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Past Episodes: February 2012 Archives

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Sunday February 26, 2012

Wisdom In The Lab


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Is there a way to quantify wisdom? Can the exacting methods of science be applied to the changing world of philosophy and morals? Wisdom is a topic that comes up a lot on Tapestry. It's discussed as something expansive and based on individual interpretation. But how about a different view for a change? How about some specific, standard measurements?  
 
Stephen Hall is a "hardcore" science writer who writes primarily for The New York Times Magazine. His editor called him up one day and asked for a piece about an emerging field in neurology: the measurement of wisdom.

Hall wasn't so sure at first. The idea of applying something as precise as science to something as malleable as wisdom seemed a stretch. But when he began his research, his mind changed. Through psychology and the technology of brain mapping, science is finding ways to measure wisdom. Hall's work has become a book: Wisdom: From Philosophy to Neuroscience.

wisdom-jon-turk.jpg Jon Turk (left) and Erik Boomer (right) on a kayaking expedition around Ellesmere Island.  (photo by Erik Boomer)
   
After that, a mystery of medical healing in the Siberian wilderness. Jon Turk was a research chemist who decided he couldn't stand the lab, quit his job, and became an adventure traveller. Severely injured, he one day found himself in the hands of Moolynaut; a Koryak shaman. She taught Turk that a man of science can journey into the realm of the spiritual, although it's best to prepare for a really strange trip. Turk shares his story in this documentary by Heiko Decosas. He's also written a book about it called The Raven's Gift.
   
There are two footnotes about Jon Turk's story. The first is that Moolynaut died in December 2011. The second is that Jon Turk has been nominated one of National Geographic's Adventurers of the Year for 2012.


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Sunday February 19, 2012

Through a Different Lens: Autism and the Divine


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Autism is a complex disorder. There is controversy over its causes and symptoms - even how to define it. But one thing has been clear since the term first came into use in 1911.  People on the spectrum view the world in a unique way.  

That leads to the question we are exploring: what is the experience of the Divine for the autistic mind?

Medically, autism is defined as "a spectrum of neuro-psychiatric disorders characterized by deficits in social interaction and communication, and unusual and repetitive behavior. Some, but not all, people with autism are non-verbal."

A neuropsychiatric disorder. But is this different lens necessarily a disability when it comes to considering God? What if the autistic mind actually offers advantages when it comes to pondering the ineffable mystery?

temple-grandin.jpg Temple Grandin, renowned expert on animal behavior who is diagnosed as highly functioning on the autistic spectrum  

Temple Grandin has contemplated the question of the Divine since she was a little girl. She is a highly functioning woman on the autistic spectrum who is famous for her work creating more humane systems of cattle slaughter. Mary talks to Grandin from her home in Colorado.

You will meet Anthony Easton. He describes himself as religious, but not spiritual.... a bit of a twist from what we usually hear on Tapestry.  Easton was diagnosed as being on the autistic spectrum at age 14. Today he is a Masters of Theology student at Trinity College in Toronto.  

Mary has a conversation with Reverend John Gillibrand in Wales. His son Adam is low functioning and this has raised some painful questions about what the sacraments mean for someone who probably doesn't understand them - questions that are especially troubling for an Anglican priest.

Then, we'll pay a visit to Beth Tzedec Synagogue in Toronto where there is a special program for children on the spectrum as they reach the age of bar and bat mitzvah. As it turns out, the children have some surprising views on autism and what it means for their faith.

Also on this episode, a clip from besidemyselfworld - a performance piece based on the autobiographical writings of Birger Sellin. Sellin is a teenager in Germany who is on the autistic spectrum and non-verbal. At 17, he learned to type with his mother supporting his arm. besidemyselfworld is by the Canadian art collective, Tones of Voice.


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Sunday February 12, 2012

Mavis Staples


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Today on Tapestry, the legendary Mavis Staples.  For more than six decades she has used her gift of music to advance civil rights and social justice.  With her father and siblings in the Staple Singers, they performed at rallies and the sermons of Dr. Martin Luther King and created what is known as the soundtrack of the civil rights movement.


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