Johanna R
Enjoying broadening the mind!
Location UK
Activity
-
Johanna R made a comment
Interesting in this theory to note the tension between the constant and the changing elements of fashion/modernity. Perhaps true fashion is more like art than commercialism, but the two need each other to continue moving forward.
-
Johanna R made a comment
This is so great!
-
Thank you, Kylie that's interesting. I should imagine it would affect quite a large population as there are cities nearby. I remember there was controversy over culling great white sharks in the past to protect access rights to the beaches. I think In that case the economic argument and access rights were on the same side then, environment was on the other.
-
Johanna R replied to Erika Moranduzzo
I agree what you say about seeing and discussing problems but lacking willingness to put solutions into practice. I think the problem may have something to do with money and power. People at the top have the least to lose and the most to gain from the unsustainable model. They do all they can to keep things the same. But they are the minority. Courses like...
-
Johanna R made a comment
There are those who view the Covid situation in the Malthusian way i.e. we are ecologically responsible for the pandemic and also that disease is a way that nature fights back.
Interestingly, when they say "we" have encroached on...
-
Johanna R made a comment
There does appear to be a bias in environmental thinking towards seeing population growth as purely negative. However, I have not heard any reasonable solutions to this. The common environmental view of humans is that our success can only come at the expense of other species. But aren't we part of the natural world too? Our success could potentially benefit...
-
Johanna R replied to Mark McCallum
If the farmer had access rights there is no argument. However, if the newts are a protected species this might need to be addressed. Also the status of the land of the footpath, i.e. if it is in a nature reserve or an 'area of scientific interest' or in the UK the green belt could affect things. I know in the green belt agricultural use is acceptable in most...
-
Hello Kylie. What are the main points of dispute on each side?
-
Johanna R made a comment
From this, it seems territory forms a key part of human existence!
-
Thank you, that is interesting news about the lifespan. Am currently struggling to think of many benefits of western life with the pickle it's got itself into right now. I should imagine quality of life can be relative too. If only having more comforts really made you happy!
I have heard that Irish travellers suffer a low life expectancy, but they are...
-
Johanna R made a comment
I'd say I'm 80% Hunter gatherer in spirit. However I find this hard to express in the society in which I live, which encourages people to be consumer-driven and insular. My 20% agricultural score is partly because of where I live, and partly because I do appreciate good central heating, an NHS dentist, UK law and some women's rights you may not enjoy in a 100%...
-
Johanna R made a comment
The thing with technology is that it's use can form a very rapid neurological/behavioural conditioning. We therefore pick and choose very carefully what exactly we are confident children will benefit from. Even fun playful activities that are good for kids can become habit forming when supplied by tech. I think most kids are over simulated these days. However...
-
An no, you're right "the bumps" was for birthdays... They would hold the kid by their arms and legs and bump them on the ground however many years old they were. Bundle was just bundling someone they decided needed bundling. I guess what you call rough and tumble games, but I always thought it looked like bullying.
-
Johanna R made a comment
Quite a few of these games look like variations on the theme of "bundle". Does anyone else remember at school if it was someone's birthday, in the playground, usually the boys, would yell "bundle!" and all the boys would bundle on top of the birthday boy and squash him. (East Dorset). Sometimes this would happen at random times as well. Meanwhile girls were...
-
Johanna R made a comment
Ring 'o ring o' roses, a pocket full o' posies, a - tissue a - tissue, we all fall down.
-
Johanna R made a comment
I always wondered, how are these playground games passed on? Would it have been from older siblings and older children in the playground together teaching the younger ones? I learned most of these types of games in middle school and there I think the different year groups would be let out for break at different times and I don't remember playing with older...
-
Johanna R made a comment
There's a cultural gender bias between types of manufacturer toys. I wonder if this exists so much in toys made by children themselves. When I was a toddler I found a large stone shaped like an animal so I drew a face on it, have "him" a name and kept him by my pillow. I remember how the doll felt in my hand as it had grooves that fitted my hand perfectly....
-
Johanna R made a comment
What an inspiring lady. Has anyone here tried Nia?
-
But perhaps there will be positive outcomes as well. Maybe it gives children a chance to explore the imagination for example. And not have to compete for attention as much as they have you all to themselves.
-
Johanna R made a comment
I am in the UK and have heard that in Finland schools allow much more time for children to learn through play rather than giving them homework and that works well there. I would like to see more value placed on play as a way of learning. The benefit of learning through play is that it is a safe platform and encourages experimentation without the concept of...
