GuidoWorld

If We Build It…..

In the last two posts I discussed the fact that our society is neither oriented nor structured in a way to support a highly educated work force. In this post I want to expand upon the importance and flexibility we have regarding how we design the structure and functioning of society.

We have long been aware of the effects the structure of society has on individuals. Many books, movies and social experiments have demonstrated how a society’s values are both reflected in and created by its structure.

In the movie Trading Places this theme was played out in comic excellence. In the movie two wealthy white men attempt to settle an argument whether genetic good breeding or the opportunities offered by one’s environment are more important to success. They decide to take a black street criminal (Eddie Murphy) and give him a Wall Street job and other perks and fire an up and coming white Ivy League graduate (Dan Aykroyd) to see who will win in the long run.

The bulk of the movie focuses on how both adapt to their new positions in life.  The ex-convict becomes an extremely resourceful successful businessman, and the ex-Ivy Leaguer becomes a petty thief in his struggle to survive and in response to his anger at how society is treating him.

In stories such as Black Like Me we follow the descent of a successful educated white man when he chemically alters the color of his skin so as to appear to be a black man in pre-civil rights America. Though not really black he could not help but feel the despair and internalize the hatred and prejudice lobbed his way.

Many social experiments regarding social status and power document what the above movies and books portrayed, and that is that individuals are highly influenced by the way they are viewed and treated by a society. And that a society creates personalities and stereotypes by the way the society functions and is designed.

If people are put in a roles of master and slave they will quickly adapt to these roles both externally and internally, even if they know they are play acting. The masters will soon become aggressive, righteous and ambitious while the slaves will become submissive, conniving, self-doubting and self-hating.  Yet, once taken back out of this situation and placed back into their normal lives they generally revert back to their old ways and perceptions of self, society and life.

We know that no matter what you do to a society there will be a small percentage of people who will think, act and behave in ways contrary to the society. Yet, what this also says is that we know that a vast majority of people will adapt to and live the dominant values of the culture. This is evident not only in historical instances such as Nazi Germany, but also in the long term social structure of caste systems, tribes and relatively isolated groups such as the Amish.

The point of this discussion is that people’s actions, morals and goals are highly influenced by the structure of their society. People generally are the moral and behavioral products of the culture. The larger portion of the populace is the incarnation of the basic values of the culture. Ambitious competitive cultures create ambitious competitive people, where reflective and kind cultures create cautious and introspective individuals.

A recent study on testosterone puts an interesting spin on the above point.  The standard belief was to equate testosterone with male aggression, raise testosterone levels and you will increase aggression and violence. Yet, the results of raising testosterone levels in various organisms proved otherwise.

What was found was that in animals with simple physiologies and social structures there was the expected rise in aggression. Yet, in complex organisms in complex societies raised levels of testosterone caused raised levels in which the animal sought social status. How the animal expressed his testosterone varied according to the values and activities which resulted in social status. High levels of testosterone could result in anything from increased desire to dance, build, create, invent, parent or teach as well as win, battle or control. The deciding factor was in the status goal of the society and not indigenous to and specific personality type.

If these studies do indeed to prove true it just shows another way in which people are inherently geared towards adapting to the values of the culture they are living in. Yet, even without such biochemical validation it is easy to see how people’s character types, values and vocations are highly influenced by the culture they live in.

In many American Indian cultures men strove to be wise and always sought better ways to adapt to and show respect to nature. They desired to consensus build and live life according to the cycles of nature. Their animistic beliefs stimulated them to emulate the positive qualities of many animals, birds and even the spirits contained in mountains and trees.

A society structured in a way which rewarded and recognized health and kindness would create many healthy and kind individuals. Sure, no matter how healthy one’s diet and lifestyle, there will always be sickly people who die young. Improvements, in a culture’s diet, health care and lifestyle are customarily reflected in a rise in the average life expectancy.

