tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6199853211454757595.post3302014196085552762..comments2023-10-19T07:26:37.046-07:00Comments on Thinking Through: Solvitur Ambulando© Peter Bollandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09793775395811878556noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6199853211454757595.post-26016375718175101892020-04-25T14:30:47.414-07:002020-04-25T14:30:47.414-07:00I understood the second quote you referred to from...I understood the second quote you referred to from Peter’s post quite differently. I felt he was asking us to examine our stances on moral positions from the perspective of having been through it. When you face something, like an unwanted pregnancy and are directly impacted by it, you have a deeper understanding of all it’s ramifications. That doesn’t mean you cannot take a moral stand only if you’ve experienced it, rather it benefits all of us to be aware of this and more than likely we will be more empathetic to others’ positions as well if we simply widen our lens to include this idea of embodiment. Sharlynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15084643655310079249noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6199853211454757595.post-91869899883026445452020-03-27T06:44:38.855-07:002020-03-27T06:44:38.855-07:00In London apprentice taxi drivers learn complicate...In London apprentice taxi drivers learn complicated road system by doing The Knowledge and continue to do so - Uber drivers do not have this knowledge and Satnav systems are not a substitute.<br /><br />My version of this was running the streets of London every Sunday morning with my running partner. He had a database that recorded consents, starts and completions initially office developments and later, having been bought out by a developer, he did the same for housing projects in central/inner London. He came with a list, I organised the route and we visited all the sites that he had chosen from his database. On returning home he would update his database and send it to his clients to arrive on their desktop on Monday morning. The quality off his research was excellent and was highly valued.<br /><br />But the real benefit of the run was our conversations about evolving planning policies for nationally, London and the local boroughs, especially on housing and tall buildings - a combination of exchanging information, debating the issues, putting the world to rights, and renewing our "knowledge" of the evolving development of London. As a policy analyst/policy maker and him as development analyst and information provider, doing "The Knowledge" every Sunday running round Inner/Central London and renewing our mental database put us both ahead of the field in understanding our city and in advising our respective clients in our respective fields. This was more than training for marathons but also for refreshing our minds.Michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02799900883957638744noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6199853211454757595.post-74089827698451990582020-03-26T09:24:41.693-07:002020-03-26T09:24:41.693-07:00Well said, sir. Walking is good for my outlook and...Well said, sir. Walking is good for my outlook and blood pressure (same goes for playing music).Kenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04780425923108876647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6199853211454757595.post-86323780318997256202020-03-25T19:33:54.449-07:002020-03-25T19:33:54.449-07:00An excellent post overall, but its premise grasps ...An excellent post overall, but its premise grasps a bit beyond what it's capable of. <br /><br /><b>"You can’t criticize the creative product of another until you’ve dared to risk offering your own creation on the same stage. Only when we walk the walk do we earn the right to talk."</b><br /><br />I don't need to have filmed a movie to be able to articulate why <i>Freddie Got Fingered</i> is garbage. I don't need to have written a book to explain how <i>The Eye of Argon</i> is terrible. Nor do I need such specialized "lived" experience to say so in those, or any other cases. The assertion that I or anyone else does is troubling in a few regards. Does the college professor who has lived and experienced a life solely in academia need to confine his or her teachings to that limited professional experience? Does a male gynecologist "fall short" simply because he is male? After all, he would be quite "well learned".<br /><br /><b>"Even our moral positions benefit from the deep-tissue empathy of embodiment. Until you have faced an unwanted pregnancy yourself, your position on the legality or morality of abortion falls short, no matter how learned or principled. Good people disagree on the rectitude of terminating pregnancies. But until you live it, your words carry the taint of sanctimony and grandstanding."</b><br /><br />A stray political hobbyhorse that mars the piece. Suggesting that personal experience is required to hold a strong - or credible moral position - is problematic. I have a moral objection to theft without having been a thief, and long before ever having anything stolen from me. I have a moral objection to anti-vaxxers and women who drink or smoke during pregnancy, despite having no experience with either, yet this is completely uncontroversial. Should a person's moral position be considered strongest only if they have experienced the situation in question? <br /><br />This sort of neo-segregationism seems fashionable today, but I can only hope it's a fad. This line of reasoning, such as it is, seems to collapse under the mildest scrutiny.GMayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12231225580249665221noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6199853211454757595.post-48014103594291115512019-05-03T12:51:50.470-07:002019-05-03T12:51:50.470-07:00Thanks Ace Chadwick for your story of how walking ...Thanks Ace Chadwick for your story of how walking shifted everything for you. I know that it'll do it for anyone who tries, especially in the open-hearted and deeply curious way you describe. Cheers, and post a photo of that T-shirt when you get it. <br />© Peter Bollandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09793775395811878556noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6199853211454757595.post-88413596967803357142019-04-30T15:38:30.500-07:002019-04-30T15:38:30.500-07:00My friend and I have taken it upon ourselves to wa...My friend and I have taken it upon ourselves to walk a thousand extra miles this year (on top of the usual daily pottering) so four/five evenings a week we set off and wander far and wide over our peninsula.<br />Initially I viewed it as exercise, an achievement, marking the miles on a pedometer,but gradually it evolved into so much more.<br />I have never actually 'seen' where I live, not in the depth I am seeing it now.<br />How long has that house been there? 50 years? What? I can't recall seeing it before.<br />Never heard of this street. Did you know this street existed three miles from where we live?<br />We discuss what we would do to beautify bits of waste land. Discovered a beautiful brick tower which is a ventilation shaft. Tram lines buried in cobbles. Old cottages down back alleys. Bits of untravelled waterfront. Gardens where someone has expressed their creativity with sculptures, or planting or lights.Sad houses that make you wonder about who could possibly live behind those dirty curtains.<br />And cats...cats that take up stations like guardians of heaven knows what, but they're always there giving you the side eye as you walk past.<br />But the most profound thing is (and I cannot express it as eloquently as yourself) is the calming of the mind. Sometimes we'll be ranting about some ghastly news item and then gradually it subsides and gives way to pointing out simple things 'Look there's a robin' 'Ooh I like that tree, any idea what it is? Tonight we smelt the lilac trees coming into blossom. A heady sent.<br />Anyway our club of two is called Solvitur Ambulando...I'm having T-Shirts made!acechadwickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05523216429206113232noreply@blogger.com