-
Johanna R made a comment
Commercial influence can affect children's play but kids do get tired of a toy or game and move on, sometimes very quickly. Fads come and go and often the toys and games we remember with the most excitement were those that cost nothing. It's usually the context of the play that enhances it rather than the material object itself, from whatever culture it came.
-
Johanna R made a comment
It is a concern how the current covid-19 pandemic will affect children's play and development both individually and as a generation.
-
Johanna R made a comment
The idea that play is frivolous is quite a strong feature in western culture I feel. There is a social bias towards rational-thinking activities and occupations. If play in adulthood relates to creative work, it can be hard to break through this preconception. Capitalist ideals help to compound the idea that if an activity doesnt earn money, it isn't worth...
-
Johanna R made a comment
Play as fate is an interesting one. Is gambling playing with fate as a way of trying to control the outcome of our lives or is it a way of engaging directly and pleasurably with the inevitability of fate? Also interesting how play can be a way of coercion and controlling others. The dark side of play I hadn't thought of when joining this course!
-
Johanna R made a comment
Experimentation.
-
@LeeScott Yes so true. I was thing more of ancient folklore of indigenous people who have their own kind of knowledge. We can learn something from their culture, the way they connected with the land and the oceans with respect and sensitivity. Some of what our ancestors did was good and we have just lost the way.
-
Yes. I always considered 'explored' in this context to mean 'mapped' or 'logged'. Been there, done that, got the t shirt. The data collected may not appear at first to be of great significance but is of value because it exists and creates a context for future analysis.
-
Johanna R made a comment
So is that 95% of the surface area or is it a cubic measurement? Because that would be a lot more! Doesn't sound like a very scientific statement then.
I like the idea that the ocean is still unexplored. It feels somehow like a mystical magical space. I think mankind's relationship with the oceans will always invite mythology and a sense of the unknown. We...
-
Johanna R made a comment
Comparison with a plain text printed modern gospel perhaps. Highlighting the added value in the meaning but how it was interpreted.
-
@JoyHamilton Thank you, Joy. That's very kind of you.
-
Thanks, Joy! Which section/chapter does the comment thread you're referring to appear on? Much obliged.
-
This is an interesting point. Clothing has not been cheap for that long actually. The Primark trend of fashion consumerism is relatively recent. (Correct me if I'm wrong, Primark bought Littlewoods in 2005). It's interesting how quickly people have started 'taking it for granted'. Equally, it didn't take long for consumers to find out about the nasty stuff...
-
Yes there needs to go more educating the public in a positive constructive way. I think people are receptive now. It can be a depressing subject, but this course has shown me that there is so much that is already being done. Perhaps the public should be told more about it!
-
Where does the Russian Orthodox Church fit in with the timeline? Did that come after Kells?
-
That's interesting, thanks. Was it just a gap in historical evidence then? What did they find out about the period that was going on? Was it perhaps coined as part of the denunciation of non-christian spiritual practice? i.e. so called "Paganism"
-
Johanna R made a comment
Could someone tell me, perhaps a tutor - when were the dark ages?
-
Johanna R made a comment
The creation of a painstakingly crafted masterpiece like the Book of Kells would have stemmed from a purpose of the utmost significance. It would have symbolised an establishment of the style of religion in Ireland and it's place in the world. The book of Kells stakes the Irish claim to Christianity in the world. It shone like a golden bejeweled beacon. It...
-
Johanna R made a comment
Were the illustrations important back then because many people couldn't read? I was wondering - would people other than monks have had access to the book to read it?
-
Johanna R made a comment
Hi, I'm from England so Stonehenge would probably be the most obvious no.1 treasure. It represents the development of civilisation in this country because of its great age and impressive construction. It also represents a spiritual heritage.
But I am sure there are many less glamorous treasures that are of equally great importance, like ancient forests and...
-
-
-
Johanna R replied to Juliana Muñoz Toro
Thank you for this.
-
Johanna R made a comment
Virginia Woolf needed a room of one's own. Can anyone remember, was it "six shillings and a room of one's own?" That was what gave her the freedom to be an artist. I think women didn't often have a room in the house to themselves. The six shillings allowed her to be independent and her time was her own.
Me, I like a typewriter and a futurelearn course! But...
-
Did Bukowski take a typewriter to the cafe?
