Between Fridays
By Antonia Baumgartner
It’s Friday 11:34 p.m. One week ago, I was sitting in a room with inspiring people, in a fugitive space of teaching, expressing, and experiencing. After these intense and encouraging two weeks, I want to give myself the time to reflect on the relationships that I’ve established, on the conversations I’ve had, and on the things I’ve learnt.
When you allow yourself to process, you realize what have been the most insightful moments for you.
Roman Gerodimos has opened my eyes by talking about humiliation, shame, and violence, and how it influences people’s behavior and attitude. He also mentioned the term self-efficacy which refers to an individual’s belief in their capacity to act in the ways necessary to reach specific goals, which means: if you believe in making a difference, you’re more likely to engage. A simple concept with a lot of power and relevance that should encourage us to always trust in ourselves to be and to do good.
But we need to be aware of the biases and systematic patterns of deviation that surround and influence us, as Anthony Ioannidis taught us in his lecture. We tend to overlook or dismiss information that contradicts our beliefs, and therefore affects our decision-making. Moreover, we have a tendency to believe that our perception of the world reflects it exactly as it is (=naïve realism). The more aware we are of these biases, the better we can notice them in our everyday lives. From now on, I want to look for those biases in my personal life. How do they influence me and my perspective? If I notice them, can I act against them instead of upon them?
This brings me to my third most inspirational moment at the “Schloss”. Pablo Martinez delivered an emotional and impressive keynote where he allowed us to peek into his heart. It was beautiful to see, that not only the did the participants step out of their comfort zones, but also the faculty and staff. He mentioned the terms experience, existence, and expression as most valuable in order to make our lives meaningful. Your existence is shaping your experiences and the way you express yourself is part of your existence. It is beautiful to think about it that way.
It’s 12:14, still Friday. I am grateful to have been part of this amazing program, I am happy to be back home with my friends and family, and I can’t wait to see what life has to offer next!
