Mind the Shift

Our world is ever more a cyberworld, but we still treat the digital part of it as if it weren’t real. Those who develop tech solutions surprisingly often forget about the people whom those solutions are for. Nadine Michaelides is a cyber psychologist and behavioral scientist. She works with understanding the relationship between human behavior and technology. Some years ago she realized the need for this skill. ”We could spend hours in boardrooms talking about tech innovations, but nobody mentioned the people who were going to use them”, she says in this episode. ”It was all about budgets. People seemed to be an afterthought. I was shocked. What kind of strange universe was this?” Nadine was seen as rebellious. But metrics, like surveys, showed that she knew what she was talking about. Today there is much more understanding of the human factor in technology, she says. But flawed ideas about how to best achieve cyber security still abund: ”I have asked cyber security professionals how long they think it takes to actually do the tasks that they need the employees to do to be secure. They have no idea.” Nadine Michaelides is concerned that technology is moving faster than our ability to see the whole picture. ”How can we train our children to watch out for electric cars that don’t sound anything? A culture change can take six to eight years. Can you imagine the tech change that will happen during that time?” ”But ultimately it can only go as far as we let it.” On the much debated conflict between transparency and privacy Nadine says: ”Transparency is not just something that is nice to have, it is something we need in a democracy. But I do think transparency and privacy can work together. We need to filter to protect our children. But at the same time we need freedom of speech. It’s absolutely critical. The most important thing is that we don’t allow abuse of power.” And on social media algorithms and polarization: ”The problem is that it gives even the extremes a voice that may not have been heard otherwise, and that can be dangerous. There is a case for regulation. But it can’t be based on financial gains, it must be based on democratic values.” Nadine Michaelides’ consultancy is Anima.

One day when I was 20 years old the whole world around me changed in appearance. I had tunnel vision and I had an eerie feeling of not being rooted. The thought that I, the real ”I”, was just that lump of flesh in my skull scared the hell out of me. I didn’t understand it at the time, but today I am convinced it was my higher self trying to tell me that my inkling was correct. The babble going on in your head is just an annoying roommate. At your core, you are something much larger. The separation between science and spirituality was probably necessary a few hundred years ago, when science was challenging the supremacy of traditional religions. But religion and spirituality are different things. Today it’s ever harder for science to state without hesitation that consciousness is solely placed between the ears. It’s time to end that complete separation. Thesis and antithesis should meet in a beautiful synthesis. To get a glimpse of what’s happening on the border between science and spirituality today, check out books by Donald Hoffman, Robert Lanza and Eben Alexander and the work by Bruce Lipton and Nassim Haramein.

Most economists point out that economics isn’t particularly much about money, it’s about people’s behavior. Yet, most of them wouldn’t go so far as to suggest we scrap money altogether. ”When people ask how something is going to work in a money-free world I always say: ’Well, how does it work today?’. That’s always a good place to start. And the current economy allocates resources terribly badly. Money is what prevents us from sharing ideas and innovations.” The musician, writer and social activist Colin R Turner was always a lover of nature and a problem-solver. When he was young the problems were often about practical things, like fixing the dishwasher. But he was to dive into deeper problems. Around the time of the financial crisis and the movements against inequality that followed, Colin got more and more engaged in the idea of a new kind of world order – a world without money. This is what his book ”Into the Open Economy” and the petition he founded, Free World Charter, are all about. ”Suspend for the moment your disbelief that a money-free would work. What would your priorities be? Most of us would put things like health, social life and environment first”, says Colin R Turner. ”When you take away money, all the other motivators grow bigger. We can create a new social contract where we prioritize these things.” Isn’t a money-free world communism? No, says Turner: ”Communism obviously always existed with money, a hierarchy and state control. It imploded because it wasn’t working and it wasn't even doing what it was supposed to do.” ”What governments mostly do is make sure that the money system works, by supervising budgets and see to it that money goes where it is supposed to go.” Won’t people be too lazy? ”Happiness is about being productive and knowing that you have done something good and that you have helped someone.” Won’t new elites emerge? ”It’s  ridiculous to pretend we’re all equal. Life is unequal. We have different skills, abilities and intelligence. But we are all of equal importance, and in the current society there is a sort of learned helplessness, we defer power. At the very least we should give everybody access to the basic living necessities. It’s incredible that we don’t already do that.” Will it happen? ”People are getting much more aware. There is a good trajectory. I’m optimistic that we can shift over more to a sharing economy. The only way we can achieve a money-free world is gradually.” On Colin R Turner’s website you’ll find links to his books and the Free World Charter.