The US is a competitive, economically driven empire where one attains status and success though ambition, guile and determination. Aggression, power and control are often the quickest and surest means of acquiring social status and success.

When people point to the high ideals of the US they are speaking of words and not so much of how the US behaves or functions. We may speak of the importance of honesty and tell our children to share. Yet, status and success in the US is more often accomplished through guile, spin, deception, manipulation and salesmanship than truth and honesty. Likewise hoarding, taking, bilking and exploiting are the tools of the successful rather than sharing and empathy.

It is absurd to think that our society could not be run and designed in a different manner. Anyone who thinks that industrial capitalism is the only or best social system is definitely blind to history and cultural anthropology. There were many empires before the US and most of them were not capitalistic in nature or function.

It is more accurate to say that the design of our society creates our morals and values, rather than the other way around. It is very difficult for individuals to maintain and live their morals and values which are in opposition to the society in which they live. In most cases people will either adapt their actions to the morals of the society at large, even if internally they wish otherwise. This is evident in the number of US citizens who support the war policies of our government despite the fact the majority of US citizens are opposed to war in general and our current wars in particular.

A great exercise is to try and view our society from the perspective of an anthropologist. What according to our laws, actions and daily habits are our most dominant values and mores? What do we train our children to become, and how do we treat our contemporaries? What do we reward, recognize and foster in our culture? Is this what you would foster if you had a choice?

The fact is we have great flexibility in choosing our society’s design and function? Saying otherwise, is escaping responsibility and selling ourselves short. Of course, those in power want the status quo, and want us to believe that this is the best option currently available.

Many relationships and marriages have found through therapy that small changes in the structure and habits of a relationship can have profound positive effects on the health and happiness of a family. Subtle changes in habit, attitude and structure can replace anxiety, pain and even depression with appreciation, contentment and joy.

The changes in our social structure need not be that dramatic. Subtle changes in how we do things and what we reward could result in incredible growth in personal satisfaction. Statistics indicate that our society fosters depression, anxiety, fear and apathy more than joy, personal satisfaction, and connection to others.

Many of my posts have and will deal with issues of social design and personal satisfaction.  My songs and books, which can be found by clicking onto the music and words tabs, are also geared towards these social concepts. They are offered here for free, because that is my value. Many, of course, will think their quality poor due to their being offered for free. That is their value.

I invite you to decide for yourself. I would love to hear your reactions.

United in Compassion

Jim Guido

The Great American Education Hoax: Part 2

In the previous post I discussed how statistics show that American’s are not as educated as we are led to believe. In the US less than 70% of students who enter elementary school end up with a high school diploma. In this post we will try to see how a practical, logical analysis of the role of education in modern society contradicts what we are being told regarding its importance and benefits.

American’s are being told that today’s competitive marketplace demands that citizens who want to “get ahead in the world” need at minimum a college degree and most likely an advanced degree. We are bombarded with the message that American workers are the most skilled in the world and the fast pace of American commerce and technological advancement demand higher education.

Let’s take a s look at how honest this sentiment and appraisal of the role and benefit of education is for the general public. First we’ll look at the economic and practical benefits of advanced degrees for the professional career traditional college track and then will look at the economic and practical benefits of higher education for the vocational trade workers.

The problem with the advanced degree equals financial wealth and security promise is that it contradicts both historical economic trends and the laws of supply and demand so dear to our system of capitalism. Our society shows no signs of wanting or becoming a society able to financially support a highly educated populace.

During the last two economic downturns the term over qualified was used to explain the reason why many highly credentialed potential workers were unemployed or having to accept low paying jobs outside of their field. Though this problem is less talked about it is more prevalent than ever.  The structure and composition of our work force shows no indication or ability to become a professional career dominated  system.

We currently do not have millions or even tens of thousands of jobs sitting fallow waiting for advanced degree applicants to fill those positions. Likewise we are not waiting for more Phd’s and masters level graduates to hit the work force before we create such positions. The reality of the situation is advanced degree graduates are finding it increasingly difficult  to find jobs fitting their educational status at all, let alone in their field of interest.

