Friday 13 August 2010

Friday 13th daily thoughts from BBC Radio solent

It's quite fun being in the studio four mornings in a row reading the daily thoughts out live. Julian Clegg is an impressive DJ to watch in action - seeming to be able to talk whilst reading the next item and sounding laid back despite the often chaotic scenes in the studio around him. I get about ten seconds to talk to him during the jingles and then thats it - I'm in and out!

Todays thought can be heard here.

Day 4: 

Good morning. 

In my final thought this week, inspired by the book “life of Pi”, I want to dwell on a comment made by the heroes dad when they are busy selling all the animals in their zoo, ready to emigrate from India to Canada. Being a good zoo-keeper the father is keen that all the animals go to a good home, and ruefully muses that the greater good and the greater profit are not always compatible aims. 

I was really struck by this comment especially in a time of financial austerity when everything we hear in the news is about cutting services, stopping building projects, reducing pensions and people losing jobs. Yes of course we need companies and an economy that is sustainable, however sometimes we should ask whether it is actually pursuing the “greater good” to put balance sheets before the needs of people, especially in organisations such as government whose whole purpose is to serve and look after society. Is it actually pursuing the greater good to have an economy that is bigger and better than everyone elses, or should we sometimes temper our ambitions by remembering that the greater profit and the greater good are not the same thing? 

Similarly on a personal level, once we have achieved a standard of living that meets our basic needs, should we now stop and consider how our extra time and resources are spent? Do we just look for “more, better, now” or do we try to enjoy life and perhaps even make a difference? If the greater good and the greater profit are not always compatible, which of the two are we pursuing?

Daily thoughts day 3 (August)

Listen here or read:

Day 3: 

Good morning. 

In the book “life of Pi” the main character is stranded on a life-boat for many months. He comes to realise what his needs in life really are, and what aspects of his previous life were in fact luxuries. It is quite amazing to read an account like this and think quite how few things we really need, and indeed how many of our “essential” possessions are in fact luxuries. 

Let me give an example - recently a new electronics store opened around the corner from where I live so I went for a visit to check it out. This turned into a bit of a mistake as it was a “sale” weekend and everyone seemed to be fighting to get to the TV section and bag the “bargain” offers. I couldn’t help but be drawn to the offers section and start laying extravagant plans for a home cinema – an apparent “need” in my life that I hadn’t previously recognised. I went home and spent all night dreaming about the cinema system, and worrying how I could afford it, or indeed fit it into my sitting room. However, after spending a night tossing and turning all my great plans were quickly squashed by my wife who reminded me that a home cinema was not a basic need, and indeed not even an option! 

So here’s my thought for the day – once we have enough resources to meet the really basic needs, do we realise that any extra money or time can be used to make us happy, or do we automatically begin to look around, decide on greater “needs”, and then get stressed about trying to afford them? Do we use our extra resources to bring happiness, or simply more stress?

Julian Clegg show, BBC radio solent

Daily thoughts day 2 - listen here or text below:

Day 2 

Good morning. 

This weeks daily thoughts are motivated by the Man Booker prize winning novel “Life of Pi”. 

In one part of this book the teenage main character, Pi, manages to simultaneously become a Christian, a Hindu and a Muslim. He happily attends a church, temple and a mosque for a number of months until people start to notice and object to his multi-faith religion. This leads to a showdown involving his parents, a priest, a pandit and an imam. The adults decide that he has to choose one of the three religions, but Pi doesn’t understand - “if people can have more than one different passport why can’t they have more than one religion?” he asks? Pi’s dilemma is perhaps made worse by this part of the novel being set in India at a time when choice of religion could often mean the difference between life or death. 

Of course historically the choice of religion was based on geography and family tradition. However today we live in an increasingly globalised and multi-cultural society where people of widely differing religions mix on an every day basis. So is it a valid thing to just become a member of all religions? 

I don’t think it is because there is an important difference between respecting people of other religions, and what a person privately believes. The power of each religion is in its ability to provide a coherent picture of the world, providing a framework for ethics and behaviour. If we start to combine traditions we will unavoidably run into conflicts. Of course we should always respect and work with people of other religions, however if someone wants to explore spirituality it is probably best not to create our own religion, but rather choose a tradition and follow the wisdom of history.

Daily Thoughts - August - BBC radio solent

More daily thoughts! Recording can be found by clicking here. Text below:

Day 1

Good Morning.

This week’s daily thoughts are based upon the book “life of Pi”. I won’t spoil the story because I don’t think I can - I couldn’t possibly give an adequate description of this bizarre but brilliant recipient of the 2002 Man Booker prize. However, something that I can relate are some of the fascinating side-tracks that spur the reader to stop and think more carefully about themselves and how they see life.

Towards the beginning of the book the central character, “Pi”, describes the fictional zoo that he was brought up in. Although not defending zoo’s per se, he does point out that it is a mistake to equate animals freedom in the wild with happiness, and think that zoos make animals unhappy. In actual fact animals in the wild have a tough time - living lives of compulsion and necessity in an environment low on food but high in fear, disease and sudden death. They often have to be quite reactionary because the smallest changes in their environment could signify the approach of a predator or the onset of a debilitating disease. Animals are therefore happiest in a predictable environment where their needs can be met relatively easily - a situation that can often be achieved quite successfully in a zoo. 

However, if zoo animals are unhappy, or try to escape from their enclosure, they are seldom trying to escape to somewhere, but more likely running from something. A good zoo-keeper knows that the solution to an unhappy animal is not to move it somewhere else, but rather look for what is specifically upsetting it, and see if this can be changed. Escape is often a quick reaction, not a long-term solution.