By Frank Garrett
While on a walk-about in Denag VN I came across the following street art. In the last image I was drawn to the expression of a young girl alone and without connection to others. The feeling made me think of Martin Buber ‘s I-thou philosophy, and the theory that there is no being, as an individual.
If you are a frequent reader of this blog, there have been many different authors who have made connections with the I- thou perspective in risk and safety;
- https://safetyrisk.net/real-meeting-a-book-on-being-in-leadership/
- https://safetyrisk.net/the-social-psychology-of-risk-handbook-i-thou/
- https://safetyrisk.net/phenomenology-beyond-subject-object-thinking/
- https://safetyrisk.net/ai-priorities-and-the-creation-of-psychosocial-harm/
- https://safetyrisk.net/risk-is-about-people-not-just-objects/
We are a social beings, yes we can and should spend time alone to reflect, meditate and consider our being with others, but most of us are much happier when engaged with another, in the I- thou relationship it’s not about you (thou) it’s not about me (I) it’s about the relationship in between, the hyphen(-).
This is evident in the worst punishment we can inflict on another.
When humans moved away from physical punishment in medieval times; read Michel Foucault, Discipline and punish,
We moved to psychological punishment which has been experimented with since ,and one of those outcomes has been solitary confinement. Anyone who has experienced it will tell you no human contact for extended periods of time is more demoralizing than any number of lashes.
Humans need the acknowledgment from another and the physical connection as well, I wrote about this back in the early days of Covid 19.
https://safetyrisk.net/how-do-we-mourn/
Regardless if our isolation is self inflicted or an outcome out of our control, the result is the same. This series of three murals in the context of VietNam history captures the embodiment of I- thou in a country that has seen so much loss, separation, occupation and culture eradication.
https://en.vcci.com.vn/lick-of-paint-rebirths-iconic-da-lat-slope
Rob Long says
Well written Frank and a great challenge. We all know that when people are caught behaving against the common good in crime, their punishment is isolation. Then when they get to prison if they don’t behave they get more isolation in an environment of isolation. This affirms that the very goodness of our being is anchored to social connection and relationships. So, we use the loss of those things to punish.
BTW, Byber never Capitalized the I, it’s i-thou
Aneta Darlington says
Great semiotic- thank you.