The Modern Maze

#9: Dualism and the Separation of Heaven, Mind, Body and Nature

In our latest episode, we'll explore how our modern worldview has fractured our understanding of reality, dividing us from nature, each other, and ourselves.
For most of human history, people lived with an intimate connection to the natural world, understanding that we are part of a living, breathing ecosystem. But over time, empires rose, and the European Enlightenment introduced a new way of thinking.
Nature became an object to be studied and exploited, and humans were reduced to isolated, rational beings. How does that affect how we look at ourselves, each other and Mother Earth?
Join me as we unravel how dualism has shaped our disconnection and explore how we can heal and reconnect with the deeper unity of life ⚖️ 🌎
References:
📚 Less is More - Dr Jason Hickel
📄 Hamilton, C. (2002). Dualism and sustainability. Ecological Economics, 42(1-2), pp.89–99. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/s0921-8009(02)00051-4.

#8: Positive Pathways Volume 2 - Can Gratitude Awaken a Global Change?

During the COVID-19 lockdowns in Melbourne, I began a daily gratitude practice to cope with rising anxiety and uncertainty. While life’s pace caused the practice to fade, the first half of 2024 brought intense challenges that made gratitude feel distant. However, once those challenges passed, I realised that gratitude had quietly sustained me, evolving from a daily ritual into a deep, unconscious connection with life’s simple joys and Mother Earth.
 
Now, recognising gratitude's power within me, another question began forming in my mind.
 
“Could gratitude save our planet?”
 
Science reveals that consistent gratitude can rewire our minds, fostering a lasting, albeit subtle, increase in happiness. However, it’s crucial to acknowledge that our existence is rooted in duality—light and dark, creation and destruction. True harmony is found in embracing joy and sorrow as essential to our growth. Gratitude, when genuinely expressed, not only deepens our resilience but also strengthens our connections with others, subtly transforming our lives.
 
Like a wave gathering strength, gratitude can spread its warm light around the world. By fostering gratefulness for those close to us and ourselves, we brighten up our community and our inner worlds. And that’s enough.
 
Feel the gratefulness, breathe it in. Sip it.
How does it make you feel in your body?
How does it make your heart feel?
 
Deeply think about all the beautiful things your community gives you. Give thanks. Hug deeply. Look into their eyes and feel the connection. Be vulnerable; let your heart shine through. Show others how much they mean to you. Be optimistic, and see the good in others. Acknowledge the shadows, the darkness. Without darkness, we couldn’t see the light. It’s always there; it’s just a question of how hard we look.
 
And ask yourself, if gratitude was allowed to flow through the world like a gentle creek, why couldn’t that change the world?
 
References:
📄 Kurian, R.M. and Thomas, S. (2023) ‘Gratitude as a path to human prosperity during adverse circumstances: A narrative review’, British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 51(5), pp. 739–752. doi:10.1080/03069885.2022.2154314.
📄 Kates, S. and DeSteno, D. (2020) Gratitude reduces consumption of depleting resources [Preprint]. doi:10.31234/osf.io/k95rj.
🌐 https://www.wri.org/insights/interactive-chart-shows-changes-worlds-top-10-emitters
🌐 https://www.ecowatch.com/wind-solar-energy-production-coal-us-2024.html
🌐 https://www.euronews.com/green/2024/07/09/deforestation-in-colombia-fell-to-historic-lows-in-2023-how-did-they-achieve-the-drop
🌐 https://www.euronews.com/green/2024/06/20/greatest-recovery-of-a-cat-species-ever-achieved-iberian-lynx-is-no-longer-on-brink-of-ext
📺 Andrew Huberman: The Science of Gratitude & How to Build a Gratitude Practice https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVjfFN89qvQ
 

#7: Designing a Regenerative Melbourne w/ Alison Whitten of Regen Melbourne

In today’s episode, I have the privilege of speaking with Alison Whitten, the Director of Systems Lab at Regen Melbourne.
Launched in November 2023 and inspired by Doughnut Economics, the Greater Melbourne City Portrait (also known as the Melbourne Doughnut) is a platform that applies diverse inputs and perspectives to create a holistic picture of Melbourne’s movement towards a safe and just place for people and planet.
We dive back into the impactful concepts of Doughnut Economics and how this powerful framework was applied to Melbourne, exploring its significance in fostering a more equitable and ecologically sustainable city.
You can find the Greater Melbourne City Portrait here: https://doughnut.regen.melbourne/