Since the early 60’s there has been a steady trend of a higher concentration of wealth going to a smaller and smaller percentage of people. This trend shows no signs of abating and in fact is gaining momentum. The prospects for wealth and job security for those of us acquiring an advanced educational degree is on the wane even if the percentage of people receiving advanced degrees were not to increase.

Advances in technology and informational technology will continue to erode the importance and need for a number of advanced degree professionals. I’ll just give two quick examples to support the point.

One is the number of medical procedures that will be best or only performed or executed by robotics and machines is only going to expand. The demands regarding accuracy and sensitivity for most recent and projected medical procedures far exceed the capabilities of human surgeons and medical practitioners.

Second, computers and information systems are far more capable of researching and organizing information. Researchers in all fields of the professional world including CPA’s and lawyers are becoming increasingly dependent on information technology to do the bulk of their work for them. The technology if not a direct threat to make their jobs totally obsolete at least will drastically decrease the number of professionals needed in each field.

A constant complaint I’ve heard these last 30 years from students functioning at all levels of educational competency is that education has nothing to do with the real world, that they will never use the majority of what they are being taught. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve heard a student ask, “why should I learn this?”, or “When am I ever going to use this when I’m working?”

In many ways students are correct in assuming that their jobs will never require their knowing how solve a quadratic equation, know the periodic table,  or be able to identify the structure of the judicial system of Maori Indians.  Likewise understanding the various forms of poetic meter, or the major river systems of South America will seldom get them a job or make them available for a job promotion.

Yet, what is gained through our general education system is more abstract and logic based. The information is not important in itself but it is helping a student develop important practical skills and abilities. Some of which include problem solving, logic, critical thinking, pattern recognition, empathy and understanding, perspective and analysis just to name a few.

Much of the benefits of a well rounded education has to do with providing students with tools, skills and abilities that will help them be successful in all levels of life. Not   just at the work place, but interpersonal relations, parenting, and dealing with the increasing complexity of life in the modern world.

This shows a general benefit of education, but does not directly negate the students concern that most of their education does not directly apply to the career of job they will spend the majority of their adult life doing.

This brings us to the core of the push for advanced degrees, and its accompanying rational that many do not succeed in today’s work world because they are undereducated and unsatisfactorily credentialed. The solution as always whether you’re a computer technician or a health care professional is that your job security and pay scale are dependent on advanced degrees.

Let’s take a look at one of the central messages of education proponents who state that the sophistication and complexity of the high tech world makes a college education imperative, and once you get a degree in technology your career path is secure.

No one can argue that technological disciplines of all kinds are in a perpetual state of rapid growth. Yet, this fact both supports the need for a degree and limits the benefits of a technology based education.

First of all, no general technological education of any type, will rarely prepare you for a specific job in the field of technology. The skills and specific processes needed for each job is changing so rapidly that any education you receive will be outdated in a very short time. Since so many jobs involve skills and knowledge that are so specific to that job alone, learning on the job is far more beneficial than learning in a general classroom.

Advances in automation, robotics, information technology, and artificial intelligence are occurring at a mind numbing speed. Many technologies are claiming a new generation level of advancement as quick as every few months. In such an environment how much staying power or relevance does a degree have?

Most advances in automation, robotics, information technology, and artificial intelligence reduce the need for human workers. These technologies often reduce the need for workers and a job force and therefore a degree in these fields will not necessarily improve job security or result in a lucrative career.

The fact of the matter is that more and more jobs are becoming unnecessary and unprofitable. Machines work for free and never need to sleep or have off time. The competitive nature of capitalism always goes towards maximizing profits and lowering overhead.  In the modern world of technology and information, human labor is seldom the means to maximizing profit.

Robots and machines do tasks, learn new processes and work at optimum levels far better than humans.

