What's real?
And what matters?
If those seem like esoteric philosophical questions, I sympathize. I spent many hours studying philosophers whose views seemed utterly disconnected from the important things in my life.
And so when I had an opportunity to converse with Jamie Woodhouse, a leading proponent of a philosophy (or is it an mental operating system?) called Sentientism, I worried that we'd be debating angels on pins and imaginary trolley problems and stuff like that.
Boy was I wrong.
It turns out that deep, fundamental philosophical questions, in the right hands (or mouths, or hearts, or whatever) are crucial to how we express our values in the world. And when we aren't clear on our own personal answers to those questions — eg What is real? and What matters? — we are liable to live in ways that ignore, bruise, or even stomp on what we actually hold most dear.
The question of what's real, usually debated in the context of an rarified branch of philosophy called epistemology, has actually become a daily point of contention in a world where consensual reality no longer holds sway. With frighteningly large and loud groups of people denying basic science, the results of elections, and history itself, each of us is no forced, in some way, to declare how we know what we know. And how we weigh the evidence (and lack thereof) that leads us to decide what is real.
Sentientism relies on evidence and reason, rather than emotional or supernatural claims.
In that way, it's very much like humanism, the worldview that all humans are worthy of consideration, and that minimizing human suffering across the globe is a worthwhile goal.
The limitation of humanism, in the view of Jamie and other Sentientists, is that it includes too few beings within its circle of regard. To the sentientist, that same consideration and compassion must be extended beyond the human world to that of all sentient beings.
We can debate whether celery, trees, fungi, and rocks are sentient, but it's hard to deny that quality to squirrels, sheep, chickens, cows, pigs, giraffes, crows, and halibut.
And yet, as a society, we do. We privilege human life over all other species, and do so at our own peril. But for the humanist, we should treat animals well as they are instrumental to our own thriving, through the web of life.
The sentientist extends compassion and consideration to all sentient beings as their right, not lesser than or conditional to our own.
In our conversation, Jamie and I explored the nature of compassion, and the contortions our civilization goes through in its attempts to deny or distract us from this fundamental aspect of our humanity.
We talk about how one can (and must) derive morality from natural law, rather than relying upon a religious creed or dogma.
And whether the irrational and limited human mind can in fact embrace a rational view of life, rather than emotional stories filled with drama, allies, and enemies.
We're scheduled to continue the conversation on Jamie's Sentientist Podcast in a couple of weeks. I'll post the link here when it's up.
Enjoy!
Links
Sentientism.info
John Rawls, Justice as Fairness
Dr Howie Jacobson
This podcast is a labor of love and a way to give back to the world that has given me so much. That's why there aren't any sponsors (except me :).
My day job is helping leaders and their teams master their mindsets to remove all obstacles to heart-centered high performance.
Here are three gigs that I do:
1. Executive and Senior Leadership Mentoring and Facilitation
I work with high performing executive teams in organizations — and executive teams that need to become high performing. My focus is mindset mastery, because it’s our mindsets that either support high performance or get in the way.
At this level, everyone’s got the skills and experience to excel and contribute at the highest level. What holds people back is mindset stuff: specifically the triggers that get them out of creative engagement and into fight-or-flight defensiveness.
My practice is all about teaching people to respond differently to those triggers by updating old maps — essentially removing the glitches that the triggers grab onto.
2. Executive Coaching: Quick Wins for High Performance
I work with individual executives and leaders, one on one. The program is called Quick Wins for High Performance, and what we do is, we work strategically on one or two areas that are holding you back and keeping you from performing at your best.
We reverse engineer the presenting problems — too much work and not enough time, underperforming employees and teams, maddening organizational inefficiencies, etc — and identify and rewire the suboptimal mindsets that are behind those problems.
The work is all about updating your mental maps so your actions and responses are always appropriate, proportionate, and strategic.
3. High Stakes Conversations for Fast Growing Small Business Teams
I help small business teams have high stakes conversations with skill, humor, and grace. When people feel safe, they can do their best, most creative, most collaborative work.
So that's what I do. If you'd like any of those results, drop me a line and tell me about yourself.
You CAN Change Other People!
Well, that's what Peter Bregman and I claim in our provocative book of that title.
What we really mean is, you can bring out the best in the people around you. If you think you're powerless to help people change, it's because you've been going about it the wrong way.
Discover our straightforward, replicable process here: You Can Change Other People.
Music
The Plant Yourself Podcast theme music, “Dance of Peace (Sabali Don),” is generously provided by Will Ridenour, a kora player from North Carolina who has trained with top Senegalese musicians.
It can be found on his first CD, titled Will Ridenour.
You can learn about Will, listen to more tracks, and buy music on his website, WillRidenour.com.
Gratitudes
Thanks to Plant Yourself podcast patrons – Kim Harrison – Lynn McLellan – Brittany Porter – Dominic Marro – Barbara Whitney – Tammy Black – Amy Good – Amanda Hatherly – Mary Jane Wheeler – Ellen Kennelly – Melissa Cobb – Rachel Behrens – Tina Scharf – Tina Ahern – Jen Vilkinofsky – David Byczek – Michele X – Elspeth Feldman – Leah Stolar – Allan Kristensen – Colleen Peck – Michele Landry – Jozina – Sara Durkacs – Kelly Cameron – Janet Selby – Claire Adams – Tom Fronczak – Jeannette Benham – Gila Lacerte – David Donohue – Blair Seibert – Doron Avizov – Gio and Carolyn Argentati – Jodi Friesner – Mischa Rosen – Michael Worobiec – AvIvA Lael – Alicia Lemus – Val Linnemann – Nick Harper – Bandana Chawla – Molly Levine – The Inscrutable Harry R – Susan Laverty the Panda Vegan – Craig Covic – Adam Scharf – Karen Bury – Heather Morgan – Nigel Davies – Marian Blum – Teresa Kopel – Julian Watkins – Brid O'Connell – Shannon Herschman – Linda Ayotte – Holm Hedegaard – Isa Tousignant – Connie Haneline – Erin Greer – Alicia Davis – Heather O'Connor – Carollynne Jensen – Sheri Orlekoski of Plant Powered for Health – Karen Smith – Scott Mirani – Karen and Joe Crabtree – Kirby Burton – Theresa Carrell – Kevin Macaulay – Elizabeth Rothschild – Ann Jesse – Sheryl Dwyer – Jenny Hazelton – Peter W Evans – Dennis Bird – Darby Kelly – Lori Fanney – Linnea Lundquist – Emily Iaconelli – Levi Wallach – Rosamonde McAtee – Dan Pokorney – Stephen Leinin – Patty DeMartino – Mike and Donna Kartz – Deanne Bishop – Bilberry Elf – Marjorie Lewis – Tricia Adams – Nancy Sheldon – Lindsey Bashore – Gunn Marit Hagen – Tracey Gulledge – Lara Hedin – Meg from Mamasezz – Stacey Stokes – Ben Savage – Michael K – David Hughes -Coni Rodgers – Claire England – Sally Robertson – Parham Ganchi – Amy Dailey – Brian Tourville – Mark Jeffrey Johnson – Josie Dempsey – Caryn Schmitt – Pamela Hayden – Emily Perryman – Allison Corbett – Richard Stone – Lauren Vaught of Edible Musings – Erin Hastey – Sean Owens – Sagar Naik – Erika Piedra – Danielle Roberts – Michael Leuchten – Sarah Johnson – Katharine Floyd – Meryl Fury – for your generous support of the podcast.
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