The narrative about aviation's impact on the climate is muddled by a desire to use moral ammunition. Trains can never substitute airplanes on long distances, air traffic is crucial for global integration and there is no point in knocking out aviation anyway — its share of the world’s CO2 emissions is too small. If all the billions that are invested in trains instead were to be invested in clean aviation, we would soon have it. The railway boom is a side track. This essay was originally published on Medium. 

”The notion that we are stuck in matter is a huge mistake. For example if you listen to music, there are no molecules of a certain type flying through the air, it’s just energy, a small amount of energy, but it has a huge effect on the body.” The words are Karl Moore’s, an American Irishman who is a physicist, writer and homeopath, and as from this summer also a podcaster. In this episode, Karl takes me on a winding path through some of the big questions about the true nature of the physical world and the essence of life. ”We have so much information today we can’t see it. It’s hard to navigate. It’s almost as if the information is made to be confusing. Maybe the times are forcing us to navigate realms of information by the heart and not by the intellect. The important judgments we do by our hearts comes down to realizing who we really are”, says Karl. ”We have an ability to connect already. It is within us. It has been shown by indigenous peoples, like the kogi.” From an early age Karl Moore loved going out into nature. He has always been fascinated by what he experiences when he stays longer than he has planned. ”When I go out my head might be full of thoughts, but I say to myself to let the body make the decisions. And that makes me feel good. It is as if a deeper, bigger aspect of myself guides me.” When he was young he often went into the deserts of the southwestern US. ”I would move my hands slowly, and I almost sensed this field of energy. And I realized: I was doing tai chi. Sometimes there were flies bothering me, and I asked them not to. They complied.” Karl Moore’s book ”Nature’s Twist: Water and the Spirals of Life” revolves around one fundamental finding: everything in the Universe spins. And electrodynamics tells us that any rotating object will also self-magnetise. The effect that music has on us is analogous to homeopathy, says Karl. ”It’s about finding the appropriate vibration. It’s like finding the right note. The person writes the music, the homeopath sees where the notes are missing.” In mainstream camps, to be a licensed and registered homeopath is still seen as something of a contradiction in terms. But Karl Moore has explored the depths of water and discovered the extraordinary regenerative properties of this essential element, ”almost magical” in Karl’s words. ”It’s just too diluted” say skeptics about the homeopathic preparations, but the point is that the trick is done by the water, this powerful carrier of information, explains Karl. New discoveries show that water can appear in hitherto unknown shapes, like the more ordered end denser ”exclusion zone water”, which repels microscopic particles. Here is a link to Karl Moore’s book: https://www.amazon.com/Natures-Twist-Water-Spirals-Life/dp/191607569X And to his podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/20d2Xqb9xmEItTJjxevIdq

What if the conventional view that the past has formed what we are today is false? What if it is the other way around: The present creates the past. The consequences of changing your mindset about past, present and future is mind blowing, and it has the potential to liberate you from the enslaving chains of history. Why do you feel an urge do do certain things and not others? Maybe you feel the pull of the future you, not the push of your past. 

