Cognitive dissonance is that feeling that we get when we believe something contradictory. It arises – to use the example from a textbook – when you think you should be on a diet but devour a huge bowl of chocolate mousse. You then start justifying your choice to minimize the dissonance. Recently, I have been thinking about a specific cognitive dissonance: Ethical dissonance. Working at a large financial institution (FI) during the financial “crisis” is creating a lot of ethical dissonance for me. Already the fact that I put the crisis in quotes is a symptom of that: On the … Continue reading »
Feb 072010
Aug 212009
I am reading two books right now that are touching on the ideas of machines in modern society. The first book is by Erich Kästner: Als ich ein kleiner Junge war (when I was a little boy). In this autobiography, Kästner describes how in his father’s lifetime craftsmen, like his father, lost their livelihood and ended up working in factories with machines to create more, cheaper goods. Or maybe they worked like machines. That is where the second book picks up. Bruno Bettelheim suggests in his book The Informed Heart that the existential struggle of our time is the balancing … Continue reading »
Aug 072009
My bed was rather sticky this morning. No, not the kind that comes from eating breakfast in bed. The kind that comes from not wanting to get up. As my vacation is winding down, I am noticing the brewing of what Eric Maisel has called a meaning crisis. Some might call it a low grade depression. Either way, it’s making it more difficult for me to get out of bed. I managed to get up half an hour late and still go out for my morning walk. During the walk I realized what I was telling myself: I spent part … Continue reading »
Jul 082009
I guess prisons are on my mind after having listened to Ruth Wilson Gilmore’s excellent talk. On my way to work this morning, I realized that for those of us who don’t like our jobs, they have turned into a prison as well. Doing time until lunch. Doing time until the end of the day. Doing time until the weekend. Doing time until the next vacation. Doing time until retirement. The imprisonment is perfected by the lack of a safety net, which is being dismantled further during this recession. If I quit my job, I’ll loose health care (or I … Continue reading »
May 112009
Why are we doing this to ourselves? We go like cattle to work every morning not questioning the absurdity of our whole lifestyle – how it is destroying our very ability to exist on this planet. As women, we joyfully participate in a patriarchal ritual designed to pass us from our father to another man ensuring that we never become independent. And even the little things: Why do we let men open doors for us, tuck us into our seat? Sure, it’s nice on some level but it’s also disempowering. The message is clear: We are too weak or delicate … Continue reading »
Feb 122009
On my way to work this morning, I realized that our morning rituals would probably look rather absurd to the uninitiated. There we are, by the hundreds, stuffed into these strange, weird metal boxes on wheels that take us from one spot to another only to throw us out at the end. I take an express bus, so it seems like it’s throwing up people at the first stop in the downtown area. Almost everybody leaves the bus at that stop. Then everybody hurries places not looking much around. So busy with nothing that they don’t even notice a world … Continue reading »
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