Robert Long

Propositions to Not Live By

ByProf. Robert Long

When we run our Poetics module (https://cllr.com.au/product/poetics-flyer-module-22/) we get people to share a poem, song, music, art or aesthetic experience of significance. It is one of the most profound things we do and, everyone struggles to limit their choice to just one piece/example. People overflow with many examples of music, song and many forms of Poetics that carry enormous significance for them. Every example that is shared is connected to an event, a moment, experience or memory that is anchored to that poetic.

Poetics is not just about poetry but about all things that cannot be measured. When we study Poetics we move away from the myth that knowledge is best found in propositions, to knowing that has no measure. In Poetics we don’t argue about concepts and beliefs, we engage in story, discourse and narrative. A focus on propositions seeks control, power and competition. In Poetics, we seek empathy, knowing and meaning. Poetics shares much in common with Semiotics.

When people share a song or music, they often share something about themselves that is vulnerable, confessional yet acceptable. When we share a story connected to a song, there is no right or wrong, no binary classification and no need for controls. You can’t cast judgement on another’s experience. You can’t claim a score or measure of one experience as better than another. Poetics is opposed to all the power that is invested in the discourse of ‘performance’. Poetics has no interest in performance as a measure but rather performance as presentation. In Poetics we don’t score performance, we embrace it by sharing its meaning, by being present with others.

In Poetics, others don’t exist as objects to control but rather as subjects ‘to know’ and ‘meet’. When people share a memory, story or an experience of suffering or jubilation, we don’t judge, we empathise. Connection is not made rationally but is made heart to heart and, soul to soul. Indeed, Poetics is discourse of the soul.

The reason why Nippin and I wrote the book 51 Stories in Culture, To Live and To Be, was to NOT get caught up into the seduction of propositionalism so enjoyed by Safety. In our book we used Poetics and Semiotics to NOT describe culture in a set of propositions. In this way we presented culture as something that is lived not controlled. In the Poetics of culture, we walk in the world of others, we make no judgement or assessment of performance, we engage in the being of those not like us. We ‘meet’ those who don’t think or believe as we do.

The book 51 Stories in Culture, To Live and To Be is now available for free download: https://www.humandymensions.com/product/51-stories-in-culture/

 

 

Prof. Robert Long

Prof. Robert Long

Expert in Social Psychology, Principal & Trainer at Human Dymensions
Prof. Robert Long

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Prof. Robert Long
PhD., MEd., MOH., BEd., BTh., Dip T., Dip Min., Cert IV TAA, MRMIA Rob is the founder of Human Dymensions and has extensive experience, qualifications and expertise across a range of sectors including government, education, corporate, industry and community sectors over 30 years. Rob has worked at all levels of the education and training sector including serving on various post graduate executive, post graduate supervision, post graduate course design and implementation programs.

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