{"id":9717,"date":"2024-08-30T16:59:38","date_gmt":"2024-08-30T20:59:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.andover.lib.oh.us\/live\/?p=9717"},"modified":"2024-08-30T16:59:38","modified_gmt":"2024-08-30T20:59:38","slug":"a-note-from-nancy-september-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.andover.lib.oh.us\/live\/2024\/08\/30\/a-note-from-nancy-september-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"A Note From Nancy – September 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cWhat we focus on [or think about], expands.\u201d – Esther Jno-Charles<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Human beings have been saying that the world is heading toward ruin for generations \u2013 all the way back to Aristotle. I suspect from time to time we all may be guilty of thinking or saying the same thing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Recently I read an article in the Wall Street Journal by Elizabeth Bernstein. She wrote about a study \u201cThe Illusion of Moral Decline\u201d where researchers examined decades of other studies from 60 countries. In the studies, they asked people if they thought others were less friendly, honest, kind, or good than they used to be. The studies included 575,000 people. Around 60% thought people were less good now than they were in the past. And they also believed that the moral decline began in their lifetime.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet, \u201cThey found that although people have been decrying a moral decline for generations, their behavior toward one another really hasn\u2019t changed.\u201c When these researchers looked at actual behavior they found that people also reported that people do nice things for them, and they do nice things for others.<\/span><\/p>\n

In short, the study found that people are just as good as they\u2019ve ever been.<\/span><\/p>\n

The authors suggest that there\u2019s a danger to believing that people are getting worse when that\u2019s not true. When we do, we get distracted from solving the real problems that need to be solved.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jamil Zaki, a professor of psychology at Stanford University, who has a new book coming out on cynicism, adds, \u201cif we believe the worst in people, we treat them in terrible ways and then we bring the worst out in them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He suggests we talk more about the positive things people do \u2013 practice positive gossip. And says, \u201cwe\u2019re walking around with a pair of mud-colored glass on. We need to take them off and see each other more clearly.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

How about we make September the month to catch people doing good? To focus on what is going right in our corner of the world, to tune out those social media images and ads that feed our anxiety and steal our hope?<\/span><\/p>\n

When I look around at the Andover Public Library I see so many good things happening. Record participation in our summer reading program. High schoolers hanging out and enjoying our pre-PV home football games tail gate parties. The American Heart Association investing in the health of our community by donating a new on-site blood pressure-taking machine and providing ones you can check out. Friends of the Library worked diligently to create another successful basket auction. Those of you who support our annual book sale. Neighbors and strangers gather to attend programs at the library. Patrons who come in on a regular basis and tell us about a favorite new book. Families enjoying and meandering through our Storybook Trail and its lovely garden which is also home to a grouping of native plants.<\/span><\/p>\n

As always, thanks for your on-going support of the Andover Public Library. Thanks to you, I know the world continues to be a beautiful, hope-filled one.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sincerely,<\/span><\/p>\n

Nancy Logan, Director<\/span><\/p>\n

Wall Street Journal article\u00a0The World Isn\u2019t Actually Going to Hell in a Handbasket<\/a>\u00a0by Elizabeth Bernstein<\/span><\/p>\n

The Illusion of Moral Decline<\/a>\u00a0by Adam M Mastroianni<\/span><\/p>\n

Hope for cynics : the surprising science of human goodness<\/a>\u00a0by Jamil Zaki<\/span><\/p>\n

The war for kindness : building empathy in a fractured world<\/a>\u00a0by Jamil Zaki<\/span><\/p>\n

Elizabeth Bernstein. \u201cThe World Isn\u2019t Actually Going to Hell in a Handbasket.\u201d<\/span> The Wall Street Journal, Aug. 11, 2024. https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/lifestyle\/relationships\/moral-decline-study-psychology-8635c34b?st=5mbrpnd2yvldjge&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cWhat we focus on [or think about], expands.\u201d – Esther Jno-Charles Human beings have been saying that the world is heading toward ruin for generations \u2013 all the way back to Aristotle. I suspect from time to time we all may be guilty of thinking or saying the same thing. Recently I read an article…<\/span><\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-note-from-nancy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andover.lib.oh.us\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andover.lib.oh.us\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andover.lib.oh.us\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andover.lib.oh.us\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andover.lib.oh.us\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9717"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.andover.lib.oh.us\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9717\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9718,"href":"https:\/\/www.andover.lib.oh.us\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9717\/revisions\/9718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andover.lib.oh.us\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andover.lib.oh.us\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andover.lib.oh.us\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}