List of The last word Archive

Mindfulness as using Kahneman’s ‘fast and slow thinking’ skilfully

Blog

02 Mar 2012

Recently I attended a mindfulness training day and instead of actually doing the practice, which is much about spending less time in our heads and more time in the real world, I found myself  analysing the training itself. I was sitting on a meditation cushion and doing old-fashioned left-brain-type analysis. I found myself making different connections between mindfulness and brain-related sciences. I thought I had found some interesting links between mindfulness and Nobel Prize winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman’s ‘fast and slow thinking’. This led to me to believe that one way of looking at mindfulness is as a skilful engagement of Kahneman’s both ‘fast’ and ‘slow’ thinking. Also, sitting on that cushion I came to believe that mindfulness is an important part of closing the RSA’s ‘social aspiration gap’ to become more of a person one wants to be.

Identify and mobilise hidden 'ChangeMakers' to tackle local challenges

Press release

02 Mar 2012

Local authorities should identify and mobilise the key individuals who are already making a difference to their local communities rather than spend large amounts of time and money encouraging greater numbers of people to volunteer, according to a report published by the RSA.

What do Your Jeans Mean to You?

Blog

01 Mar 2012

In 1890, William James wrote that “a man’s Self is the sum total of all that he can call his, not only his body and his psychic powers, but his clothes, his friends, his wife and children, his ancestors, his reputation and works, his lands and yacht and bank account…”. Now I don’t have any children or a yacht (or even much of a reputation), but I am a sucker (and an advertising agent's dream) for the idea that my possessions are linked with my identity.

Serve to lead

Comment

01 Mar 2012

Frank Hore FRSA David Low FRSA

Much of what we read about leadership seems at odds with our experiences of it in action. Frank Hore and David Low FRSAs have observed many leaders in action and think they know why.

Wired for Culture: The natural history of human cooperation

Video

01 Mar 2012

Mark Pagel is one of the world's leading experts on human evolution and development

The compassion test

Blog

01 Mar 2012

Matthew Taylor

As someone who for various reasons (almost none of which bear critical examination) feels in need of a little compassion right now, I was drawn magnetically to this item on the BBC website. A high powered Commission has reached the conclusion that the possession of compassionate values is a vital attribute for staff providing caring services to elderly people.

From Spectatorship to Engagement

Report

01 Mar 2012

From Spectatorship to Engagement is a dialogic approach to involving audience participation in conventional settings.

​Re-thinking the importance of teaching

Report

01 Mar 2012

This report addresses the challenge of teachers not only being asked to design the curriculum, but to collaborate with local stakeholders to do so.

Selfish, moi?

Blog

28 Feb 2012

Matthew Taylor

It is difficult to imagine any headline causing as much delight as this in the Guardian yesterday; ‘Upper class people are more likely to behave selfishly studies suggest’ (perhaps if the Sun ran with ‘women with large breasts especially keen on casual sex, researchers prove’, or ‘Brussels bureaucrats admit baby-eating allegations’ in the Telegraph’) .