On the art of forgetting space and time Hans Henrik Knoop 2003, The Danish University of Education

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On the art of forgetting space and time
Hans Henrik Knoop 2003, The Danish University
of Education
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• Never before
• in the 33-year history
• of the World Economic Forum
• has the situation in the world been
• as fragile, as complex and as
• dangerous as this year
• Klaus Schwab
• President of the World Economic Forum
• January 24th 2003

Hans Henrik Knoop Danish University of
Education, 2003
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Fragility, Complexity, and Danger as Main
Time-Stressors

• Increasing socio-cultural fragility pushes
  increasing sense of insecurity that induces
  heightened alert and thus more time is spent on
  watching out for potential social breakdowns.
• Increasing socio-cultural complexity pushes
  increasing demands on cognitive
  computation/attention and thus more time is spent
  adapting to the environment.
• Increasing danger makes everyone more afraid and
  thus more time is spent worrying.
• Children may be stressed directly through
  improper use of media and indirectly through
  their affected parents, caregivers and peers.

Hans Henrik Knoop Danish University of
Education, 2003
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Universal Complexity Growth (?) - nature,
culture, society, workplace, individual
Degree of
differentiation /
diversity
Over-differentiated
Complex
system
system
High
(Disharmonious /
(harmonious)
fragmented)
Simple
Over-integrated
system
system
Low
(harmonious)
(Disharmonious /
Degree of
rigid)
integration /
unity
Hans Henrik Knoop Danish University of
Education, 2003
Low
High
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People under Pressure - The risk of excessive
outer locus of control
(Visionary) Politico-Democratic Forces
Organization Person
Market Forces (Blind)
Hans Henrik Knoop Danish University of
Education, 2003
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(Visionary) Increased outer Politico-Democratic
Forces

• People under Pressure
• - The risk of excessive outer locus of control,
  and general insecurity

Organization Person
Risky choices
Unclear conse-quences
Unclear basis for decisions
Heightened alertness
Forhøjet alarmberedskab
Increased outer Market Forces (Blind)
Hans Henrik Knoop Danish University of
Education, 2003
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Meaning, Joy, and Effective Learning
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Anxiety
A3
A4
Flow

High


Challenges
A2
A1
Boredom
Low
0
8
High
Skills
Low
0
Flow The natural balance between challenges and
competence (Knoop 1997 after Csikszentmihalyi,
1991)
Hans Henrik Knoop Danish University of
Education, 2003
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The Basis for Flow- After Mihaly
Csikszentmihalyi, 1993

• Environmental conditions that are likely to
  produce flow
• Clear, liberating, goals
• Clear, manageable rules
• Possibility of adjusting the opportunities for
  action to our capacities
• Clear information about how well we are doing
• The screening out distracting elements
• Personal skills that are likely to produce flow
  
• The ability to set manageable goals for ourselves
  even if there does not seem to be anything to do
  at the moment
• The ability to match our skills to the
  opportunities around us
• The ability to read feedback that others fail to
  notice
• The ability to concentrate easily and not get
  distracted

Hans Henrik Knoop Danish University of
Education, 2003
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What we can do

• Help each other form realistic ambitions to avoid
  the sense of excessive urgency, thus being in
  flow, experiencing deep meaning and enjoyment.
  There is no such thing as too little time.
  There only too much to do, and we must help
  each other learn to avoid having too much to do.
• Help each other create extensive islands of
  focus for in-depth play and learning in an
  otherwise often flickering daily life.
• Help each other understand how the state of the
  world is in fact an emerging phenomenon, to which
  every human being can contribute.
• For better or worse.

Hans Henrik Knoop Danish University of
Education, 2003