We're told to be busy.
We're told to produce results, meet targets, hit deadlines and keep moving. We are taught that activity is a virtue and reflection is a waste of time.
I think that is one of the biggest mistakes modern society makes.
In this video, I use William Henry Davies' famous poem Leisure to explore why creativity, imagination, innovation and good judgement all require something that our culture increasingly discourages: time to stop and think.
From schools and universities to workplaces, charities and politics, we have become obsessed with measurable activity. We reward action even when it is misguided. We celebrate busyness even when it produces poor outcomes.
But many of the best ideas in human history emerged because someone took time to stand back, reflect and ask questions.
Perhaps what Britain needs now is not more activity, but more thought.
Maybe we need to stop staring at our screens and start staring out of the window.
This is the audio version:
The Debate Ammunition for this video is available here.
This is the transcript:
Have you ever been told to stop staring out of the window? Or to buck up and get on with things? Or to stop wasting time? The message is always the same. Look busy and take action. Produce something and keep moving. And I think that is terrible advice.
We are told not to think, but to do. Activity is valued above reflection. Busyness is treated as a virtue, and thinking is often treated as idleness. And I think we have got this badly wrong and need to change our priorities.
Now I've been fortunate. I became self-employed at the age of 26, and since then, very few people have told me what to do. And I'm pleased about that because I'm not very good at being told what to do. Even when I was employed at universities, I pursued my own agendas, and that's what they employed me to do.
I have had the freedom to think. That's probably why I'm making these videos. And I have had the freedom to explore ideas. And a poem captures the point perfectly. It's by a Welsh poet, now long dead, called William Henry Davies. And the poem is called Leisure. It asks what life becomes without reflection. It values observation and contemplation. It celebrates taking time to notice, and its message matters now more than ever.
So, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to quote this poem, which I happen to have in my collection, and I probably do read more poetry than most people:
What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare?—
No time to stand beneath the boughs,
And stare as long as sheep and cows:
No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass:
No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night:
No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance:
No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began?
A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
That final message is the important one. We have forgotten its significance. Davies understood something really important. He had a moment of inspiration. He took time to stand and stare. And the fact is that great ideas often emerge from reflection.
Creativity requires space and time, if only by going for a walk, and we have largely forgotten that truth.
This problem exists everywhere. It exists in workplaces. It exists in schools. I saw it repeatedly in universities. It exists in charities and voluntary organisations. Everyone is pushed towards what are called ‘measurable activities'.
We no longer value experimentation. Funders and employers demand specific outcomes. Every activity requires predetermined targets. Few people can just stop and stare or simply try a good idea.
Exploration is discouraged.
Learning through experimentation is undervalued.
We are impoverished by this constant activity. We rarely stop and think. Reflection is squeezed out. Questions are neglected. Assumptions go unchallenged, and mistakes are repeated.
And politicians are much the same. They are trapped by doing. They're constantly in action. They blunder from issue to issue. Old rules are accepted without question. Alternatives are rarely considered. Better solutions are never explored, and the questions we should be asking are ignored.
Are the rules right? Should we change them? Do we still need them? Is there something better that we could be doing? Why are we doing this at all? The economy needs time to think, to deal with those issues.
We cannot keep repeating failed approaches.
We need to stop and reflect.
We need to look out of the window.
We need to ask what really matters.
We need to redesign what we do.
So, my prescription for the UK is simple. Sometimes we need to stop and stare and look out of the window and think and redesign, because only then do we have a chance. And boy, do we need that chance.
That's what I think. What do you think? There is a poll down below. Let us have your opinion. Let us have your comments. And please, if you like this video, and if you'd like to buy us a coffee so that we can make some more, please do.
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Perhaps we know where to point the finger, and the motive:
““I don’t want a nation of thinkers, I want a nation of workers.” — John D. Rockefeller”
Source: The Dark Truth of the Educational System Shaped by John D. Rockefeller (2023)
Thank you
[…] The video that this Debate Ammunition supports is available here. […]
Yes I stop and stare a lot and I take time and make a special effort if ever I find myself agreeing with the majority. Which is not very often!
🙂
Might, for those who like/are obsessed with control, there be a fear that “time to stop and stare” is also a time for deeper thinking, analyisis and, possibly, deeper feelings, not least alternatives, care and enablement?
Yes
Plan
Do
Review
That is the virtuous cycle.
The reductionist Neo-liberals find even that too hard – they just ‘do’ over and over again. And when I say ‘do’ it is basically as in ‘doing someone’ – stealing from them. Cameron’s government gave us austerity even after Thatcher’s government cuts caused riots in Toxteth and Brixton; those pursuing Leave during BREXIT had no plan if they won – and they won.
Why do we get this? Because ultimately the people who pursue it (politicians) have become unaccountable. They are made so by money – lots of donations by vested interests that mean they will win no matter what the politician puppets mess up, and if they lose they will set out to corrupt and undermine any alternatives.
