david brooks

social skill, until you slip into the policy mode
school reform, redone the political boxes
people learn from the people they love...so if you're not talking about relationships,..
that reality is expunged from out policy making process

why are the most socially attuned people on earth, completely dehumanized when they think about policy
for centuries we've based on the notion that we are divided selves. that reason is separated from emotion

led to ways of seeing the world, where we use assumptions of physics to measure how human behavior is
it's produced a great amputation, a shallow view of human nature
good at talking about  material things, skills, safety, health,   bad at about talking about emotions, character

we have the concepts of virtues, but no longer have a system to connect them

elementary school 3pm. 80lb backpacks, cars
kids are raised in certain ways, jumping through achievement hoops of things we can measure; sat prep, soccer, college
and sometimes they make successes of themselves in a superficial manner


over the past few years, deeper view of human nature, a revolutionary consciousness
a new humanism
3 key insights
1) while conscious mind writes autobiography, the unconscious does most of the work
2) emotions are at the center of our thinking
people with strokes are quite helpless
emotions are not separate from reason, they are the foundation of reason because they tell you what to value
so reading and educating your emotions is one of the central activities of wisdom
3) we're not primarily contained individuals, we are deeply interpenetrated one with another, we are social

this revolution in who we are -gives us a different way in seeing human capital
we believe reason is the highest faculties, however
reason is often week, sentiments are often strong and trustworthy
it gives us a deeper sense for what it takes to thrive

what it takes, are things that are deeper, things we don't even have words for
gifts
1) mindsight - ability to dip into another person's mind, to interpenetrate into other's minds, babies do this with moms, and download that info
minnesota study:
77% accuracy , at 18 mos who would graduate, per their good attachment w/mom
20% avoidingly attached - wanting to get close to people but not having the models of how to
one skill how to hoover up knowledge, one from another
2) equal poise - ability to have the serenity to read the biases and failures in your own minds
we are overconfidence machines, 95% profs say above avg, 96% students above avg soc skills, 19% of americans in the top 1% of earners
some have apistomological modesty - they are open minded in the face of ambiguity, able to adjust strengths of the conclusions to the strengths of their evidence, they are curious, these traits are often unrelated to iq
3) medis, street smarts, sensitivity to the physical environment, to pick out patterns, (tacit?)
sympathy - ability to work within groups - that becomes tremendously handy, because groups are smarter than individuals, esp face to face groups, 90% of communication is nonverbal
the effectiveness of a group isn't by the iq of the group, but by how well they communicate, how often they take terms and conversations
4) blending - taking concepts and blend them together, a source of innovation, including the moral systems entailed, can't count and measure these
5) limmerance - not an ability, a drive and a motivation, lost in a craft, the unconscious mind hungers for this
how minds interpenetrate, douglass huffsteader, univ of indiana, i'm a strange loop,
i felt i was behind her eyes, that's me, the fusion of our souls, one hope, one clear thing that defined us both, after she died, that core piece of her had not died at all, it lived on very determinedly in my brain

through policy failures of last 30 years, we have come to acknowledge how shallow our view of human nature has been
through our failure to get to the depths of who we really are... comes
revolution of consciousness, exploring the depth of our nature
freud had a vast affect
we are discovering a more accurate vision than freud, it's going to have a wonderful and profound and humanizing affect on our culture