Professionals such as doctors and lawyers have been keeping up with advances in their field by reading journals and getting additional training for decades.  Now any technologically based worker must do the same. There is no degree which will end education, and most education has to occur on the job because of the specialty of information and skills indigenous solely to that task.

Yet, no amount of education is going to allow humans to perform many jobs at the quality of robots and automation. Robots will become increasingly superior to human workers in doing precision work, repetitive work demanding identical duplication, and the ability to quickly identify and solve problems.

Robots, likewise will be unparalleled in their ability to identify flaws and variances of quality in materials, their ability to monitor and fix other machines, and not get bored with tedious work or vigilance.

The promises of wealth and job security being heralded by the media is true for a few industries. These industries include banking and education.

The watering down of public education has made a high school diploma almost no better than being a drop out, and therefore, made a college diploma almost mandatory to get any job above minimum wage.  This means that our free public education is worthless and forces those with economic ambition to have to pay for the education they need to make a well paying job even a possibility.

College and private educations have become these expensive and necessary toll booths giving a potential worker hope for a decent future on the road of life. Those who are yet employed or underemployed often have to borrow money to pay for their education.

Over the last few decades it has been the educational and lending institutions and not students which have benefitted most by the perceived need for higher education. The costs of higher education have skyrocket as well as the net worth of colleges and universities during this time period. Likewise the percentage of students graduating with significant amounts of debt has exploded.

The only real obstacle to expanding wealth for lending and private and higher education institutions has been bad investing. Isn’t it ironic that the standard advertising tag line for most higher educational institutions is something along the lines of “investing in your future”. It probably would be more accurate to say “investing in our future”.

As is the case in many aspects of our society, deception and sales techniques dominate the messages we receive. Honesty and integrity, like human labor, are not the best means of maximizing one’s profit potential. Therefore, in a profit based system of economic competition honesty and integrity will have little value.

In general deception sells more than truth. So what do you expect from a society whose primary goal is economic expansion through the maximizing of profit?

Now remembering that my friend might be a real education.

Jim Guido

The Great American Education Hoax

Last week I was talking to a clinician friend of mine who is the director of a local alternative school. During the conversation I mentioned how high our local drop out rate was. She felt I was exaggerating and doubted my numbers. So, we googled it and saw that my numbers were correct.

Most statistics out there are in agreement. In the US less than two thirds of its children get a high school diploma. This means that over three in ten kids in the US do not graduate high school. Think about that a minute. Three of ten kids in your, or who were in your child’s kindergarten class will/did not get a diploma.

The media generally reports the yearly drop out rate which has stayed between 4 and 6 percent. So, the average person is led to believe that only 5 or 6% of students drop out and conclude that 90% or so of students graduate.

Yet, the reality is that 5% are dropping out per year. The accumulative result of which is that somewhere between 30 and 40% of students will be lost before high school graduation.
Below is the significant numbers posted by the Alliance for Excellent Education for the State of North Carolina.

Graduation Gaps and Inequities
Graduates
Graduates 63%

There are significant graduation gaps among student subgroups. To help close these harmful achievment gaps and raise graduation rates for all students, graduation rates must be disaggregated for both reporting and accountability purposes.
North Carolina’s Graduation Gap

All Students 63%
Asian          74%
White        70%
Hispanic   50%
African American   45%
Native American     44%

Estimated 4-year Graduation Rate
*Figures calculated prior to rounding. All graduation rates are for the school year 2005–06. For access to sources and notes please visit http://www.all4ed.org/publication_materi…. © July 2009 by the Alliance for Excellent Education

If you go to the web site below you will see an interesting national map of graduation rates for all states.

 http://www.higheredinfo.org/dbrowser/ind…

When you read the history of the public school system and the writing’s of many of its founders you find that public education was designed to be more often about indoctrination into the political/economic world of US society than about maximizing the intellectual possibilities and skill base of each citizen.

Many early social psychologists sympathized with governmental architects concerns that a truly democratic system could breed social instability. Public education was seen as a means to mold public opinion and create civic pride in the status quo while making future voters more dependent on the state.

