The Sociology of the Future and the Future of Sociology

1996 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wendell Bell
Keyword(s):  
Critical Realism ◽  
Policy Science ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The Self ◽  
Theory Of Knowledge ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Futures Studies ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
The Future ◽  
Future Consequences

Drawing on futures studies for possible future directions of Sociology, I make eight proposals designed to enhance Sociology as an action and policy science: (1) Replace postmodern beliefs with critical realism as a theory of knowledge, thereby avoiding the self-defeating consequences of extreme subjectivism and relativism. (2) Since sound decision making invites knowing the probable future consequences of contemplated actions, give more attention to prediction and the study of self-altering prophecies. (3) Bring moral discourse back into Sociology— explicitly, rigorously, critically, and objectively—focusing on achieving freedom and well-being for human beings. Think (4) globally and (5) holistically, even when working locally. (6) Take the meaning of time seriously and explore the real, though sometimes hidden, alternative present possibilities for the not-yet-evidential future. (7) View people as active agents who strive to create the futures that they want. And (8) in defining society, emphasize expectation, choice, and decision as people, through historical actions, construct society by attempting to transform their images of desirable futures into social realities.

scholarly journals Self-Transcendence as a Buffer Against COVID-19 Suffering: The Development and Validation of the Self-Transcendence Measure-B

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul T. P. Wong ◽  
Gökmen Arslan ◽  
Victoria L. Bowers ◽  
Edward J. Peacock ◽  
Oscar Nils Erik Kjell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Personal Growth ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The Self ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
True Self ◽  
Transcendence Measure ◽  
History Of ◽  
Self Transcendence ◽  
Development And Validation

The age of COVID-19 calls for a different approach toward global well-being and flourishing through the transcendence suffering as advocated by existential positive psychology. In the present study, we primarily explained what self-transcendence is and why it represents the most promising path for human beings to flourish through the transformation of suffering in a difficult and uncertain world. After reviewing the literature on self-transcendence experiences, we concluded that the model of self-transcendence presented by Frankl is able to integrate both of the characteristics associated with self-transcendence. Afterward, we discussed how the self-transcendence paradigm proposed by Wong, an extension of the model by Frankl, may help awaken our innate capacity for connections with the true self, with others, and with God or something larger than oneself. We presented self-transcendence as a less-traveled but more promising route to achieve personal growth and mental health in troubled times. Finally, we presented the history of the development and psychometrics of the Self-Transcendence Measure-Brief (STM-B) and reported the empirical evidence that self-transcendence served as a buffer against COVID-19 suffering. The presented data in the current study suggested that the best way to overcome pandemic suffering and mental health crises is to cultivate self-transcendence.

scholarly journals Emergence of Loneliness through Degradation of Our Physical Environment

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shelly Bhagat
Keyword(s):  
Physical Health ◽  
Physical Environment ◽  
Environmental Psychology ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
The Core ◽  
The Future ◽  
Core Idea ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Physical Changes

Our Environment is growing and enriching us on the cost of its own well being. The matter of concern of environmental psychology is so much important in today’s era to save the future psychological/mental as well as physical health. The core idea of learning the cause of loneliness due to the physical changes of environment can hence change the foresightedness for the field of psychology. The few basic and the important factors which are helpful in understanding the overall health of the environment and its contribution in the loneliness of human beings are discussed in this study.

Future Time Perspective as an Operationalization of Existential Concerns Related to Time

2020 ◽  
pp. 002216782094506
Author(s):  
David E. Reed
Keyword(s):  
Time Perspective ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Future Time Perspective ◽  
Existential Psychology ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Future Time ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Socioemotional Selectivity ◽  
Existential Perspective ◽  
Existential Concerns

Psychologists and other clinical therapists often focus on the psychological processes that result from the fact that human beings will one day die, not death anxiety/afterlife anxiety itself. Nevertheless, existential concerns are death concerns, and any anxiety associated with death should be understood through that lens—as resulting from concerns about death. Understanding how one views the amount of time left to live, and how this perception influences motives, goal cognitions, mood, and well-being, is of great importance from a humanistic–existential perspective. Socioemotional selectivity theory and the concept of future time perspective (FTP) capture these phenomena and have the potential to operationalize perspectives of time constraints within existential psychology. The present work attempts to show how FTP may be used to operationalize the problem of time from an existential perspective, specifically targeting the existential themes of death, meaning, isolation, and freedom. Clinical implications of considering FTP as an existential construct are discussed, as are limitations and future directions.

