"The Solutionary Way... we can't wait!" - Zoe Weil

Zoe (sentientism.info/sentientist-...) is the co-founder and president of the Institute for Humane Education (IHE). She is considered a pioneer in the comprehensive humane education movement. She has authored eight books both for adults and children, including her latest, "The Solutionary Way" - out for pre-order now! Zoe writes the Becoming a Solutionary blog at Psychology today. She has made numerous TV and radio appearances and has given six TED talks, including “Extending our Circle of Compassion.” Her first Sentientism conversation with me is here way back in episode 37: • "No judgement... just ...
In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the two most important questions: “what’s real?” & “who matters?” Sentientism is "evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings." The audio is on our Podcast: apple.co/391khQO & open.spotify.com/show/3c9OG5M....
00:00 Clips!
01:15 Welcome
- Our first conversation: • "No judgement... just ...
- Most good (MOGO), least harm
- Star Trek as a utopian inspiration
- Mr Spock and Dr Spock "both of them have had a big influence"
03:42 Zoe Introduction
- Co-founder and President of ‪@instituteforhumaneeducatio5665‬
- IHE: "Educate people to create a world where all humans and animals and nature can thrive... huge, huge goal and vision"
- K-12 schools and graduate programmes with Antioch University
- "It's going to keep my busy my entire life"
04:37 The Solutionary Way
- Subtitle "Transform your life, your community and your world for the better"
- "An antidote to polarisation... actually solving the problems that we face... in a way that is good for everyone"
- "We are not a single issue organisation... justice and compassion needs to be spread for everybody so that the world can be truly humane"
- Solutionary lens "you approach problems as solvable" instead of "us vs. them approaches"
- Critical thinking "what's true, what's false... lies at the foundation"
- Systems thinking "see the connections... identify causes... leverage points..."
- Strategic thinking
- Creative thinking
- Solutionary Framework: 4 phases, 12 steps
- Prioritising problems & identifying the one you want to solve "Learn and learn then really dive deep... identify a narrow enough problem that you have the capacity to solve"
- The Solutionary Way in schools... 4th graders have big concerns but might not be able to address them in full... so what can they "feasibly solve"?
- "We have identified a leverage point which is the educational system through which we are working on... all problems"
- "K-12 educational system is fundamentally working at the root cause of every other societal system"
- "What happens in our educational system prepares us to be citizens"
- "A profoundly important core strategy... at the same time many of the problems that we are facing are so immediate... we can't wait"
- "Sometimes the people who care most... wind up doing work that is counter-productive... they may burn more bridges than they build"
- Dealing with activist burnout and depression
- Polarisation and populism in modern discourse... denial of a shared reality... denial of shared values... blaming instead of solutions
17:52 A Shared Reality?
- "The media [and politicians] drills down on the polarisation"
- "I suspect that we are far less polarised than we think... but... it seems to be getting worse"
- "Polarisation is nothing new"
- Media and social media "aiding and abetting" polarisation
- Solutionary Way "Investigate" phase "who is being harmed... who is being benefitted... critical thinking... really analysing"
- "Very few of us have much first hand knowledge about the problems..."
- Learning about animal oppression by reading Peter Singer (see his ‪@Sentientism‬ episode: • "Animal Liberation Now... )
- "How did I know what was happening in laboratories or factory farms?... I went and visited some of them."
- "With something like #climatechange we are going to have to trust somebody... who are we going to trust?"
- Reputation, fact checking, scientists (watching for ulterior motives / funding / bias), consensus e.g. ‪@IPCCGeneva‬
- Conspiracy theories, mis and disinformation
- #Antivaxx, #covid denial, fake / dangerous cures & supplements
- "Making tens of thousands of dollars on those supplements because he is selling them!"
- "We need to have some shared values"... the MOGO principle
25:17 Shared Values?
57:29 Thinking About Solutions
01:05:50 Education
01:17:10 Follow Zoe and buy "The Solutionary Way"!
- humaneeducation.org/become-a-...
- x.com/ZoeWeil
& much more... (sentientism.info for full notes) #sentientism
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[@Sentientism]

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[@LouisGedo]

Looking forward to this discussion

[@Sentientism]

Thanks Louis - hope you enjoy Zoe's return!

[@efortunywhitton]

Really enjoyed listening Zoe. She's beautifully optimistic, and I sincerely hope, that we can all aspire to be this self-conscious as to what our reactions are in different situations, and how they will affect those around us, either minimizing or maximizing whatever it is we are trying to achieve. None of this is easy, but well-worth the effort. Thank you! ... It's a good word!

[@Sentientism]

Thanks Erika - it was such a pleasure to have Zoe on as a guest for the second time!

[@rwess]

Very thoughtful and optimistic guest, but I think it's gonna be a very hard slog to change human nature.
I'm increasingly seeing humans as hate-based, or better "misothery-based" (which includes contempt). Civil behavior is a mere facade, one more way of fooling ourselves and feeling better about what we are and what we do. We've developed prodigious powers of deceit and denial. - BUT there are exceptions to every rule, and sometimes the exceptions can become the rule. (I'm not holding my breath.)