-
Johanna R made a comment
Thank you for educating on the subject of modern slavery. I am so saddened to hear how huge a problem this is, even worse than the Atlantic Slave trade. And because of global supply chains, we are all implicated by every consumer choice we make. I find this knowledge deeply shocking and disturbing but am so warmed by the action of organisations and individuals...
-
@CarlaMatos Agreed. Further in to the course the economic principle is explained that affects all business. Fast fashion and luxury fashion are both valued by the economic principle of 6% annual growth (correct me if that figure is wrong), anything below that is considered a failure. Luxury fashion is therefore has to be about profit too in order to survive....
-
Johanna R made a comment
Surely if the Greeks are asking for them back and we took took them illegally, they should have them back if it means so much to them. If the British curators really care for them, surely we could work together on this, share in the credit. There's no need to squabble - our civilisation was founded on Greece too and we are also culturally entitled to show...
-
Johanna R made a comment
This discusses what the British think. What do the Greeks want? Have they asked for their return?
-
Johanna R made a comment
This topic highlights how wars don't begin and end with guns and bombs. It appears cultural persecution goes much deeper and can precede and follow long before and after the official war begins and ends.
Principle 4 specifically addresses this problem of Nazi persecution enacted by hiding the provenance of the art works i.e. destroying and falsifying...
-
Yes I truly appreciate the value of science. But sometimes a line should be drawn if the cost is just too high. Do we want to live in a world where nothing is sacred? Respecting cultures who differ to our own is important to our growth as a species. The challenge this presents scientists should be seen as an opportunity for such growth. Anyone can just take....
-
This is strange to me why there is any debate. If the remains have spiritual significance to a culture, no other culture has the right to deprive another of those remains. Science is only one way of "knowing" the world. Applied ethics, people!
-
Johanna R made a comment
Interesting that no one here seems to have brought up the subject of race in this cultural discussion about people expressing urban street culture.
-
George I wouldn't say your experience with street art was at all limited. You have a very relevant perspective. Perhaps the difference between art and vandalism is whether the creator huffs it or not.
-
Aha because Banksy has monetary value? Because Banksy is defined as a known artist?
-
Johanna R made a comment
Why do we have to? Can't it be both? It's quite clear when something is pure vandalism and not art; it has no other meaning but criminal intent. But if you have to ask, then it is both. That's my deconstructivist answer! (Derrida).
-
Johanna R made a comment
If Banksy doesn't like making money maybe he should leave some money for the owner of the building he uses. Or he could go back and paint over them making them temporary. There's nothing wrong with letting go of something you created. but destroying an art work after its been sold isn't a clever statement, it's the height of arrogance. Banksy has a big ego for...
-
Johanna R made a comment
Maybe when understanding art vandalism it helps to see what it represents in society. Something of value, something beautiful, something revered. Nature suffers the same crimes and indifference but there is something deeply antisocial about attacking art. It's like attacking a part of yourself in society. Makes me think of boys who hit trees and knock the...
-
@CathyS I think this is covered in the next session in the podcast actually. As I understand it, luxury fashion sets the standard for fast fashion. And the authenticity of luxury is put into question by scrutinizing the ethics of the supply chain that creates it. So although fast fashion produces more volume, luxury fashion is arguably even less ethical...
-
Johanna R made a comment
Is luxury fashion the biggest contributor of the mentioned destructive forces? Wouldn't cheaply produced fashion be more damaging?
-
Johanna R replied to Jane Harris
@JaneHarris Hi Jane. How is the political climate/culture different in America towards indigenous culture compared to Canada? Do you mean that Canada more culturally sensitive, more politically correct?
-
Johanna R made a comment
Hello. My experience of fashion, nature and society has been influenced heavily by personal experience with a poorly-researched condition known as Multiple Chemical Sensitivity. This is a clinical over-sensitiity to common household volatile chemicals expressed with flu-like symptoms, clothing being the most affecting. I have become ultra-aware of the toxicity...
-
Johanna R made a comment
The narcissi look up like children, quickly and whitely
And he wrapped the garden in the sky.1) Among the Narcissi by Sylvia Plath, The Rattlebag, Faber and Faber, 1982
2) Fairy Tale by Miroslav Holub (from the Czech, translated by George Theiner), The Rattlebag, Faber and Faber, 1982. -
Johanna R made a comment
The database model is brilliant. Logging data creates a history that can be analysed and who knows what new unexpected uses it will have further down the line. And it will only grow bigger and bigger. A database holds crucial intelligence, however incomplete it may seem now. The internet started that way!