The Story of Me

2018 ◽  
pp. 175-194
Author(s):  
Matthew R. Sayers
Keyword(s):  
The Self ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Self Perception ◽  
Dynamic Nature ◽  
The Future ◽  
Retrospective Nature ◽  
Future Direction

This chapter offers a concrete alternative to the language of vocation, examining how narratives shape a person’s self-perception. Human beings chart the future direction of their lives based on their construction of stories about themselves; moreover, these stories are woven together and interconnect in complex ways. Such self-constructed and self-referential narratives are best described using the word myth: we are always engaged in a process of myth-making as we explore the contours of our lives. This language, suggests the author, may help us to reshape the concept of vocation in a way that recognizes the dynamic nature of the self, clarifies matters of agency, and attends to the retrospective nature of the construction of the self. To illustrate these points, the author offers a number of his own “myths of self,” as well as references to self-constructed narratives in the Bhagavadgita and in other literary and cultural accounts.

scholarly journals Considerações a partir do filme “O Capital” sobre a financeirização do mundo e da vida / Considerations from “The Capital” film: on the financing of the world and life

Profanações ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 45
Author(s):  
Sandro Luiz Bazzanella ◽  
Danielly Borguezan
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Political Action ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Social Imaginary ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Essential Condition ◽  
The World ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Vital Forces

O presente artigo é resultado da análise do filme “O Capital” (Le Capitale), lançado em 4 de outubro de 2013 (1h53min). Direção: Costa-Gavras. Elenco: Gad Elmaleh, Gabriel Byrne, Natacha Régnier; Gêneros: Drama, Suspense. Nacionalidade: França. A referida obra cinematográfica coloca em debate a financeirização do mundo, das relações sociais e individuais em que a sociedade contemporânea esta envolvida. O crédito que substituiu no imaginário individual e social a ideia de dinheiro, mas que preserva a sua condição “essencial” como aquilo que desperta reações, paixões, desejos mobilizando forças vitais, determinando as expectativas de vida, de futuro dos seres humanos e sociedades, apresenta-se na forma de transcendência. Assim, na condição de transcendência exige culto, sacrifico e, sobretudo crença incondicional em suas condições de efetivação de suas promessas de uma economia da salvação. A financeirização dos espaços e tempos vitais nas quais se movem sociedades e indivíduos demarca o recrudescimento da ação política realizada entre homens com o fim de potencialização do espaço público como lócus por excelência do bem viver, da busca da felicidade. O dogma da financeirização afirma diuturnamente que a felicidade pode ser comprada e, usufruída individualmente basta ter crédito, ter fé no futuro.AbstractThis article is the result of the analysis of the film "The Capital" (Le Capitale), released on October 4, 2013 (1h53min). Direction: Costa-Gavras. Cast: Gad Elmaleh, Gabriel Byrne, Natacha Régnier; Genres: Drama, Thriller. Nationality: France. The aforementioned cinematographic work challenges the financialization of the world, of the social and individual relations in which contemporary society is involved. The credit that replaced the idea of money in the individual and social imaginary, but which preserves its "essential" condition as that which awakens reactions, passions, desires mobilizing vital forces, determining the expectations of life, the future of human beings and societies, Presents itself in the form of transcendence. Thus, in the condition of transcendence requires worship, sacrifice and, above all, unconditional belief in its conditions of realization of its promises of an economy of salvation. The financialisation of spaces and vital times in which societies and individuals move, marks the intensification of the political action carried out among men with the aim of enhancing the public space as the locus par excellence of well-being and the pursuit of happiness. The dogma of financialization affirms day after day that happiness can be bought and, enjoyed individually, it is enough to have credit, to have faith in the future.

scholarly journals Fire typer ungdomsliv: Ressurser, relasjoner og stedets betydning

2021 ◽  
pp. 63-86
Author(s):  
Ingunn Marie Eriksen ◽  
Kari Stefansen ◽  
Guro Ødegård
Keyword(s):  
Local Environment ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
The Self ◽  
Growing Up ◽  
The Family ◽  
The Future ◽  
Relational Resources ◽  
Class Divisions ◽  
Self Presentations

This chapter investigates how young people’s “projects of the self” – their self-presentations and orientations towards the future – are shaped by economic, cultural and relational capital, as well as place. What does growing up in families with different access to important resources entail, and what does place mean for young people’s experiences of themselves and their future opportunities? Based on an ongoing qualitative longitudinal study of 81 youths from four widely different communities, we describe a typology with four projects of the self: the assured optimist, the local thriving youth, the youth on a narrow path and the loosely anchored youth. These projects are closely linked to the youths’ family resources, and to a large extent they map onto traditional social class divisions. However, although the way that resources are linked to different projects of the self has the potential of shaping classed trajectories, they are not determined by class. Our analysis adds nuances to the general finding in youth research that lack of economic and cultural capital is associated with more limited future possibilities. We find that emotional and relational resources in the family also play a vital role in shaping young people’s projects of the self – which sometimes cross traditional class divisions. Moreover, we find that when young people’s projects of the self align with resources in the local environment and in the family, this greatly enhances their well-being and surety of the future. Youths who experience a rift between their projects of the self and the resources around them experience a shakier foundation from which to carve out their life projects.

scholarly journals Disposisi Religio-Strategis Skemata Algoritma Mark C. Taylor dan Yuval Noah Harari

MELINTAS ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-34
Author(s):  
Mardohar B. B. Simanjuntak
Keyword(s):  
Religious Identity ◽  
The Self ◽  
The Other ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Breathing Space ◽  
The Future ◽  
To Come

Religion has probably been very influencial since the dawn of civilization. The next imperative question would be how something that has always been in the very discourse of human achievement stays in the centre stage for generations to come. To tackle this question, it is important to see what religion actually is related to its ability to manifest the self. The question can even be extended further by examining how the self – central to epistemological inquiries – be justified by the presence of consciousness. Constructing answers to this colossal undertaking of religious identity invites a thorough understanding of how human beings can be taken as conscious. The subsequent agenda is to determine whether consciousness lies within or – on the other way around – outside; whether it is naturally personal or else impersonal. Having dealt with these risky arguments allows us to slightly probe something in the future concerning the debatable fate of being a religious self. Both Mark C. Taylor’ rejuvenated schemata and Yuval Noah Harari’ reinvented algorhytms have provided an extra breathing space that facilitates broader chances for religion to further play a farther role in an even broader horizon of foreseeable possibilities.

