Hi Everyone!
Now that you're here, and before revisiting the question Why PRC?, it might be better to answer, briefly, the question What Is PRC?
Happily, a brief answer is all that's necessary. Now that I've retired, PRC is simply the Writings and Latest sections of this website. Together both sections comprise a journal of sorts, a very fluid journal, one that is undergoing constant editing and revision. It doesn’t offer a formal argument or historical account. What is offered are some questions and some common themes. The most important theme being Cultural Transcendence.
Biased? Of course!
It’s often said that everyone has a bias. To the extent that this is true, the bias here at PRC is behavioral. And by Behavior is simply meant, People Doing Things. Secondly, and related to the first, the vocabulary central to PRC consists of the most general, least demanding words we can use, such as Behavior, Explanation, and of course, Culture and Social-Institutions.
The idea is to create a common language made up of simple words that go into easy to understand sentences that can be tested in the real world.
Another way to put the question Why PRC? would be Why Write?
And the answer to that is that I write for the same reason everyone else does, first, to see my thoughts re-presented in the written word on a page (or screen), second, to make what I write available to others.
This collection of writings is the record of the experience and knowledge acquired over the years in relation to matters that, though of vital importance to us all, have, unfortunately, received very little attention.
That they have received little attention and are, in fact, of vital importance, is to me beyond question. Why I think this is so is a question that is answered in Writings and Latest. But whether or not what is offered here is relevant and useful is for the reader to decide. So, now that I've answered What Is PRC?, it's time to revisit the question Why PRC?
Why PRC?
The world is more complex and unpredictable than ever before in human history. For this reason our social institutions are faced with new challenges and new problems. Above all, the problem of a new world stretching away in an endless and challenging vista of a multitude of new questions and new answers. The situation demands new Qualities, Ideas, and Principles.
Of course, these qualities have appeared in our leaders before. But such leaders have appeared accidentally, and, though they have been useful, the pressure of immediate problems did not direct the social desirability of their qualities upon their own attention or upon the attention of the public.
Now this situation has changed. What was once a desirable accident has now become an absolute necessity. These qualities must be discovered, trained, educated, fostered, and directed.
Given their value and importance we owe it to ourselves and our communities, to not only acquire these qualities, ideas, and principles, but to put them into practice. Above all, we owe it to children the world over.*
This statement is not a demand or request. It's more an urgent plea in an attempt to direct attention to the one thing of vital importance to us all. The children. For children truly are the greatest blessing to any culture or community. Otherwise, why are we here and what are we doing?
Leaving that deadly question aside, the justification for developing these qualities, ideas, and principles, is so as to better prepare us to deal more imaginatively and intelligently with the many difficulties and problems facing the world in general and our social institutions in particular, since we can not sustain a complex civilization without adequately responding to those difficulties, solving those problems, and preserving those institutions.
From this perspective, the value of the writing here is that it attempts to direct attention to What Matters Most - The intellectual, social, and moral life of mankind, from the point of view of adaptation, and adaptation from the point of view of the human brain's primary attribute - randomness.
My highest hope for all concerned is that the benefits of working together to develop these qualities, ideas, and principles, will flow out from each and every individual and social institution into the world community. So, given the value and importance of this effort I thought it would be a good idea to revisit, once again, a question I've often put to myself - Why PRC? I'm sure I'll be revisiting this question again in the future. Until then, and as always,
All the best!
Paul Rothwell
Patagonia, Argentina
March 11th, 2024
*You don't have to be a parent to care about the children. In fact, given the epidemic of parental abuse, neglect, denial, and projection, and the damage it has done, especially to the abused child's choice-making ability (something that lasts a lifetime and impacts society), those who tend to be more willing and able to address the problem and actually do something about it are those adults who were abused and neglected as children, especially if they get themselves into recovery and stay there. Few people have more to offer society.
Opmerkingen