Pub Date : 2023-06-09DOI: 10.1177/27538699231177149
Ryszard Praszkier
This article advances the psychological knowledge on the phenomenon of Changers-for-Good (C4Gs), that is, individuals who extend the range of the possible, addressing pressing and often insurmountable social problems and achieving durable and systemic social change. C4Gs are presented from both conceptual and practical perspectives. It is documented, through the presented examples and literature review, that their approach could be perceived on three axes: Conceptual, performative, and ethical. Each of these dimensions can be broken down into components: Conceptual: Perceiving challenges as doable, divergent thinking, embracing contradictions, and the cognitive part of the Peace-Oriented Mindset (POM); Performative: Entrepreneurial qualities, propensity for building social capital, and action-oriented POM; Ethical: Empathy, compassion, and—possibly—a blend of the two: Empassion. Moreover, assessment methods for each of these components are presented. It is concluded that the C4G model may be a gateway for educating and training future social sector leaders.
{"title":"Three-dimensional delineation of Changers-for-Good: From practice to conceptualization","authors":"Ryszard Praszkier","doi":"10.1177/27538699231177149","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/27538699231177149","url":null,"abstract":"This article advances the psychological knowledge on the phenomenon of Changers-for-Good (C4Gs), that is, individuals who extend the range of the possible, addressing pressing and often insurmountable social problems and achieving durable and systemic social change. C4Gs are presented from both conceptual and practical perspectives. It is documented, through the presented examples and literature review, that their approach could be perceived on three axes: Conceptual, performative, and ethical. Each of these dimensions can be broken down into components: Conceptual: Perceiving challenges as doable, divergent thinking, embracing contradictions, and the cognitive part of the Peace-Oriented Mindset (POM); Performative: Entrepreneurial qualities, propensity for building social capital, and action-oriented POM; Ethical: Empathy, compassion, and—possibly—a blend of the two: Empassion. Moreover, assessment methods for each of these components are presented. It is concluded that the C4G model may be a gateway for educating and training future social sector leaders.","PeriodicalId":147349,"journal":{"name":"Possibility Studies & Society","volume":"2 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122423159","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-06-09DOI: 10.1177/27538699231178170
L. Malafouris
This paper reflects on the meaning of chance and the impact that the occurrence of ‘accidents’ have in the creative process. I draw insights from two main sources: material engagement theory and the art of ceramics. In particular, based on observations from my comparative anthropological study of creativity in pottery making I present a process-oriented enactivist vision of chance as a meaningful coincidence where flow and form diverge from the norm and give rise to creative gesture. First, I introduce the notion of enactychism (blending ‘enactivism’ and the Peircean concept of ‘tychism’ from the Greek word ‘tyche’ for ‘chance’) as a means to conceptualise the relationship between chance, agency and materiality. Then, I explore the relationship between chance and creative gesture and propose ways for tracking the operation of chance in action.
{"title":"Enactychism: Enacting chance in creative material engagement","authors":"L. Malafouris","doi":"10.1177/27538699231178170","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/27538699231178170","url":null,"abstract":"This paper reflects on the meaning of chance and the impact that the occurrence of ‘accidents’ have in the creative process. I draw insights from two main sources: material engagement theory and the art of ceramics. In particular, based on observations from my comparative anthropological study of creativity in pottery making I present a process-oriented enactivist vision of chance as a meaningful coincidence where flow and form diverge from the norm and give rise to creative gesture. First, I introduce the notion of enactychism (blending ‘enactivism’ and the Peircean concept of ‘tychism’ from the Greek word ‘tyche’ for ‘chance’) as a means to conceptualise the relationship between chance, agency and materiality. Then, I explore the relationship between chance and creative gesture and propose ways for tracking the operation of chance in action.","PeriodicalId":147349,"journal":{"name":"Possibility Studies & Society","volume":"16 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114301110","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-06-06DOI: 10.1177/27538699231178154
J. Kaufman, V. Glăveanu
Is creativity good, bad, or neutral? Although creative outcomes can serve malevolent purposes, we argue the underlying processes that support creative expression—what we call here the Creativity Ethos—lean toward the good in human nature. The dimensions of this Ethos can be metaphorically grouped under three main colors, Blue, Yellow and Red, related to cognition and personality, socioemotional interactions, and motivation, respectively. Blue processes are flexibility and openness, Yellow processes are perspective-taking and compassion, and Red processes are passion and inspiration. In the end, a well-developed Creativity Ethos can be compared to a rainbow that showcases how different colors valorize each other; further, they can all be enhanced through co-creation, leading to emergent changes in the world. However, there are also cases in which these components are underdeveloped, which may lead to less benevolent outcomes via profiles we call the “idle activist,” “selfish CEO,” and the “potential fanatic.” We end with reflections on why discussions of the Creativity Ethos are important not only for positive and humanistic psychology, but for any discipline, including Possibility Studies, interested in developing wise and humanizing forms of creativity.