I’m sorry to inform you that the Gorgon must be looked at and faced: we are not living in a democracy. It is over right now. The important think is to keep speaking out against this and letting them know some of us know what is going on. Therein lies hope even if it is like talking to a brick wall. As long as all of us don’t fall for this, we can make it little bit harder for the anti-democratic, revanchists who have been allowed to take over the country under the guise of ‘rational self interest’. These people are the ‘enemy within’ – not your miners, steelworkers and trade unionists.
Well said.
I wish this intelligent man would see that the household analogy is bunk, and recognise also that Richard’s The Taxing Wealth Report is ready, designed for use within our existing UK tax system. But this speech from Gary Stevenson would do wonders if his audience paid heed:
https://youtu.be/NFL8Hvglij0?si=P4UH2QU6lFuy95u2
But if he buys he wrong ideas, as do Compass, what is their point?
Well, I’ve just joined Compass purely to support an organisation that is trying to work across party boundaries and beat malign right wingers. I’ll give it a few months at least, and see how it goes. I have never joined any political party, but will see if Compass behaves any better.
I support Compass, but am also critical of it. It remains in aw of neoliberalism, like too many on the left.
I had not heard of Compass, they popped up on my feed on YouTube. GS was saying you have to recognise that people are supporting far right because they acknowledge their woes, (though offering wrong reasons for them) and to win them back, you need to acknowledge their woes and offer something understandable that will work – a tax on wealth. The sad thing is that if he understood MMT, he would not be saying this will take several years.
Agreed. But he does not get MMT.
Over the last year I have attended a Quaker meeting once or twice a month. We vary from six to a dozen. I am not quite sure why I keep going back but there is something emotionally nourishing about the shared silence.
It’s not as though I don’t spend time thinking the rest of the week.
The sharing is key
I agree absolutely, Richard.
When I read this I thought about my last holiday in Normandy.
I planned activities for it, like Bungee-Jumping and a whole lot of bike riding.
However my main attractions where ones of reflection, that I prefer to find by chance.
Military Cemeteries of all nations (I was most impressed by the British ones, having even German soldiers buried on them).
A remote, peaceful rocky / pebble beach.
A hilltop with a gorgeous view on the landscape.
I remember those things much more vividly although they were much less active than the rest.
I thought stuff like:
“Wouldn’t be a loss if the military cemeteries were missing if only people would have stopped and reflected about themselves back then”
“Would be nice if we’d just respect each other”
“Would be nice if everybody could have the privileges I have to travel nearly everywhere in safety”
In those instances I was curious, not frightened.
Writing this I don’t really know why but I think about a part of the speech that Charlie Chaplin wrote for “The Great Dictator”:
“[…]
We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in.
Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want.
Our knowledge has made us cynical.
Our cleverness, hard and unkind.
We think too much and feel too little.
More than machinery we need humanity.
More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness.
Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost…
[…]”
I like this, but do we really think too much? Critically think, that is?
Hmm….. yes, I think you’re right.
Critical thinking is necessary and it should be much more represented in all of society.
However critical thinking, as much good as it might want to do, can only be good in a human way if it’s accompanied with feeling.
The feeling of being connected with basically all life out of a sense of compassion and understanding.
That feeling should be the base for critical thinking.
Maybe I’m reading too much into it but that’s what I think Chaplin meant / hoped for.
A society where people have learned to just stop & stare much more.
I used to drive, solo, through the Peak District on my way to work. And back again, of course. I found this a very creative time. Standing and staring in nature is good, but not the only way to switch off and think.
Agreed
Wood Newton have noticed the falling apple if he had been rushing around being busy?
Good question
I have just volunteered to be a Lock Keeper for a couple of days on one of our numerous canals. I have had some narrowboat experience – plenty of time to think (and nature watch) tootling along at a max of 4mph, and I anticipate plenty of thinking time when stationed at the Lock as it is not I think a particularly busy part of the canal network.
Enjoy!
This reminds me of an oft-quoted study of creativity by Donald W. MacKinnon in the 60s.
The study looked at American architects and compared them using interviews, personality tests, intelligence measures, group exercises and creative tasks.
Essentially the ‘best’ (most creative) architects were distinguished by a particular way of operating: they could play with ideas, tolerate ambiguity and stay with unresolved problems for longer, whereas others dived into ‘doing’ mode immediately.
That does not surprise me
Thank you, both.
My parents and I are having a house built in Mauritius and can testify.
We explained to the young architect what we wanted, gave him a shopping list, showed him the land and let him design over leisurely few months.
Good luck
We are worth no more, no less than the environment around us. Do you think nature really cares how much money you have in the bank.
People that cannot instinctively ‘stand and stare’ are subconsciously protecting themselves from the gravity of their decisions, choices, actions and inactions.