-
Yes, you don't blame the whole drugs industry on impoverished drug addicts, you tackle the organised criminals, the source. And you usually find politics and much bigger problems are involved in that sphere of power I should imagine.
-
Putting fiscal value on knowledge and culture is tricky to start with, but he's that's where it begins. I too feel uncomfortable with my own armchair critic position. I should imagine many of the people on this course are untouched by the degree of third world poverty described. That's the problem with cultural appreciation, it tends to be too elitist to begin...
-
Johanna R made a comment
"Among the Narcissi" by Sylvia Plath. On starting this course I picked up an old anthology I hadn't read in years and found this poem. I enjoy spoken poetry very much but Sylvia Plath somehow sounds better read quietly in my head. She seemed to understand and beautifully express where thoughts come from, like a shared secret.
After describing a rather... -
Johanna R made a comment
The only way to cure this is to create a culture of ethics around culture. Rather than laws, which are complicated and time-consuming to apply, appealing to people's ethics would have a bigger impact. Most of society hangs together through ethics, not law, in my belief; laws tend to reflect ethics for the most part but ethics are the reason they are there....
-
Johanna R replied to Gerard Baars
Dikkertje Dap zat op de trap... Dutch can be a very playful language.
-
Johanna R replied to Jane Harris
Oh Canada! ☺
-
Johanna R replied to Natalia Yevseyeva
@NataliaYevseyeva lovely poem ☺
-
Johanna R made a comment
For me I like spoken poetry. Even well delivered prose can have a poetic quality. I liked studying Benjamin Zephania and Roger McGough in English class. I had a good English lit teacher called Frank Pickering. He played guitar and was a poet. I think the first time I thought I wanted to be a writer was is middle school and we read The Highwayman. I was...
-
Johanna R made a comment
Anything that can be learned can be taught! "Creating" (making) can of course be learned. "Creativity" is up to you. Creative arts are subjective by nature so there is always the risk that tutors are biased towards one style or another. But any good teacher can teach anything - real learning is about life. Plus anyone or anything can be a teacher, even nature,...
-
Johanna R made a comment
Poetry like visual art can still be art without having much form. Expressing concept in art does not necessarily require technical skill to be art i.e. something that is more than the sum of its parts.
Pottery, weaving or baking can be inspired, but it would be hard to define what it is without skill involved to make it. That said, compared to visual...
-
And I also suppose if looting isn't actually a crime, the artefacts aren't technically illegally aquired, like a stolen painting would be for example, so I see the problem. Perhaps the law needs to catch up or it will carry on going round in circles.
Does much of this trafficking involve the internet? In future there will certainly be more laws surrounding...
-
Johanna R replied to Noreen Nolan
Thanks for that. Is it the youngest archaeological site? What determines whether buried things are of archaeological interest? I assume the burial site was already known about i.e. it wasn't discovered by accident. You mention the cultural context, the games industry history, financial implications.
Interesting how something like this stretches the...
-
Johanna R made a comment
Is the market value of a looted antiquity affected by its loss of cultural context? Perhaps grading antiquities in terms of archaeological value would be a way of controlling market value. What does affect market value; do we know specifics? Black market buyers must a way of determining value, what is known about that? Can't we find a way to interfere with...
-
Johanna R replied to Noreen Nolan
Hello. Could a tutor supply more information about this Mexican Atari landfill excavation please? Why was this a site of archaeological interest?
-
Johanna R made a comment
I have a degree in art history and am considering studying law so this course seems a perfect combination of both those interests. I am particularly interested in the relationship between culture in troubled times such as war and economic crisis. For example, artists can express a cultural response to war, and also cultural heritage is often a targeted during...
-
Johanna R made a comment
I liked the murder mystery video because it was engaging and it was also helpful hearing people's personal experiences in the discussions. There could have been more input from the lead educator, this has worked very well in other courses to fuel and guide the discussion boards.
-
What you say Sam makes sense to me. I should imagine drone strikes would inspire a escalated reaction, particularly within a less techno!logically advanced culture.. Aljazeera seemed to think so in 2015. https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2015/06/drones-kill-chance-peace-afghanistan-150628132016117.html
-
Yes thank you to whoever recommended the film "The Four Feathers". I went and watched it on youtube. It covers several themes in this course: conscientious objection, virtue ethics, "leave no one behind" and some military history.