{"title":"The creativity ethos: A palette of benevolent processes and outcomes","authors":"J. Kaufman, V. Glăveanu","doi":"10.1177/27538699231178154","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/27538699231178154","url":null,"abstract":"Is creativity good, bad, or neutral? Although creative outcomes can serve malevolent purposes, we argue the underlying processes that support creative expression—what we call here the Creativity Ethos—lean toward the good in human nature. The dimensions of this Ethos can be metaphorically grouped under three main colors, Blue, Yellow and Red, related to cognition and personality, socioemotional interactions, and motivation, respectively. Blue processes are flexibility and openness, Yellow processes are perspective-taking and compassion, and Red processes are passion and inspiration. In the end, a well-developed Creativity Ethos can be compared to a rainbow that showcases how different colors valorize each other; further, they can all be enhanced through co-creation, leading to emergent changes in the world. However, there are also cases in which these components are underdeveloped, which may lead to less benevolent outcomes via profiles we call the “idle activist,” “selfish CEO,” and the “potential fanatic.” We end with reflections on why discussions of the Creativity Ethos are important not only for positive and humanistic psychology, but for any discipline, including Possibility Studies, interested in developing wise and humanizing forms of creativity.","PeriodicalId":147349,"journal":{"name":"Possibility Studies & Society","volume":"57 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126036830","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-06-03DOI: 10.1177/27538699231176523
María del Rosario Martínez-Ordaz
Here I argue that scientists can achieve some understanding of both the products of big data implementation as well as of the target phenomenon to which they are expected to refer—even when these products were obtained through essentially epistemically opaque processes. The general aim of the paper is to provide a road map for how this is done; going from the use of big data to epistemic opacity (Sec. 2), from epistemic opacity to ignorance (Sec. 3), from ignorance to insights (Sec. 4), and finally, from insights to understanding (Sec. 5, 6)
{"title":"Scientific understanding through big data: From ignorance to insights to understanding","authors":"María del Rosario Martínez-Ordaz","doi":"10.1177/27538699231176523","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/27538699231176523","url":null,"abstract":"Here I argue that scientists can achieve some understanding of both the products of big data implementation as well as of the target phenomenon to which they are expected to refer—even when these products were obtained through essentially epistemically opaque processes. The general aim of the paper is to provide a road map for how this is done; going from the use of big data to epistemic opacity (Sec. 2), from epistemic opacity to ignorance (Sec. 3), from ignorance to insights (Sec. 4), and finally, from insights to understanding (Sec. 5, 6)","PeriodicalId":147349,"journal":{"name":"Possibility Studies & Society","volume":"26 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125317967","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-06-01DOI: 10.1177/27538699221128219
Joseph S. Renzulli
This brief article focuses on developing talents in young people and improving the culture of the entire school by democratizing more opportunities for creative productivity for all students. The economic, cultural, and social development of all nations depends on increasing the reservoir of highly talented people.
{"title":"Schools for talent development: A practical plan for total school improvement","authors":"Joseph S. Renzulli","doi":"10.1177/27538699221128219","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/27538699221128219","url":null,"abstract":"This brief article focuses on developing talents in young people and improving the culture of the entire school by democratizing more opportunities for creative productivity for all students. The economic, cultural, and social development of all nations depends on increasing the reservoir of highly talented people.","PeriodicalId":147349,"journal":{"name":"Possibility Studies & Society","volume":"38 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121043256","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-06-01DOI: 10.1177/27538699221145632
Dana P. Rowe, J. Kaufman
This paper proposes a model of three needs for theater and other creative arts. The first level, functional needs, is necessary for basic existence. For theater, that would entail such components as a physical space and players. The second level, quality needs, is comprised of the skills and abilities of the people and materials; it contributes to the professionalism and enjoyability of the show in theater. The third and final level, possible needs, is the degree to which a show or any other type of creative arts can inspire emotions, engage intellect, and develop meaning. Many of the positive outcomes that come from theater and other creative arts, we argue, are a result of this third possible level.