Instant responses by television interviewers or by the interviewed: more money for the military means less money for welfare – even when, for instance, the expensively-clad ex-general was sitting in a home of unmistakable luxury.
No time to inquire about other possible sources of funds or better ways of spending our money.
No questions about how welfare recipients might suffer.
No thought given to ever-growing inequality – within nations and (though it’s probably unthinkable) between nations. [We can be proud of not being Koreans who were stupid enough to live in North Korea …]
No inkling of policies that might do less to antagonise ‘enemies’ or more to find common ground and nurture friendships.
Sanction their money! Let their people starve. Assassinate their leaders. Call them terrorists. Imprison anyone who disagrees.
Be optimistic?
I have long give up on the broadcasted information that calls itself ‘news’ it is superficial drivel with a heavy dose of propaganda for the media moguls and silicon valley billionaires.
The question is – how do we reclaim it???
The new Speilberg film Disclosure Day – forget the alien angle – the movie is actually about ‘feeling’ and that we have lost our way in loving each other and considering each others hopes and dreams.
The last 50 years (or more) we have had selfishness and rapacious greed promoted as virtue, this, I feel will see our extinction, if we continue this way.
We are beings of feelings, not thought.
The battle that I feel is coming is wether we live in a world that follows a path towards the heart and intuition or a path that follows cold rationality, logic, calculation and materialism – which I feel leads darkness, corruption and lies.
not everything we do has to be useful, efficient, or productive.
We need to make space for fun, following strange impulses, and doing the small things that make us feel more alive.
Much to agree with
As an activist and campaigner, if I had spent my working life just in activity, I would have failed miserably. Instead: step back from the issue at hand no matter how urgent it feels, look at it from many perspectives, put yourself in the ‘enemy’s’ shoes, imagine various outcomes, think how best to tackle the issue, factor in possible obstacles and then stop. Have a good long think and then go ahead and act. Afterwards, analyse what worked and what didn’t.
In another vein, may I recommend a poet, who some will have heard of no doubt, who reflects deeply on observations of the world around him to express ideas.
William Carlos Williams
so much depends
upon
a red wheel
barrow
glazed with rain
water
beside the white
chickens.
Thank you
I just spent two hours exploring “No ideas but in things” thanks to your comment. I didn’t even post it before I began exploring. It was worth my time. I ended up linking the idea to Robert Frost and Alfred North Whitehead as well as my Courageous State. That was fun!
Yes.
Robert Frost. And perhaps William Wordsworth.
But this is perhaps a digression.
Your Courageous State rewrite seems most worthwhile.
The still point.
For an arrow to fly accurately to its target, it must first be drawn back (away from its target) to the “still point” in the bow. The further back it goes, the further and straighter the arrow will fly.
I sat and stared on Llandudno promenade last week. Bright evening sunshine and the sea Mediterranean blue. I watched a little group of four or five terns working up and down, about twenty yards out from the waters edge. They passed me twice in each direction, wheeling and diving, flashing white against the blue sky. Relaxed the body and brain. Bliss.
Perfect
Back in the day I worked for a major American financial services corporate who was and presumably still are obsessed with measuring everything to death. One of the weekly tasks was the inevitable timesheet where you had to account for at least 35 hours of time spent with a strict emphasis of ensuring that as much of your time was recorded as “client value” to ensure you were able to extract the maximum possible fees from a client regardless of whether these were justified or not. In completing the timesheet there was a list of items against which your time could be recorded but a notable absence was thinking time spent on considering client issues and developing solutions. As an advice based business this was the thing the client valued most but management constantly ignored this and were totally focussed on the numbers i.e. financial outcomes. Thinking and reflection is critical to the success of a business.
Much to agree with
It took me years to recover from charging for my life via time sheets.
We are not human doings, we are human beings. You don’t have to do, you just have to be.
The origin of that is lost in one of the many dark corners of what I laughingly call my memory.
Neat
I have taken over a number of ‘failing’ public sector organisations and surprised everyone by turning them around fairly quickly. The ‘secret’ was in inviting the manager or staff member who has an issue to tell me what they fetl they could do to change the situation and then support their ideas if I felt it could work. They had previously been told what to do by the CEO and this meant they were trapped in one persons ‘wisdom’. I always believed that the collective wisdom was more creative than my own and we all benefit form a variety of ideas. Helping people believe in themselves and encouraging creative thinking at every level produced amazing outcomes, and backing them up even when it fails inspires them to to understand what else they needed to consider. The sharing of ideas benefitted everyone, and getting them to stop and stare at their own creative capacity enriched it.
Respectfully, I have taken over quite a number of private sector organisations in my time – and the problem was the same. You are making a false political argument when describing the universal problem of poor management.
Love the verse from Mary Oliver‘s poem Sometimes:
“Instructions for living a life:
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.”