, I don’t “believe” in anthropogenic climate change, because it is not a religion.

The Age of Awareness

Blog

20 Oct 2014

Coaching. Psychotherapy. Meditation. Spirituality. Self-improvement. Self-love. What do these seemingly different collective trends have in common?

Ten thoughts on climate change

Blog

14 Oct 2014

Jonathan Rowson

Our focus on climate change has been temporarily displaced by other work, but from mid November, in partnership with COIN we'll be intensifying preparation for 5 RSA public events from January-May 2015 as part of our project The Seven Dimensions of Climate Change.(Democracy,Economy,Law,Technology,Science,Culture,Behaviour) As things stand, the planned events look wonderfully risky (not just talking heads...) so watch this space in about a month. To keep those climate embers bright (rather than burning...) in the meantime, here are ten things(with some of the 7 dimensions captured more than once) that have caught my attention during the last few months:

Cloudy with a Chance of Mindfulness

Blog

06 Oct 2014

So, at the beginning of your mindfulness practice… Oh, and by ‘beginning,’

Can spirituality inform public policy? Yes, no, and maybe.

Blog

29 Sep 2014

Jonathan Rowson

If spirit is a name for the resistant and transcending faculties of the agent, we can spiritualize society. We can diminish the distance between who we are and what we find outside of ourselves. - Roberto Unger, The Self Awakened p38.

Carl Rogers, Creativity and the RSA

Blog

09 Sep 2014

Jonathan Rowson

When it comes to words, I'm never quite sure whether I'm the hunter or the hunted.

Climate change: a call for more beginners

Blog

30 Jul 2014

Like a child neglected for misbehaving, global warming is curled up in a corner of our collective social consciousness, crying and aching for our attention. Not all passers-by have ignored its plaintive cries (for recent RSA perspectives, see here, here, and here) but personally I know I am guilty for playing deaf most of the time. This week, via a book recommendation by my colleague Dr Jonathan Rowson, I was able to finally take stock, and give the problem the attention it deserves through a 25-hour immersion over the course of 4 days. The following thoughts are a review of an outstanding book, and partly a chronicle of my own personal attempts to face up to climate change.