#6: The Birth of Capitalism Part 2 - Colonisation and the Paradox of Artificial Scarcity

In this episode, we continue our exploration into the origins of capitalism. Following the enclosures of Europe, the next chapter of this story follows the Age of Discovery, as Europeans took to the seas in search of resources, wealth and new trading routes. When Europeans started to colonise the Americas after 1492, they were not driven by the romance of 'exploration', 'discovery' and 'adventure' as our schoolbooks tell us.
Guided by Dr. Jason Hickel's book 'Less is More', we will trace how colonisation wasn't merely an expansion of territories but a fundamental reshaping of global economies and societies. As we unravel this chapter, we discover that colonisation was far from the benign process often depicted in conventional narratives. Instead, it involved aggressive strategies that deliberately imposed scarcity on abundant resources, securing the wealth and power structures that laid the groundwork for modern capitalism.
This journey through the darker passages of history invites us to reflect on how deeply ingrained ideologies of capitalism and colonisation continue to influence our world.
In our next episode, we will be discussing the Melbourne Doughnut! I am very excited to sit down with Alison Whitten, The Director of Research from Regen Melbourne, and discuss the Melbourne Doughnut in all its glorious detail. I highly recommend checking out the Melbourne Doughnut before our conversation, which is scheduled to take place in two weeks.
https://doughnut.regen.melbourne/
References:
📚 Less is More - Dr Jason Hickel
📄 Degrowth: A theory of radical abundance - Dr Jason Hickel
📄 Arora, S. and Stirling, A. (2023). Colonial modernity and sustainability transitions: A conceptualisation in six dimensions. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, [online] 48, p.100733. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eist.2023.100733.
🌐 What Was the Age of Exploration? - ThoughtCo

#5: Exploring Climate Corruption w/ Rachel Donald of Planet Critical

I am so honoured and delighted to welcome Rachel Donald from Planet: Critical as our inaugural guest on The Modern Maze.
Rachel is a climate corruption journalist whose work at Planet Critical illuminates the intricate links between the climate crisis and global geopolitics.
In this episode, Rachel and I explore the ongoing global resource crises, highlighting how competitive resource acquisition among nations has escalated conflicts in regions such as Ukraine, Gaza, and Sudan. We discuss the critical roles of symbolic language, power dynamics and economic systems in exacerbating these crises. Rachel also offers perspectives on confronting the global challenges threatening our planet and humanity.
I highly recommend the Planet Critical podcast to everyone, it's a fantastic podcast with great guests and engaging conversations. I'm constantly engaged with the podcast and it's one of my go-to sources for understanding what's really going on in the world. You can listen to it wherever you get your podcasts. Check out the website and subscribe to the newsletter (linked below) for exclusive investigations and analysis.
Planet Critical: https://www.planetcritical.com/
YouTube podcast link: https://youtu.be/UVBe72vRhhs?feature=shared
 

