Those of us who are lucky enough to know David Bramlett know that there is much more to the man than mathematics. On any given day, a conversation with David might begin with a fabulous veggie stir fry he just whipped up and then quickly diverge into part-film-review, part-critique-on-society. Recently it hit me– with David on TEAM this year, what if we had a recurring column entitled: “What’s David Watching?”
Serendipitously for this first installment, David happened to choose two documentaries that perfectly address this question of “how to cultivate resilience” on an existential and life-span level. After all, when you pull the concept out of the classroom and student context, one’s level of resilience can quite objectively be measured by length and quality of life. Check out David’s review below:
Join or Die and Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zone are two documentaries streaming on Netflix that at first glance you would feel are not connected. The essential underlying theme for both is that community engagement is essential.
Join or Die focuses on the work of Robert Putnam’s research and book, Bowling Alone, which looks at how the decline of Americans in joining community clubs is connected to current political unrest that we see today. It explores the importance of spending time with people in your community, and how it can make a positive difference in how members of a society get along, successfully govern, and achieve a healthy mental outlook.
Blue zones are regions of the world where people live long lives and are generally healthy and active into their 90s and 100s. The documentary Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zone at first glance seems totally related, but one of the primary attributes to a successful healthy life is once again community engagement. All the blue zones had this as a major factor.
While these are very different documentaries, their overarching thesis is nearly identical: community engagement is a vital part of a successful democracy and in preserving one’s health.
Thanks, David! Interested in adding some more community engagement into your routine? Join another one of David’s initiatives this year: Pubtalks. Be on the lookout for date, time, and location for this November’s gathering, where we will get together and share ideas on how to best handle potentially difficult or contentious topics at family gatherings over the holidays.