As if you needed yet another video supporting your belief that community and connectedness are the two fundamental qualities of life for which people on the planet are yearning.
LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 08: Director Tom Shadyac arrives at the premiere of Shady Acres Entertainment's 'I Am' on March 8, 2011 in Los Angeles, California. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)
Yet … here it is. Tom Shadyac’s I Am.
Perhaps you already know this documentary by Hollywood director Shadyac . Shadyac directed Bruce Almighty, The Nutty Professor and Ace Ventura, Pet Detective.
In I AM, Shadyac asks two questions:
What’s wrong with our world?
What can we do about it?
What he ends up finding out is … oops! don’t want to give this away!
Shadyac talks to such luminaries as Bishop Desmond Tutu, Howard Zinn, Lynne McTaggart and many, many others.
“Shadyac also discovers that, contrary to conventional thinking, cooperation and not competition, may be nature’s most fundamental operating principle. Thus, I AM shows consensus decision-making is the norm amongst many species, from insects and birds to deer and primates. The film further discovers that humans actually function better and remain healthier when expressing positive emotions, such as love, care, compassion, and gratitude, versus their negative counterparts, anxiety, frustration, anger and fear. Charles Darwin may be best known for popularizing the notion that nature is red in tooth and claw, but, as Shadyac points out, he used the word love 95 times in The Descent of Man, while his most famous phrase,survival of the fittest, appears only twice.” (From the film’s promo on the I AM website.)
We in cohousing already know all of this. Still, it’s refreshing to see the rest of the world catching up to us in such a delightful way. And this video can be very useful when talking to the “powers that be”about how cohousing can enhance everyone’s life throughout the community not in just the cohousing community. There’s a wonderful section in the film about collaboration and empathy and connectedness that makes the case for cohousing . With its provocative questions, the film can be used for education and outreach about the benefits of living in community.
Why am I writing about this today? Because for a very, very, very short time you can see this film for FREE on Gaiamtv.com. The company is offering a 10-Day trial for viewing films on its website. Yes, you have to sign up. Yes, you have to have an account secured with a credit card AND you can cancel any time within the 10 days. So you can see a lot of films for free! After that … like Netflix it’s $9.95 per month. (The film is also available on Comcast, DirectTV, DishTV, and a host of other cable and satellite providers — but you gotta pay for it …)
Here’s the trailer.
What do you think?
What’s RIGHT with our world?
What's RIGHT with our world?
Related articles
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
See also book The Evolution of Cooperation by Rober Axelrod.