nutopics – new shared stories from the nous

Where does the name of this blog come from?

nutopics?

It is a neologism and combines four main aspects of what I want to tackle with this project. Four linguistic and philosophic concepts.

nu:
phonetic variation of the “new“

topics:
referring to the greek topoi meaning places – in rhetoric tradition topics where themes common to orators and writers who re-worked them according to occasion.
Topics in this context were commonplaces, sources of information, that the audience could relate to easily because these commonplaces were evident and in some way experienced by everyone.
Todays colloquial use of topic is mostly theme or subject.

utopia/utopic:
A neologism by itself coined by Thomas More in 1516.
It commes from greek οὐ (“not”) and τόπος (“place”) and was used by More to name a fictional and, from the point of view of his narrator, perfectly structured society. More played with the phonetic resemblance of utopia and eutopia.
Greek εὖ, meaning “good” or “well”, would combine with topia to the good place.
Since More a great tradition of utopian literature developed – all description of ideal states or living conditions from the point of view of the authors.
From this tradition I define utopia or a utopic thought as

the narration of a desirable, not-yet existing form of society

and I add further detailing to my definition

the narration of a desirable, potentially feasible, not-yet existing form of society

Utopias are in my definition no fantasy stories or fairy tales – they recombine existing components and techniques of the society of origin of their authors.
They might be hard to realise, because the status quo is seemingly chisled in stone, but they are potentially feasible. (I will write more about types of utopic narratives in another post)
Utopic ideas have the power to make people want to transform a status quo. Even if it means temporary hardship – because of their attractivness.
(More about that… right… in another post)

nous:
The nous is a philosophical concept that postulates an organizing principle in the cosmos – a Weltgeist or divine Weltvernunft/cosmic reason.
The nous is the source of the great platonic ideas – such as the essence of beauty, truth, justice etc. The place where the big universal concepts live.
Furthermore according to some old philosophers the nous is represented in the human mind as a function we might call awareness or “good sense“.

Anaxagoras described the nous as the principle which acts on elementary particles of matter. Interestingly that corresponds in some ways with modern theories of quantum mechanics. (I will write about that in an extra post).
The nous is something like transpersonal truth and could be connecting people through its universality.

Simply put: the nous is at play, in these rare and precious moments, when you and me and everyone agrees and feels and knows about a circumstance:
Yeah that’s right – that’s how it should be – sure, makes sense.
Sadly these moments are rare – sadly awareness is often blurred by “I“, “Me“ and a poisonous kind of “now“.
Why do you think mindfullness and awareness are such big words in the coaching and self-development scene nowadays?

Because we need it!
Imagine we could reconnect with the nous, listen to its stories and truths which slumber in all things, step into a new age of reason – but not the cold mere scientific reason of the last centuries – a new (and at the same time ancient) reason that has its warmth through the somehow mystic experience of connectedness to essence.

But I get carried away – this is not a religious idea – neither really spiritual.
Just heartfelt logic or reason.
I called this project nutopics because I believe that the global challenges of our time need:

new commonly shared and understood narratives of possible, desirable futures that come from a place of mindful and hearty reason

lucas

I believe we need these to get the necessary transformation started. Otherwise I fear that we as humanity miss the chance to change the course because we are to occupied with ourselfs and our microcosms.
We need to tell the new stories of „the places to be“ that make sense to everyone. That can be felt and that resonate with everyone.

Maybe because they are so elementary or essential that they are interculturaly accessible. Or maybe because they tap into the archetypical sources of myth (ancient type of connected reason – btw).
I don‘t have an answer. Yet.

But with this project I want to explore what it takes to create the narratives that have the power to connect humankind behind a shared intention. And I am looking forward to joining forces with everyone that hears the same call.

Let‘s get started.