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Working based on problem-solving leads to paradoxical states of changing little

Started on October 4, 2023

Updated on September 20, 2024

On a deeper level, I argue that we cannot solve the problem by looking at problems. We should look at what forms of life we aspire to. What ways of being with each other do we aspire to? This very important because even if we solve a problem, new problems will arise. They will arise because we haven't changed our moral and habitual conditioning or the base structure. Only when we grow into new states of being can the root cause of the symptom be fixed. This idea relates to Singers point that we are morally in a somewhat evil situation and we need to unlearn our old habits. We also need make visible hidden mental structures.

an example - educational containers

Let's take this learning environment. We might sharpen our minds by learning knowledge about the world - such as what is problematic. But this also means: something needs to change.
Imagine that we spent serious amounts understanding what forms of being with each other we aspire to? What aspiration for this educational journey do we have? Instead of solving problems externally, we suddenly connect to the world of radical change around us.

How do we want to learn? How is Shai's aspiration for learning different from mine? How can we adapt structures to walk toward these aspirations? This way, we would condition the soil from which actions arise. We would take apart old structures built by other people. These old structures condition our behaviors. The process of unlearning requires us to rebuild structures based on aspirations that connect us (not based on problems we want to solve!!). But we did not arrive at "taking apart old structures" by seeing old structures as a problem. We came across them as a hinderance toward a greater state of being. This is self-improvement on a collective level. And it seems very important to learn how to do this and tune into new realities.