Schoemann

04/10/202603/10/2026

Leadership art or craft

In an English translation of a book on leadership we read: “Leadership is an art of creating a world that others would love to be part of.” (Pinnow, 2011 p. vii and ch 3). “Kunst” in German translates as “art”, but also in the sense of craft (Kunsthandwerk). We have seen “art” leadership which consisted in change management more like window dressing or just showing off a nicer logo for an organization. The crafted leadership has a whole toolbox at its disposal from which to choose according to necessities. Gardening maybe considered similar to leadership and management. You may create a piece of art that others would love to be part of, but you need craftsmanship, water management skills to nurture nature.

03/10/202602/10/2026

Gaps in Mirror

The legendary figure of “Till Eulenspiegel” (name is a composition of “owl” and “mirror”) is still attracting attention, largely because of his way to reach and sometimes expose ordinary anomalies. We have mirrors all around us, as well as explicit historical details, but we tend to overlook or create voluntarily gaps into mirrored images of the past and their reflections into the present. The novel “The Gaps” (Die Lücken) by Shida Bazyar exemplifies, why dealing with history on a local level is of utmost importance for societies to be aware, deal and transmit fundamental human values. Till Eulenspiegel of the 21^st century has a migration background and experience of care work, 2 fields at the cutting edge of humanity. Dealing with the gaps in narratives of locals enters visually into the novel as well. We ar caught t “automatic lly” read ov r the g__s before we realize how huge the gaps in narratives and our mirrors of the past can be. The novel is a great reminder to actively deal with our own gaps. Check the mirrors as well, there might be gaps that blur images of the past.

02/10/202630/09/2026

Agentrification

If you believe that AI-agents are continuously robbing your webpage content, then you will suffer from “Agentrification”. We know about the mental disease of “persecutory delusions” for quite some time. In the realm of webpage analytics a somehow related phenomenon might be the experience, also probably more a delusion, of “agentrification”. Even when you are on holidays, the AI-agents keep working on scraping content of your webpage everyday. If necessary or driven by info requests, this might be several times per day.
There are monitoring tools for this, just like other home security devices. The Plug-In “Known Agents” (extract of image below) does a great job in making such activities more transparent. Humans are reluctant to use AI-provided links to content, but tend to be satisfied with the agent’s fast return. However, checking sources should be a safeguard not to fall into the trap of another kind of agentrification, which is de-skilling due to ample use of AI-returns rather than direct search of information or checking provided links by AI for their trustworthiness.

01/10/202630/09/2026

Scroll or stop

In 2026-10 the fundamental question is: to scroll or not to scroll? As we have moved into the individualistic society with omnipresence of the not-so-social media we keep scrolling through online content. Our attention habits are subject to so-called cliffhangers which aim to direct our attention on specific topics, surprising images or just steering us to more-of-the-same content. The social media ban for children fights against the addiction to endless scrolling. In most cases, what is good for children is also beneficial for adults. Hence, the “endless scrolling” (which I increased on this blog at several occasions, currently = 30 max entries) is from now on reduced to 10. After those 10 entries, you are invited to read more on one of those entries or use one-click proposed keywords or categories. The search of topics or names is another more specific entry into a social science perspective. Maybe, the invitation to scroll less, but stop more often and read or follow proposed links is a beginning to detox our online habits.

Tags on www.schoemann.org 2026-10 — Screenshot

30/09/202629/09/2026

Dream Peace

To dream about peace is as old as humanity. However, the people who work on the development of weapons and train to use them vastly outnumbers those who think or dream up peace. The strategies and advice about warfare ranging from Aurel to Clausewitz have been studied carefully and the short-cut summary “if you want peace, prepare for war” sounds like a plausible solution to many problematic war-like situations (hybrid wars) even today. Let’s give it a try and dream up peace. There exits already an extensive literature on peace-keeping (forces) an the difficult role of the UN in these efforts. How about a challenge to this conventional wisdom. Voting in the UN should be weighted. The weights are inverse-proportional to a country’s amount of production and trade in arms measured over the last 10, 50, 100, 251 or 2501 years. The probability to favour peace in such a reformed voting system of the UN would shift further peace rather than arms trade and use of weapons in conflict. Of course, a crucial point is the definition of what is a weapon. Hybrid war and dual-use technologies could undermine the new balance of power at the UN. If countries with no arms production and arms trade get the upper hand at the UN decision-making, the peace-keeping force could still be mandated and delegated to joint forces. This could work as a disincentive for Trump to try to sell arms and enter into large-scale arms trade between the US and China. (Image: Ikarus-by-Picasso-at-UNESCO-headquarters-2024-Paris).