{"title":"The show must go on: Functional, quality, and possible needs for theater and the creative arts","authors":"Dana P. Rowe, J. Kaufman","doi":"10.1177/27538699221145632","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/27538699221145632","url":null,"abstract":"This paper proposes a model of three needs for theater and other creative arts. The first level, functional needs, is necessary for basic existence. For theater, that would entail such components as a physical space and players. The second level, quality needs, is comprised of the skills and abilities of the people and materials; it contributes to the professionalism and enjoyability of the show in theater. The third and final level, possible needs, is the degree to which a show or any other type of creative arts can inspire emotions, engage intellect, and develop meaning. Many of the positive outcomes that come from theater and other creative arts, we argue, are a result of this third possible level.","PeriodicalId":147349,"journal":{"name":"Possibility Studies & Society","volume":"42 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127465796","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-06-01DOI: 10.1177/27538699221142718
L. Magnani
Recent studies on the so-called EEEE (extended, embodied, embedded, and enacted) cognition have demonstrated that the “environmental situatedness” of human cognition and its evolutionary component may be used to better understand cognition in general. This indicates that humans do not keep in their memory ample representations of the surroundings and their variables, but instead, they richly manipulate it by picking up information and resources, when possible and needed, that are already accessible, or that are extracted/created: it is in this perspective that we can conceptualize in a useful and deep way the concept of possibility. Information, resources, cognitive opportunities, and possibilities are actively pursued for and even created: in light of this, we may consider human cognition to be a possibility-seeking mechanism. In particular, new possibilities can be usefully seen as new “affordances”: for example, environmental anchors that enable us to more effectively utilize external resources. Of course, the availability of the proper affordances, which in turn offer cognitive possibilities, is connected to important new found concepts of discoverability and diagnosticability. Abduction is still significant in these cognitive processes because it refers to all those hypothetical inferences made by human and non-human animals that are based on deft manipulations of their surroundings, either to merely “detect” affordances or to “create” manufactured external objects (e.g. artifacts) that in turn provide new affordances and cues and so new cognitive possibilities.
{"title":"Possibilities in an abductive perspective: Creating affordances as cognitive chances","authors":"L. Magnani","doi":"10.1177/27538699221142718","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/27538699221142718","url":null,"abstract":"Recent studies on the so-called EEEE (extended, embodied, embedded, and enacted) cognition have demonstrated that the “environmental situatedness” of human cognition and its evolutionary component may be used to better understand cognition in general. This indicates that humans do not keep in their memory ample representations of the surroundings and their variables, but instead, they richly manipulate it by picking up information and resources, when possible and needed, that are already accessible, or that are extracted/created: it is in this perspective that we can conceptualize in a useful and deep way the concept of possibility. Information, resources, cognitive opportunities, and possibilities are actively pursued for and even created: in light of this, we may consider human cognition to be a possibility-seeking mechanism. In particular, new possibilities can be usefully seen as new “affordances”: for example, environmental anchors that enable us to more effectively utilize external resources. Of course, the availability of the proper affordances, which in turn offer cognitive possibilities, is connected to important new found concepts of discoverability and diagnosticability. Abduction is still significant in these cognitive processes because it refers to all those hypothetical inferences made by human and non-human animals that are based on deft manipulations of their surroundings, either to merely “detect” affordances or to “create” manufactured external objects (e.g. artifacts) that in turn provide new affordances and cues and so new cognitive possibilities.","PeriodicalId":147349,"journal":{"name":"Possibility Studies & Society","volume":"63 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123122278","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-05-23DOI: 10.1177/27538699231174821
L. Damhof, Jitske Gulmans
Even the most determined optimists among us cannot deny we are living in dark times, with raging wars and the effects of climate change upon us. A pandemic has left us feeling uncertain about our futures, polarization has pressured social discourse. Our assumptions of the future are being challenged: even what we took for granted now seems uncertain. And instead of asking: how did we get here? We are left with the question: what made us think we would never get here? If the unimaginable suddenly becomes a reality, then what is left to imagine? Is it still worth being hopeful? It appears that we are not only suffering from the poverty of imagination, but also from the poverty of hope. But what if imagination and hope are inherently connected? In this essay we propose that we cannot be hopeful without rethinking our images of the future, in which imagining the impossible turns out to become a necessity: a radical act of hope.