In the early years the American public education system was able to attract and cultivate the best minds while fostering a strong sense of patriotism and national pride. These were the heady years of industrialization, empire building and invention.

Yet, the more successful the US became at becoming the reigning superpower the less the need for finding the best minds amongst the rabble. Instead they could reserve the quality aspect of American education system for the privileged few. This allowed the main focus of US public schools to become indoctrination and public control and less on unfolding the intellectual capabilities of the majority of children.

I have witnessed first hand the dilution of the American education system. The slow ingress of increasing chaos of the classrooms and the lowering of standards of academic performance.

In the late seventies and early eighties I worked in special education class rooms for both day programs and residential treatment facilities. Many of these kids came to us illiterate and with below average IQ’s. Despite these hurdles our children flourished in our school. We averaged 9 months of academic growth for every 3 to 4 months of class time.

A sizable portion of the students I worked with during that same time were average to above average students who came to us because of emotional psychological issues and not due to poor academic performance.

In the late nineties I returned to public schools for awhile and have spent the bulk of this decade back in special ed. dominated classrooms.

Though I have taught all subjects, math is my forte. I can assert with no doubt the skill level of kids I worked with in special ed. in the 70’s is higher than the average student in today’s standard level classroom.

The computational and reading skills of a child being promoted to the fourth grade now is inferior to the skills of the kids who were promoted in the 70’s. Pretty much the same can be said for each grade level.

The basic skills of our children are eroding as are the expectations. This can not be an accident or be explained away by changes in our society. For ever reason I can find that society makes learning more difficult, I can find five or six that could make learning easier and more productive.

The watered down American public education system now takes sixteen years to accomplish what it used to in twelve. The skills demanded of a student to get their high school diploma in today’s public school system is roughly equivalent to about a freshman level of the 1980’s.

The GED tests which students can now use as a high school education equivalency test is not even at the eighth grade level that I was familiar with in the late 70’s.

We are being told the truth by our educational system and government when they say that our child’s high school diploma does not open them up to the same jobs and opportunities that a high school diploma did for us when we graduated. They go on to say that today’s college diploma carries the same impact as yesterday’s high school diploma. It now takes a post graduate degree to avail yourself to the opportunities that were previously available to a college graduate. These are all true statements. In fact, they are understatements.

Today’s college graduate is probably available for less than a high school graduate of the 70’s. And even a post graduate degree does not assure you that you will get a job and pay of a standard similar to a basic college degree  in decades past.

Yet, what is deceptive about these statements is the reason why they are true. We are told that today’s workers need more skills and intellectual ability and knowledge than previous generations.

We are led to believe that the fast pace of technological progress and the increasing speed and complexity of the work place is demanding similar growth in our educational knowledge and performance.

Yet, for the most part this is just all out fictitious propaganda.

In my next post I’ll explore the fallacies of the above view and the possible reasons we are being asked to believe in the false hood of the need and benefits of a post graduate degree. I will also shed some light on the likely goals of the architects of the modern public education system, at least according to their actions.

Jim Guido

Sex and Intimacy

The following are some excerpts from the chapter entitled Sex and Intimacy from my book Exploring Intimacy. You can read the entire chapter and book by clicking on the words tab above.

Marriage continues to exist because it represents the ideal of two people living together who mutually support, share and love each other. A marriage is not just a contract, but a vehicle for intimacy.

The most private possession a person owns is their body.

Our bodies are the closest thing to us, because in them is the origination of all our experience. All we feel, think and perceive takes place in our minds and through our skin and senses. Sharing our bodies with another is sharing our experience at the exact moment it happens.

Sex is not just a symbolic way of demonstrating how open we are to each other, it is letting someone into our most private world and letting them have an impact on our every sensation.

Our bodies harbor our individuality and there is no more intimate thing to share with another than what makes us unique.

Making love is not just stimulating our bodies, it is activating and fulfilling our drive towards intimacy.