29/09/202628/09/2026

Solution problem

We all tend to agree that if there is a problem we shall try to find a solution. Once we seem to have the solution, after a lot of time has elapsed. we no longer sure what the original problem was. It may turn out that the solution shall be in search for a problem it still fits. Listening to the speeches at the UN General Assembly in 2026-9 there are still many problems the UN can address and is the solution or at least part of the solution. However, there are many problems on earth, the institutional setup of the UN no longer fits (The responsibility to protect is one of the discussed problems, Brunnée &Toope 2008).
The UN Security Council with its split into permanent members, with veto powers, and 10 elected other members is an example where a previous solution to the post 2WW international conflicts was a legitimate working solution, but the 21st century’s crises asks for new solutions and arenas for negotiations, which take into account a wider spectrum of countries and topics in a multipolar world. Middle powers shall have to take more active roles within or beyond the current UN institutions.

28/09/202629/09/2026

On footsteps

To follow in someone’s footsteps, is a colloquial expression. But do we, or should we do this at all?
Of course, a lot depends on circumstances, and where those previous footsteps have led people. The expression can certainly not serve as a general rule as such. Keep your own objectives in mind, if you think about following in someone’s footsteps. Deviate from previous well- treaded paths where necessary as destinations, objectives or abbreviations may be possible at a later point in time. Just following footsteps might be the easiest way, but these steps might have been taken too many times before without leading to the better answers.

footsteps on beach 2026

27/09/202625/09/2026

Gone napping

There are cultures where naps are part of a national identity. People living in hot climates are very familiar with the benefits of a napping. Due global warming, the spread of napping as a time to recover or limit yourself from strain during the hottest hours during a day. Napping is not limited to humans, the animal world has many species which also adopted the power of napping. As with many processes the duration is of crucial importance. In short, don’t overdo it. Too long a nap is likely to impede a good night’s rest. Even while at work, colleagues manage to throw in a short re-powering session at times locking doors to feel safe. Techniques differ, but the hotter the workplace, the more the healthy they are. Efficiency and overall productivity at work do not suffer. In many creative professions the time spent at your desk correlates little with indicators of success. However, we still know little about the effects of regular napping on longevity.

26/09/202624/09/2026

Cultural Identities

The cultural identity of a cross-border region, like Tyrol, is subject to influences from several nation states. Historical developments have led to creation and reshaping of (internal) borders repeatedly. The exhibition in the “Museum of European Cultures” traces the many links the region and culture of Tyrol has to Austria, Italy and Bavaria, Germany. Specific crafts and designs of furniture (see below) or folk fashion have played a considerable role in the making and survival of Tyrol and its cultural identity despite globalization. Tourism has become the major source of revenue. The challenges of climate change, increase in transport across the Alps and over-tourism are hard to reconcile in this hot spot of the confrontation of traditional and modern values. The idyllic panorama of “Der Wilde Kaiser” appears frequently in cinema and photographs about the region. For some, such images may become a kind of second home or escape route. Literature on the region or dealing with the region complements the reflections about cultural identity or identities.

25/09/202624/09/2026

Gone Home

There are at least 2 perspectives on going home. For the person away from home, it could be understood in the sense of returning home. For the community still living at a place associated or idealised as home, it is often interpreted as a home coming. In view of the powerful global social trend of urbanization, many people associate with “going home” as if migrated persons from rural areas would return home to the countryside, maybe just for a short visit. However, a home is to be interpreted much larger than just being a place, a location or a regional idiosyncratic feature, like the sea, the river, the banks or mountains. You might go home to a familiar sounding dialect or language. For some it is the idea of freedom or liberal values which they have moved to, that became their home. For others it might just be the possibility to practice a rather unique sport, which determines where they would feel at home. Home could just be a “state of mind” rather than a location.

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