Procrastination

2013 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katrin B. Klingsieck
Keyword(s):  
Large Body ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Negative Outcomes ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Research And Practice ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
The Future ◽  
Functional Forms

Procrastination is a well-known phenomenon that often entails negative outcomes with regard to performance and subjective well-being. In an attempt to understand the (alarming) character of procrastination, a large body of research on the causes, correlates, and consequences of procrastination has been accumulating over the last 40 years. The aim of this paper is to provide a systematic characterization of the trends in procrastination research and to suggest future directions for research and practice. The systematic characterization comprises a comparison of procrastination to functional forms of delay (referred to as strategic delay) and a presentation of the theoretical approaches to explaining procrastination. The future directions suggested pertain to the development of a differentiated understanding of procrastination and of integral interventions.

The Argument from Divine Hiddenness

1996 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 433-453 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Howard-Snyder
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
The Self ◽  
Personal Relationship ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Divine Hiddenness ◽  
Knowing That

Do we rightly expect a perfectly loving God to bring it about that, right now, we reasonably believe that He exists? It seems so. For love at its best desires the well-being of the beloved, not from a distance, but up close, explicitly participating in her life in a personal fashion, allowing her to draw from that relationship what she may need to flourish. But why suppose that we would be significantly better off were God to engage in an explicit, personal relationship with us? Well, first, there would be broadly moral benefits. We would be able to draw on the resources of that relationship to overcome seemingly ever present flaws in our character. And we would be more likely to emulate the self-giving love with which we were loved. So loved, we would be more likely to flourish as human beings. Second, there would be experiential benefits. We would be, for example, more likely to experience peace and joy stemming from the strong conviction that we were properly related to our Maker, security in suffering knowing that, ultimately, all shall be well, and there would be the sheer pleasure of God's loving presence.

scholarly journals Aimaras de Puno y la actitud Minera: ’¿para llegar a la vida hay que pasar por la muerte ?

2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 69
Author(s):  
Saul Bermejo Paredes ◽  
Yanet Amanda Maquera
Keyword(s):  
Common Good ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Southern Region ◽  
Political Movements ◽  
Mining Activities ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
The Common Good ◽  
The Future ◽  
Subject And Object ◽  
The Common

<p>RESUMEN</p><p>El estudio, es una aproximación a la comprensión epistemológica y ontológica aimara a partir de las expresiones de pensamiento y actitudes de los pobladores aimaras asentados en la zona sur de la región de Puno-Perú, que en el año 2011 protagonizaron grandes movimientos sociales y políticos con resonancia mundial, en oposición a las concesiones y actividades mineras en sus territorios.  Los resultados ponen de manifiesto la gran polaridad cognitiva entre la racionalidad aimara y el oficial-dominante y que la actividad minera  para los aimaras, es peor que la muerte misma.  El aimara no es un salvaje que se opone al progreso y al bienestar común, sino para él, el bienestar del ser (disfrute a plenitud), expresado por la armonía inconmensurable entre hombre-universo (relación interdependiente entre sujeto-objeto), es lo esencial, para vivir como ser humano. El bienestar no se alcanza sacrificando el presente, porque el concepto de vida no es lineal y progresivo, lo lógico para los aimaras, es “estar bien” ahora y también en el futuro. Finalmente, las actitudes de protesta de los aimaras se dirigen ante las injusticias sociales-económicas y cognitivas; y, al reconocimiento como nación y restitución de sus derechos y territorios, fundamentalmente.</p><p> ABTRACT</p><p>The study is an approach to the epistemological and ontological understanding aimara from expressions of thought and attitudes of the aimara people settled in the southern region of Puno-Perú, which in 2011 staged large social and political movements with global resonance, as opposed to concessions and mining activities in their territories. The results demonstrate the great cognitive polarity between rationality and the official aimara-dominant and that mining for aimara, it is worse than death itself. The aimara is not a savage who opposes progress and the common good, but for him, the well-being of being (fully enjoy) expressed immeasurable harmony between man-universe (interdependent relationship between subject and object), it is essential to live as human beings. Welfare is not achieved by sacrificing the present, because the concept of life is not linear and progressive, it is logical for the aimara, is "being good" now and in the future. Finally, attitudes of protest are directed to the aimara-economic and cognitive social injustices; and recognition as a nation and restoration of their rights and territories, mainly.</p><p> </p>

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