Maintaining a rewarding and fulfilling sexual relationship is dependent on a couple’s ability to stay intimate with each other.

Anger in relationships is often caused when our desire for union is denied, and the feeling of love is attained when our desire for intimacy and union is successful met.

A desire for and commitment to day-to-day intimacy is the most sure way insuring a life partnership stays fresh and fulfilling. People grow and change and unless both members of a relationship express their needs and take an interest in their partners evolving needs any union can weaken or stagnate.

Instead of just following our heart or marrying the first person we fall in love with we are asked to  ot only recognize but form and maintain intimate relationships.

Intimacy is a skill developed and refined like any other, through practice and constant evaluation.

Only through open communication and intimate knowledge of another can we be reasonably assured that the relationship will endure.

Finding a life partner is a matter of selection and not preordained from the heavens. The success of a relationship depends on the amount and the way we invest ourselves into the relationship, and not on whether we violated some universal law by marrying the wrong partner.

A life partnership which is aware and sensitive to the power of affection and sexual fulfillment is more likely to flourish throughout the years than one that ignores or takes sex for granted.

The trick of sustaining a lifelong relationship is not based on goals such as marrying the most attractive or compatible person you will ever meet, but rather finding a partner with whom you can be intimate for the rest of your life.

Beauty is only skin deep in a relationship not devoted to intimacy. In a relationship built on intimacy attractiveness involves every aspect of the person’s personality and character. Their body not just  a visual object but a vehicle for joy and intimacy.

Whatever the reason for our partner’s decrease in appeal, it is through intimacy that it must be restored.

Sexual confidence is probably the most important quality for an enduring lover to possess. A person who thrives on sexual intimacy is bound to be attractive to their partner, for such a person yearns to please and be pleased by their partner.

All couples need to find their own individual mix of sex and affection which fulfills their needs.

Only through physical exploration and intimate conversation can one ascertain the sexual differences of a couple and how these differences impact their view of love and intimacy.

Knowing your mate’s sexuality before marriage is very important, for even though many sexual preferences can be negotiated or a mutually satisfying compromise can be found, major differences in sexual appetites are almost impossible to overcome. If you like to make love every day and your partner desires to make love once a week, it will be difficult for this gap to be successfully bridged while leaving both people sexually content and emotionally united.

Sometimes the differences in sexual appetites are bridged when the couple reveals and expresses what sex means to them. Often the greater understanding and appreciation gained thorugh such a discussion is enough to get the couple’s appetites more in line with each other.

Each time we make love we have an opportunity to explore and unfold all of our senses, to push the boundaries of physical pleasure and sensual unity a step further. The amount of care and attention we can give to every single sensation and feeling is amplified during love making. Our imagination can be used to assist us in feeling an expressing the intensity of the moment. We can create moods, accent body stimulations, and transform the most simple sensation into a spiritual moment through imagination.

Our imagination is a key participant in intimate love making. Through our imagination we arouse our emotions and desires by acknowledging the importance our partner plays in our life, and in its enjoyment. Our imagination allows us to empathize and even anticipate what our partner is feeling, allowing us an opportunity to maximize the intensity of their pleasure.

One can use their imagination during love making to enhance or create a mood whose goal is increased pleasure and intimacy, or one can use their imagination to deceive, alter or even replace the event taking place.

Sharing of any type is vacant in the romantic hero. The pristine world of the heroine is left intact, she need not grow, of change, or even truly live and share a world with a man. She is spared the tragic life of the real and allowed to live in the unrealistic world of romance.

Intimacy should not have to conform to romance, but romance should conform to intimacy. Romance not tethered to intimacy can become harmful and delusionary.

Both romance and imagination can be effective tools to avoid the reality of a relationship, and therefore, instead of fostering intimacy can actually be used to prevent or weaken intimacy.

I hope these excerpts inspire to read the entire chapter and book. Enjoy.

Jim Guido