-
Thanks Deane. Some exciting ideas to think about. Hope you run another course as well; I look forward to it!
-
Johanna R made a comment
Thanks for this course, it was probably the best adult learning course I've ever taken, online or offline!
The balance of articles, videos, and well-managed discussion was first class. It was mentally challenging but in small enough chunks, and well paced. It seemed quite like a live classroom because students seemed to be studying at a similar pace.
I'd...
-
@Deane-PeterBaker Plus, (as I suggested in my other comment about fairness of using drones to seek and kill people, excuse the repetion) "upgrading" a human being with implants is a bigger ethical jump than upgrading an aircraft. And it's a bigger technological jump in that it is a new field of untested science. But you know this. And there's no fairness in...
-
@Deane-PeterBaker There seems to be such a big jump between what went before and what we are using now. That's why the knife/drone fight sounds silly.
What I'm concerned about is the intentionality of creating bigger and better weapons exponentially. Or am I confusing the roles of the military and the state?
Does the military not aspire to more ethical wars?...
-
@darrenm Sounds like you've been studying this matter very closely. In the name of ethics of course.
-
Laws against enhancement put a cap on how far things will go in one way and force athletes to come up with new ways of performing.
Is not war about setting right a perceived unfairness?
Is there no correlation at all between fairness and ethics? Can't the law bridge this gap?
-
Johanna R made a comment
No, athletes aren't allowed to enhance their bodies to gain an advantage. Even race horses! Of course it's unethical for the military to do this, not least because of the issue of consent it raises for future generations of military personnel who already do more than enough by give their lives in service. And just imagine the precedent this would set for the...
-
Or the horse has tweeted. Then bolted.
-
Johanna R made a comment
Not sure I agree that these weapons are completely harmless. They still send shocks to the central nervous system. All the worse if you weren't expecting it because it is invisible and the technology is unknown to you. Some of those effects can be longer lasting, cause physical harm through stress response and become more debilitating than physical injuries...
-
Johanna R made a comment
We should ban killing. But we can't. We can't ban robots because it's like banning people. You can't put the genie back in the lamp on this one. We have to evolve ethically to catch up and make things work better not worse.
-
Johanna R made a comment
The age of robotics is underway and there's no use denying it. A fear of robotics is just fear of the part of humanity that created it. Is not robotics just an extension of ourselves? We just need better laws and policies to keep up - not an easy task. But neither is robotics an easy science!
Accountability will be the hardest issue I think, all those tiny...
-
Johanna R made a comment
Surely all this controversy could be avoided by only allowing drones to target other drones? I think the main problem we have with them is that a drone has an unfair advantage against a human being (technology + human vs human target.
-
Johanna R made a comment
I'm curious as to how a drone used to specifically target and kill a human being is considered a fair fight? Is it because the enemy reserves the right to do the same?
-
Johanna R made a comment
I think professionals within both the military and the media should be bound by ethical principles. If they are both acting ethically, there shouldn't be a problem, should there? Their goals should be no different: work as a public servant for the good of the people. But yes, this requires a high level of integrity that the military is used to and can...
-
Johanna R made a comment
On the one hand, I think terrorists should not receive too much publicity; the current trend of sensationalist news reporting plays right into their hands. But on the other hand, corrupt governments take things to the other extreme by silencing journalists, and that is extremely bad for society. These days, it is getting harder for corrupt regimes to hide...
-
@PaulRothwell Point taken. The consequences aside, I just wondered if an investigation was made as to the info of their precise location getting reported on the World Service. I should say that in itself regardless of what happened next deserved some scrutiny. Sounded like a pantomime "he's behind you" call to the enemy! Not really necessary info for the folks...
-
Johanna R made a comment
The most ethical way to achieve balance between military operations and freedom of the press is through the personal integrity of individual reporters, not through state censorship, although the latter may sometimes be necessary in highly sensitive operations.
I remember BBC War correspondents John Simpson, Kate Adie, Martin Bell and Brian Hanrahan....
-
@PaulRothwell Do you know if any action was taken on his behalf to investigate the careless reporting?
-
Johanna R made a comment
From what we've covered so far about the unlimited liability contract (letting to of one's human rights) mandatory conscription is technically unethical. On the pro side civilian society could gain a lot from a closer relationship with the military's high ethical standards of behaviour, discipline, teamwork, and the value of service to others.