#4: Positive Pathways Volume 1 - Overcoming the Negative News Cycle

Recently, I've been unable to get off my phone when I start looking at the news; it usually begins with one story, and then before I know it, it's been half an hour, and I've gone down the rabbit hole. After that, I feel emotionally and physically drained. Has something like this happened to you before? This is more common than you might think. Named "doomscrolling", refers to a state of media use typically characterised as someone scrolling through their social media newsfeeds with an obsessive focus on distressing, depressing, or otherwise negative information. This term really became popular during the COVID-19 pandemic.
What are the reasons for this? Why does it seem like we have a predisposition towards consuming negative media?
In this episode, we'll explore why our brains are predisposed to focus on the negative and how both traditional and social media amplify this effect. More importantly, we'll provide practical strategies to break free from this negativity loop.
To balance the discussion, we'll also share four uplifting news stories to remind us of the good in the world.
Join me as we embark on a journey to navigate and balance our media consumption. Our goal is to achieve a healthier mental outlook, free from the negative impacts of excessive media consumption.
References:
Vaish, A., Grossmann, T. and Woodward, A. (2008) ‘Not all emotions are created equal: The negativity bias in social-emotional development.’, Psychological Bulletin, 134(3), pp. 383–403. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.134.3.383.
Robertson, C.E. et al. (2023) ‘Negativity drives online news consumption’, Nature Human Behaviour, 7(5), pp. 812–822. doi:10.1038/s41562-023-01538-4.
Sharma, B., Lee, S.S. and Johnson, B.K. (2022) ‘The dark at the end of the tunnel: Doomscrolling on social media newsfeeds.’, Technology, Mind, and Behavior, 3(1). doi:10.1037/tmb0000059.
Aoki, N. et al. (2024) ‘Soundscape enrichment increases larval settlement rates for the brooding coral  porites astreoides’, Royal Society Open Science, 11(3). doi:10.1098/rsos.231514.
https://earth.org/can-soundscapes-save-coral-reefs/
https://www.euronews.com/green/2024/04/16/greece-to-become-first-in-europe-to-ban-bottom-trawling-in-all-marine-protected-areas
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-04-24/australasian-bittern-returns-to-lagoon-of-islands/103754336
https://www.greenpeace.org/international/story/66275/climate-justice-international-court-hearings-klimaseniorinnen-duarte-careme/
https://www.euronews.com/green/2024/04/09/top-european-human-rights-court-could-rule-that-governments-have-to-protect-people-from-cl
** If you are feeling overwhelmed by the news and would like to speak to someone about it, please use the following resources**
Beyond Blue: 1300 22 4636
Lifeline: 13 11 14
www.ruok.org.au

#3: The Birth of Capitalism Part 1 - Enclosures and the Theft of the Commons

A question that I asked myself often but never knew the answer to was, "How did our economic structures emerge? Was it by accident, by design or a natural evolution of trades and markets?" I finally began getting the answers I was seeking when I read the book "Less is More" by Dr Jason Hickel, which revealed the history of capitalism and its not-so-gentle rise from the collapse of feudalism. 
 
In this episode, we will embark on a journey through the birth of capitalism, guided by this book and its concepts.
 
Unlike the seamless transition taught in history classes, capitalism's emergence was anything but natural, marked by a violent reshaping of societal norms and an aggressive enclosure of commons. As we delve into the historical struggles for land and autonomy, we uncover the dismantling of a communal society's ideals, setting the stage for the emergence of capitalist structures that prioritise profit at the expense of communal well-being.
 
Let's peel back the layers of our economic foundation and invite a reflection on the implications of capitalism's deep-seated ideologies that continue to shape our world.
 
 
References:
Less is More by Jason Hickel 

#2: Reimagining Growth with Doughnut Economics

In this episode, we embark on a journey through the provocative insights of Kate Raworth's "Doughnut Economics", the book that began my journey towards the Modern Maze. Diving into the heart of our modern economic system, we question the long-held pursuit of endless economic growth and its alignment with the realities of our planet and society. 
 
We explore the ambitious quest to redefine the very goals of economics, shifting from the singular focus on GDP to the holistic vision of the Doughnut. This model balances human prosperity with ecological sustainability. We unravel the seven ways to think like a 21st-century economist, each a stepping stone towards an economy that nurtures human nature, embraces system thinking, and designs for distributive justice and regenerative capacity.
 
This book and its concepts invites us to reimagine our economic systems, not as self-contained entities but as interconnected parts of a larger societal and environmental whole.
 
 
References:
Doughnut Economics by Kate Raworth
Less is More by Jason Hickel

#1: Enter the Modern Maze

To ensure humanity's continued thriving, we must create an ecologically safe and socially just planet. Despite remarkable efforts by individuals and communities worldwide, we're currently grappling with multifaceted crises—from climate change to economic challenges, which threaten us with prolonged instability. 
 
Instead of racing collectively towards our shared goal of a safe planet that is just for all, we have created a maze for ourselves. We have become a fragmented and distracted species. We are guided by our collective ideologies, philosophical beliefs, and deepest desires, needs, and wants. We create barriers, illusions and dead ends for ourselves, forever searching for our utopia.
 
So step into The Modern Maze with me, a journey through the urgent challenges our planet and society face today. Our generation's defining task is to create an ecologically sustainable relationship between humanity and the Earth, while nurturing our collective societal well-being. Together, we'll explore the necessity of reimagining our structures and systems and whether a profound shift in consciousness and culture is also required to create the world of tomorrow.
References:
https://climate.mit.edu/ask-mit/will-mining-resources-needed-clean-energy-cause-problems-environment
2023 Global Slavery Index by Walk Free