On 11-12 October, I had a chance to participate at Inner Development Goals Summit. Inner Development Goals (IDGs) is a framework of skills that people should train within themselves to help the humankind to move towards sustainable life, not growth and exploitation as it is now. In brief, idea behind IDGs is that we need IDGs to solve SDGs. IDGs framework had five dimensions. Each of dimensions opens up in a set of skills. IDGs define 23 skills that each human being should embrace and train.
In my course, Good Life Engine, I train mostly the skills from 1, 2, and 3 category, hoping that students will proceed with training 4 and 5 category by themselves long after the course is completed.
What I took from the Summit and what resonates with me, is that people are too disconnected now. To feel good, to do well, to make a change, we need to reconnect. Search for other people’s company, for sharing experiences, for teamwork with the common goal. When we will admit that we are social animals and social conventions should reinforce sincere connections between people, that we left behind moving from face-to-face interactions into digital communications.
Our ability to be together and cooperate has been one of our evolution’s primary architects “there is one group in which the effects of cooperation have proved especially profound: humans. Millions of years of evolution transformed a slow, defenceless ape into the most influential creature on the planet, a species capable of inventing a mind-boggling array of technologies that have allowed our kind to plumb the depths of the ocean, explore outer space and broadcast our achievements to the world in an instant. We have accomplished these monumental feats by working together. Indeed, humans are the most cooperative species—super cooperators, if you will” (Nowak, Martin A., Why We Help: The Evolution of Cooperation).
Now we have way too individualistic culture. We connect with our old ones via Zoom instead of visiting them and drinking tea together. We move to online meetings with colleagues because we are too lazy to commute, killing the culture of lunches and small talks new coffee machine. Researchers of loneliness conclude that there is evidence of a correlation between loneliness and depression (Kraav, Siiri-Liisi, et al. "Depression and loneliness may have a direct connection without mediating factors." Nordic Journal of Psychiatry 75.7 (2021): 553-557”). We are social animals and we need others to feel fine, safe, and to feel belongingness. Being lonely is dangerous for our mental health.
It is time to learn from oldest people in the world. There are “Blue Zones” – geographical areas with the highest longevity. Three of them are islands where people are used to live in a close community because of the scarcity of resources. On these islands, people had to communicate with each other. "The moai, or close-knit group of friends, plays an important role in their longevity ... Moai has its origins in hard times when farmers would get together to share best practices and help one another cope with meagre harvests” (García, Héctor and Miralles, Francesc, Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life). A key ingredient to residents' happiness in Ogimi, the Village of Longevity, is their strong sense of community. They have been practising teamwork and helping one another from a young age, which has instilled a deep sense of belonging.
A practical tip: if you have pretty lonely work (like some researchers have), try to find the hobbies you will do in groups. If you feel sad for no reason or lost in inner thoughts and inner dialogues, to step out from your ego, go meet a friend or a loved one to concentrate on different person than you for some time.
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