One of the world’s most experienced diplomats, Jan Eliasson is a likable and honest man who is endowed with a constructive mindset. Lately, however, he feels that he in dark moments almost lands in the category of pessimist, ”but a pessimist that hasn’t given up”, he adds in his typical forward-looking way. What is worrying this former UN number two is the geopolitical shift that seems to have eroded trust between world powers and diminished the belief in international cooperation. Plus the ”almost obscene” levels of expenditure on armaments. Jan Eliasson tends to paint worst case scenarios to be prepared, he tells (his wife has banned them at breakfast and dinner). ”Mostly they don’t occur”. The hope lies in focusing on people, not on organizations or governments. Says Jan: ”We have to get away from the vertical approach. You put the problem at the center, and then you gather people around it that can do something about it, whether formally or informally.” ”It sounds like a banality, but the more I work in international politics, the more I realize that what really counts is when you make a difference in people’s lives.” On spirituality and inspiration from UN’s former head Dag Hammarskjöld: ”You have to look for a higher purpose and see that you were given the gift of life and have to take care of that life and do the best of it. And, actually, the best you can do for yourself is to help others.” On the future of humanity: ”I hope we come back to humanism and understand that the most important work is the work we do together. You are part of something bigger.” ”If we really mobilize the resources we have, we can do it. And I have an enormous belief in the increasing role of women.” Jan Eliasson is currently the chairman of the international peace research institute SIPRI.

Jannecke Øinæs is a Norwegian former singer and actor who now excels as a spiritual entrepreneur. I really enjoyed having this candid conversation, which revolves around the deepest aspects of life but still in an easy-going way. Jannecke is a true light worker. Hear her talk about: • Her sudden, life changing shift in the middle of a promising career in show business • Identifying with labels others put on you • Finding your true purpose • Being present in the world while growing spiritually • Lucid dreaming • Experiencing ayahuasca • The perils of spiritual ego … and much, much more. She is the host of a popular Youtube channel called Wisdom from North, and she has also created a membership community with exclusive masterclasses every month.

Most of what you think you know about migration is probably incorrect. Listening to professor of sociology Hein de Haas, director of the International Migration Institute, makes one realize that both the media and the politicians have got the whole thing wrong: Migration would be less dramatic with more open borders. Poverty and conflict don’t drive most of migration, labor demand does. The concept of climate refugees has no scientific basis. ”People say I shouldn't say these things in public”, says Hein de Haas. ”But I think we need to be able to deal with the truth.” Here are some other no-nonsense quotes: ”The Turkey deal (between the EU and Turkey) shows we aren't too worried about what happens to refugees.” ”International migration has been remarkably stable over the decades at around three percent of the population.” ”Nine out of ten Africans that move to Europe do so legally.” ”There is a tendency at the UN and other organizations to paint a misleading picture that we are facing a migration crisis. This can actually undermine refugee protection.” ”The main cause of migration is quite simply labor demand. There is a huge level of hypocrisy around this.” ”When borders are relatively open, migrants don’t stay permanently. When borders are harder to cross, they stay.” ”Mobility should be considered a freedom in its own right. And it really doesn’t matter if you use it or not. It’s like the right to vote or run for office.” Hein’s homepage: www.heindehaas.org Hein’s book ”The Age of Migration”: http://www.age-of-migration.com

Rania Odaymat is a Ghanaian artist, creative coach, art curator, founding member of the Beyond Collective and a part time fashion stylist and creative director. ”All of these roles can be helpful in simplifying things, but they don’t describe you as a person”, says this cool, wise and responsive human being (who stresses that she can just as well be described as an explorer, seeker, mother and daughter). Seventeen years ago she had an inner crash. ”I couldn’t get out of bed. I couldn’t stand myself. I had been repressing my inner voice and was basically living for others. So I made a choice: I am going to be true to myself no matter whom I lose or what I lose. That’s when I started reeducating myself.” She wants us to develop our different kinds of intelligence: ”The nature of intelligence is dynamic. We need a lot of creative intelligence in times like these. Those who are going to survive are those with the highest capacity to change,  re-create themselves and adapt to very fast rising situations.” She thinks teaching kids that one plus one always equals two is a mistake, because that is an oversimplification that doesn’t always apply in life, like in collaboration. On art and freedom she says: ”Your arts create your narrative, and without a story of your own it is very difficult to be free, because other people will write your narrative and decide who you are.” Rania also talks about life in Accra during the pandemic, dream interpretation, Kwame Nkrumah and Salvador Dalí. And about the future: ”Our future depends on the kind of consciousness we develop. If we keep on acting from a place of fear we won’t be going anywhere good.” You can find Rania’s podcast Creative in Accra on all available podcast platforms.