{"title":"Imagining the impossible: An act of radical hope","authors":"L. Damhof, Jitske Gulmans","doi":"10.1177/27538699231174821","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/27538699231174821","url":null,"abstract":"Even the most determined optimists among us cannot deny we are living in dark times, with raging wars and the effects of climate change upon us. A pandemic has left us feeling uncertain about our futures, polarization has pressured social discourse. Our assumptions of the future are being challenged: even what we took for granted now seems uncertain. And instead of asking: how did we get here? We are left with the question: what made us think we would never get here? If the unimaginable suddenly becomes a reality, then what is left to imagine? Is it still worth being hopeful? It appears that we are not only suffering from the poverty of imagination, but also from the poverty of hope. But what if imagination and hope are inherently connected? In this essay we propose that we cannot be hopeful without rethinking our images of the future, in which imagining the impossible turns out to become a necessity: a radical act of hope.","PeriodicalId":147349,"journal":{"name":"Possibility Studies & Society","volume":"52 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-05-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122697432","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-05-23DOI: 10.1177/27538699231171446
Fiachra O’Brolcháin
Possibilities are not neutral. Our engagement with the possible – the possibilities we value and the possibilities we ignore – will, to a degree, always be constrained by the moral universe we inhabit. Philosophy has always been concerned with normative questions – how should we live, what should we value? With growing inequality, rapid and potentially destructive technological development, and multiple environmental crises, the limits of traditional ethical and political philosophies are becoming apparent, particularly in areas focused on novel technologies and the environment. There can be an extremely fruitful dialogue between Possibility Studies and environmental ethics in examining the possibility of realising novel ethical frameworks to help us navigate the myriad problems of the world.
{"title":"Environmental ethics and possibility studies","authors":"Fiachra O’Brolcháin","doi":"10.1177/27538699231171446","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/27538699231171446","url":null,"abstract":"Possibilities are not neutral. Our engagement with the possible – the possibilities we value and the possibilities we ignore – will, to a degree, always be constrained by the moral universe we inhabit. Philosophy has always been concerned with normative questions – how should we live, what should we value? With growing inequality, rapid and potentially destructive technological development, and multiple environmental crises, the limits of traditional ethical and political philosophies are becoming apparent, particularly in areas focused on novel technologies and the environment. There can be an extremely fruitful dialogue between Possibility Studies and environmental ethics in examining the possibility of realising novel ethical frameworks to help us navigate the myriad problems of the world.","PeriodicalId":147349,"journal":{"name":"Possibility Studies & Society","volume":"123 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-05-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115604944","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-05-11DOI: 10.1177/27538699231172436
Wendy Ross
This ending commentary on this inaugural issue of Possibility Studies and Society surveys the papers submitted by over 30 scholars from diverse fields and backgrounds that explore the emerging field of Possibility Studies through the lens of their respective disciplines and theoretical perspectives. It draws out the complexities of the really and ideally possible, the future and the past, and reality and imagination before moving to examine the purpose of Possibility Studies with a focus on political change, education, and hope. It calls for an embrace of non-dualistic attitudes across all domains and an engagement with the energy generated by collaborative difference.
{"title":"Embracing difference and cultivating hope: The transformative potential of Possibility Studies","authors":"Wendy Ross","doi":"10.1177/27538699231172436","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/27538699231172436","url":null,"abstract":"This ending commentary on this inaugural issue of Possibility Studies and Society surveys the papers submitted by over 30 scholars from diverse fields and backgrounds that explore the emerging field of Possibility Studies through the lens of their respective disciplines and theoretical perspectives. It draws out the complexities of the really and ideally possible, the future and the past, and reality and imagination before moving to examine the purpose of Possibility Studies with a focus on political change, education, and hope. It calls for an embrace of non-dualistic attitudes across all domains and an engagement with the energy generated by collaborative difference.","PeriodicalId":147349,"journal":{"name":"Possibility Studies & Society","volume":"47 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-05-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122956516","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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