An acquaintance posted a jeremiad on one of the listserves I plug into\u2014a rant by a friend about how we\u2019re all going to hell in a handbasket. It was too sad\u2014I couldn\u2019t take it. <\/p>\n
There was a psychologist, Lev Vygotsky, who had a number of good ideas about education, my favorite being the concept of the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). This refers to the category of new learning that requires a bit of a stretch. If children are allowed to work with notions that are already mastered and comfortably familiar, they become bored. If they are presented with notions that are beyond the ZPD, they feel overloaded, overwhelmed, and they shrink back, demoralized. The trick is to design levels of challenge that remain interesting, in that middle area of the ZPD, neither overly familiar or too far a stretch. Moreover\u2014I don\u2019t know if Vygotsky said this\u2014kids also need to rest a while or retreat to the more comfortable arena of mastery, just to get grounded, as if to say, \u201cYeah, I can do this.\u201d <\/p>\n
A similar theme occurs to me about hope: If I am too pampered and shielded, I can forget that anything needs done, that the world does have many and interesting challenges. Admittedly, complacence can be deadening, and a little shaking up is okay. Someone once offered a blessing that goes, \u201cMay the Divine Spirit forever continue to comfort\u2014and disturb\u2014you.\u201d <\/p>\n
If, on the other hand, I am presented with all the ways the world is in trouble, all the pressing needs, that can be terrifying and disheartening. I cannot help but recoil. What\u2019s needed is an optimal ZPD in which I feel my efforts make some impact, however small. <\/p>\n
A corollary here is that I need to have some concrete actions I can take. Merely talking about how there are problems unconsciously feeds the illusion that if I can complain enough, Mommy will fix it. It\u2019s inconceivable that Mommy can\u2019t fix it because she\u2014or Daddy or any \u201cgrown ups\u201d— haven\u2019t a clue! There are grown men, old men, who are into being grumpy, as if their annoyance again will magically reduce their helplessness. Or they reserve at least the right to feel aggrieved. It\u2019s so nice to be able to blame the \u201cgummint\u201d or \u201cpoliticians\u201d or one\u2019s favorite scapegoat. <\/p>\n
So useful calls for hope might be more effective if at least they have specific goals. Send us money. (Of course, there\u2019s a chance those appealing this way are fraudulent, and how can you tell nowadays?) Join our group! I am torn even here, because there are innumerable seemingly noble causes operating locally, regionally, internationally. On the other hand, it seems good to at least witness to people doing good things. Occasionally someone will say, \u201cHey, I want to learn more about that person or group of ideas or cause.\u201d <\/p>\n