The global in the local. Unusual thoughts about immigration in Italy

The flow of immigrants from the South of the world is the sign of spatial and social imbalances of global dimensions, which involve the same most economically advanced regions. The Italian case offers the opportunity to understand the real extent of immigration phenomenon, as it has coincided with the spread of a meta-consumerist global culture, and because it retains the characteristics of a spontaneous phenomenon, still lacking, in many ways, of the filters of institutional regulation. After highlighting the connotations of the immigration phenomenon in Italy, this article offers a critical reading of glocal processes - to which immigration can be ascribed - in the wider debate about both the goals of environmental sustainability and the enhancement of cultural specificities, foreshadowing for Italy the opportunity to play a pioneering role in the redefinition of the global-local relationships

In the chaos of today's society: The dynamics of collapse as another shift in the quantum anthropology of Heidi Ann Russell

The presented study introduces a new theoretical model of collapse for social, cultural, or political systems. Based on the current form of quantum anthropology conceptualized by Heidi Ann Russell, further development of this field is provided. The new theoretical model is called the spiral model of collapses, and is suggested to provide an analytical framework for collapses in social, cultural, and political systems. The main conclusions of this study are: 1) The individual crises in the period before a collapse of social, cultural, and political systems form the trajectory of a conical helix similar to a vortex. 2) The occurrences of crises in the period before a collapse have the shape of the trajectory on the surface of the circular cone with a convex wall narrowing up to its peak. The shape of this cone is based on the Fibonacci sequence coiled into the three-dimensional space. 3) The constant circular movement along the trajectory of crises can occur in exceptional situations in the development of social, cultural, and political systems; however, such a state is always temporary. In such cases, the trajectory of the crisis does not follow the Fibonacci sequence, but the shape of a regular helix. Remaining on the trajectory of a regular helix in the long-term is highly improbable for social, cultural, and political systems. 4) The creation of new potentialities after the final collapse of a system is explained by the conception of topological inversion, when the heretofore embodied part of the energy-information field returns to the global, wave-particle energy-information potential. 5) The global, wave-particle energy-information potential is a source of energy-information for future embodiments in the sense of the future collapses of wave functions

Musil's idea of poetic mastership and responsibility or "Törless" as his first attempt to become a serious writer

Musil uses the word 'Dichter', 'poet', as a dignified title reserved for artists of great achievement (different from 'Schriftsteller', 'writer'). His use of the word emphasizes the importance of the specifically poetic qualities of literature (and of the poetic sensibility of criticism,) not as an idle objection to the contemporary merging of literary works with either pure sensation and feeling, or with other forms of discourse. Focusing on "Törless", as well as on Musil's notebooks and essays, this article shows how Musil understands the relationship between rational thinking and the latent ideas and thoughts that emerge within the poetic dimension (the 'other state of mind' or 'other condition.') This approach illuminates Musil's conception of "precision and soul" - the interlocking of sensitive perceptiveness and intellectual rigor - as a necessary pre-condition for valuable literature and valuable life.Musil costuma usar o termo 'Dichter', poeta, como um título de maior dignidade para grandes mestres (opondo esse termo à palavra mais contemporânea 'Schriftsteller', escritor). Esse uso sustenta a ideia das qualidades especificamente poéticas da literatura (e da sensibilidade poética da crítica), reagindo contra as tendências contemporâneas de fundir os discursos literários ou com a pura sensação, ou com outras formas discursivas. Partindo de "Törless" e de alguns ensaios de Musil, esse artigo mostra como Musil entende a relação entre o pensamento racional e as ideias latentes que emergem da dimensão poética (do "outro estado da mente" ou da "outra condição"). A abordagem ilumina a concepção musiliana de "precisão e alma", isto é, o entrelaçamento entre percepção sensitiva e rigor intelectual como uma condição para a busca de valores literários e existenciais

Speculations on a privileged state of cognitive dissonance

This paper examines two commonly held and conflicting cognitions in the modern world, each based on a belief vital to the individual's sense of self, both maintained in what is here considered as a chronic state of dissonance. This psychological inconsistency consists of an inherent practical belief in the goodness of empirical knowledge and a culturally-developed transcendent belief denying, or at least mitigating, empirical evidence about the finite nature of individual life and affirming a counter-empirical belief in supernatural: supra-cause-and-effect forces that influence life. I argue that since both beliefs are highly resistant to change, they lead to an impasse that individuals in diverse cultures have borne and been motivated to maintain. They have borne it, as I hope to show, because the consonant “cure” has proved to be more discomforting than the dissonant condition. \ud \u

Sharing our stories : celebrating critically reflective psychological textual practice : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

This study involves my engaging with ideas through three interweaving, storied strands: some personal experiences of my own, the historical development of the academic discipline of psychology, and the pivotal autobiographical vignettes in five psychological articles. Ethical considerations permeate the overlapping theoretical, metaphorical and analytical processes of this work. I consider how writers and readers can engage together through the reflexive sharing of personal narratives, working toward interpretations of experiences in terms of subject positionings within powerful cultural discourses. A metaphorical perspective is integrated into my research process to help me in my attempts to articulate and evoke some fleeting traces of meaning through the elusive symbolic system of language. My analyses of the five focus pieces of writing attend to their skilfully metaphorical, critically reflective use of language within a supportive, nurturing discursive space. This thesis celebrates the transformational possibilities inherent in these pieces of psychological counter-practice. I believe these writers usefully address social sciences' 'crisis' concerns around the relationship of psychology with 'real' people, enabling re-interpretations of experiences in terms of gender and social power relationships and the fashioning of different, more useful meanings for our storied, culturally directed experiences