Oi Polloi

26/10/2023

Essential reading from the founder of , Christine Charitonos, who is leading the way in creating a culture of kindness and resilience. An excerpt:

"As we continue to navigate this bleak time of breakdown of old systems, it’s critical we find ways to build bridges between people and cultures. While the world is marred by division, the art of listening can unite us in ways nothing else can — and create a chain reaction and ripple effect of goodwill that, in its fullest expression, can turn wars into antiquities, and relics of a more primitive time. None of this is a utopian vision. I’ll explain why."

"Scaling up innovative approaches to cultivating listening, can disrupt the social fabric like few things can. Society continues to be plagued by the turmoil of anxiety, stress, and general chaos caused by virtue signalling, self-promotion and self-absorption — yet the ability to listen has become a rare artefact, rarer than a polite internet comment section. Being a good listener is an act of rebellion. It’s a form of resistance against the tide of narcissism and hate — and turning away from the addiction to the war p**n streaming through our screens. It’s saying, “I choose to tune into your story instead of my feed.”

Link in bio.

19/01/2022

What if we thought not just from the perspective of our future selves – but also from the perspective of future generations? Does thinking that we won't change prevent us from directing our own change? As Professor Gilbert says: "human beings are works in progress that mistakenly think they're finished."

"Human beings are works in progress that mistakenly think they're finished." Dan Gilbert shares recent research on a phenomenon he calls the "end of history illusion," where we somehow imagine that the person we are right now is the person we'll be for the rest of time. Hint: that's not the case.

02/01/2022

New year, new blog – featuring a sneak peek into our business plan and immersive systems change approach:

"If I imagine I'm the two-headed Roman god, Janus, with a consciousness that straddles the razor's edge of beginnings and endings – having just surveyed the past I described, I get a warm glow inside. Covid has accelerated the breakdown of inefficient systems, and has highlighted the structural problems of capitalism for all to see. Suddenly, systems change is not a niche pursuit – but something everyone is consciously or unconsciously seeking.

We have been in a womb since 2020 shattered all new year's resolutions, desperate to get out – and not recognising the perspective and paradigm shift that being birthed entails. It makes the times we live in exciting and pregnant with potential, the real upside of uncertainty we've not stopped to acknowledge in our desperation to get back to normal.

And so, my forward facing view looks a little like this..."

What a Roman god, Greece adopting the Euro, the toilet paper panic, the Great Resignation, and the Oi Polloi executive summary all have in…

26/11/2021

Ian McEwan delivering this year's Orwell Memorial Lecture on politics and the imagination. Starting in 20 minutes.

About the lecture series: "In 1957, Albert Camus wrote, 'it is always possible to record the social conversation that takes place on the benches of the amphitheatre while the lion is crunching the victim.’ George Orwell’s 1940 essay Inside the Whale raises important questions about a writer’s sense of obligation towards issues of the day, social justice and political commitment. Do such duties compromise that absolute freedom necessary to all good art? Or is such freedom a form of privileged and selective blindness? Perhaps this circle can never be squared. Camus and Orwell demonstrated that it can."

'In 1957, Albert Camus wrote, "it is always possible to record the social conversation that takes place on the benches of the amphitheatre while the lion is ...

28/10/2021

"The Regional S+T+ARTS Centers Repairing the Present focus on a ​resource, urban​, ​ICT & ​art-driven​ transformation as the path towards reconfiguring the social, cultural and economic fabric. We believe this reconfiguration can only be done with the involvement of different perspectives and by tapping into artists’ potential to act as catalysts for change and actively contribute to innovation. We propose shifting the role of artists from that of observers and critics of societal contexts into that of active participants in the reimagination and building of possible futures. With Repairing the Present, we want to create the frameworks needed for this shift."

12 Regional S+T+ARTS Centers from 11 different countries launch a call for 21 fellowships aiming to address the unintended consequences of steadfast technological development resulting in the European continent’s present social, economic, and environmental challenges and propose ways of tapping in...

13/04/2021

Over the last few weeks, near the city of Ravenna, Italy, multiple 3D printers have slowly laid down layers of earth to form a dome-shaped house called Tecla (“technology and clay”).

“There’s a long history of architecture made by mud, like adobe. This is a palette used everywhere in the world. I think this combination expresses the idea that reducing the ecological footprint is not only about high tech, but a mix between new tools and an old material.”

~ Mario Cucinella, Architect

These 645-square-foot domed buildings were printed in Italy over the course of 200 hours.

18/03/2021

Exciting things from our partners at regenerative currency, SEEDS 🌍🌱

Join us live at 5pm UK time on Saturday 13th March as Charles speaks to participants of the Tools for the Regenerative Renaissance course. Those tuning in li...

16/03/2021

All change! 🚂
"Our institutions increasingly fail even at chugging along and are instead beginning to embarrassingly explode. Californians are familiar with the result. The sky turns red, as if in warning.

These failures of governance cannot be dismissed as temporary speed bumps or unforeseeable complications. Together, they represent a pattern of a more fundamental long-term erosion of our governing institutions. It is this pattern that far-sighted foreign actors, from the Aga Khan to Xi Jinping, are responding to when they bet that the United States of America is in terminal decline and needs only to be placated and avoided until it inevitably becomes irrelevant.

Even if you recast our historical moment as merely a period of comfortable stagnation, that is not good enough. Perpetual stagnation, which is always fatal, becomes uncomfortable sooner or later. Our lowered expectations betray our felt sense of how well our society is doing.

But the growing recognition of these deep failures points to a shared understanding of a diagnosis and a cause for hope. American governance is due for an upgrade, and early adopters are settling into an appreciation of this need. With inspired effort on the right problems, we retain the potential to build the greatest society yet seen by history."

https://palladiummag.com/2021/03/10/a-new-golden-age-of-governance/?

Existential problems confront our society. Our response will be the foundation of a new golden age of governance.

11/03/2021

"Visionary art matters, because the visionary and mystical experience is the most direct contact we have with the divine, and all sacred art and religious traditions are founded on this mystic state. The best currently available technology for sharing the mystic visionary experience is a well crafted artistic rendering by an eye-witness." Alex Grey

About the Presenter:Visionary artist Alex Grey began his career as a medical illustrator at Harvard Medical School, but is best known for paintings that pres...

26/02/2021

A convo on artificial intelligence, machine learning, data science, and their implications for education and society, by two Greek academics from MIT.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/revolution-of-tomorrow-artificial-intelligence-data-science-and-society-tickets-140757203585?fbclid=IwAR2mgtVQw1ey-BeLZAPL7w8XWtvGKknp6cwJfaiXDelBshAmJdYIPxViYpA

Webcast: The Revolution of Tomorrow: Artificial Intelligence, Data Science and Society

22/01/2021

We couldn’t resist to add our own meme into the mix.

20/01/2021

"In Greece, we certainly don't need another Tate, MoMA, Guggenheim or Pompidou. We have neither the means nor the collections. Besides, these museums seem to be in an identity crisis. The neoliberal development model they have adopted has trapped them financially by taking away the necessary freedoms. In Greece, we need something that reflects our own position and concerns - always in dialogue with the outside world. A model that should reflect our own history and cultural identity, but certainly not in nationalist terms. I firmly believe in the educational role of museums and the fact that they can be important centres for alternative knowledge and critical thinking".

For the acclaimed curator and writer, there’s no better way for a country to promote itself internationally than supporting its culture domestically.