In this video, you'll learn how you can design for a collectible being and for the good life. By looking beyond our western ways of knowing, doing and being. Here's the guest for this episode. Let the show begin. Hola, I'm Diana. This is the Service Design Show and this is episode 180. Hi, my name is Marc Fontaine and welcome back to a brand new episode of the Service Design Show. On this show, we explore what's beneath the surface of service design, what are all those hidden and invisible things that make the difference between success and failure, all to help you design great services that have a positive impact on people, business and obviously our planet. Our guest in this episode is Diana Albarón González. Diana is a lecturer at the University of Auckland and she did a fantastic PhD thesis titled Towards a Buen Viver centric design, the colonizing artisanal design with Mayan aweavers from the highlands of Chiapas, Mexico. The reason I'm excited to have Diana on the show with us today is because we're going to broaden the perspective on the common discourse around design because what you hear and read about design these days, including here on the show, is mostly driven by a Western and academic perspective. That's a perspective that's been highly influenced by industrialization and consumerism. And we all know what trouble that has got us into. Fortunately, there are other ways of approaching design, ways that are maybe less well documented and maybe considered to be less scientific but equally valuable. These ways offer a much needed alternative and enrich our common perspective on design. Diana has extensively studied these other ways of approaching design and she has discovered that they can lead to solutions that are much more aligned with the local culture and environment. And that's not all. These alternative ways of approaching design also allow qualities like our collective well-being and their good life to flourish. So if you stick around to the end of this episode, you'll know how you can overcome the current limitations of our design process. Why it's crucial that we first acknowledge the power and privilege we hold as designers. And finally, how you can use these alternative ways of knowing, doing and being to become a more well-rounded professional. I hope you're just as excited as I am for this upcoming conversation. So now it's time to sit back, relax and enjoy the conversation with Diana Albron González. Welcome to the show, Diana. Hi, thank you for the invitation. Yeah, obviously I wanted to talk to you because this is going to be a very interesting topic that we're going to discuss and it's always nice to have a guest from all the way from New Zealand, the opposite side of the world from where I am. Diana, before we jump into the topic of today, we would love to know a little bit more about you, your context, what do you do these days? So could you share a bit about that with us? Yeah, my name is Diana, Diana Albron González. I know in English speaking countries they call me Diana, but I always prefer Diana because I'm from Mexico, so it's fine speaker. And then, yeah, I've been in New Zealand, in Alterra, New Zealand for the past eight years. And I'm an lecturer in the Wai Kapa Tamataro, which is the University of Oakland in the time program. Oh, wow. And which, is there, of course, there is, like, lecturer on which subject, which topics do you teach? Yeah, I'm, I teach in the design undergrad and postgrad, and yeah, mostly I'm in charge of the year three the last year, so I teach design methodologies, design research methodologies for undergrad and postgrad, and yeah, PhD supervision as well. And you mentioned that you have been in New Zealand for the last eight years. How did you end up in New Zealand? Oh, that's a long story. Well, actually, New Zealand is my fifth country, living overseas, so I've been here and there. So I've been, I studied my master in Spain, and then I had a scholarship to spend a few months in, nine months in Japan, then I live in Singapore, and then I end up here. So yeah, between studies, family plans, and then, yeah, we end up here. And then here, I started teaching in the university, well, in another university for a while, and then I started a PhD there. So yeah, that's just go with the flow. Here is, well, where you'll end up next. Is there something on your bucket list? I would never say never, but I don't know. Canada, it's always been kind of like on my radar, because it's kind of my family in Mexico because they still there. So, but who knows, we'll check in in a few years. Diana, I'm going to try to pronounce it in the more Spanish way than the English way. I know that you've been listening to a few episodes. So, you know what's coming. We have a lightning round with five questions that you haven't prepared for just to get to know you even better as a person next to the professional. Are you ready? Yep. All right. Let's start with the geographical question. If you could work from anywhere in the world now that you've seen so many places. Which place would you like to be? Oh, I don't know if any particular country, but definitely beer being near the water and near nature is something that I really love. So anywhere near the sea will be good. All right, we'll mark that one down. Next question is if you could recommend a book for us all to read. Which book would you recommend? Oh, hard to pick only one. This is quite a few, but design related or in general? Can be in general. Oh, well, speaking about co-design and because personally being in the same network beyond sticky notes by K. My culture, but I think that's how I was your name. Yeah, beyond sticky notes. It's about co-design. So I think that's the thing that I think comes to my mind recently. Well, add that one to the reading list down below. Our third question is a classic one. What's always in your fridge? Ah, hot sauce. Mexico, so I need hot sauce. All right, all right. And what did you want to become when you were a kid? I wanted to be a zoologist. I wanted to study animals or serve them. Yeah, cool. And fifth and final question is, do you recall the moment that you learned about service design? Yeah, I was thinking about it when my listening to the other podcast and I think it was at the end of my master and it was around 2007. I did my master in Spain and I was exploring at that time experience design. So yeah, I was reading Nathan Shedroff and the notion of having thinking about experience and design relationship with time before, during, after all of that. And that led me to, to, yeah, service design later on. So quite a long time ago, if that's around the period. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you for sharing this. Always interesting to hear the things that you do not read on a CV on a link or a LinkedIn profile. So let's dive into today's topic. I would say by the term that you've introduced to me, we haven't addressed it yet, but we've sort of scratched on the services of this in some other episodes. You, I'm going to summarize it and help me to correct if it's not right. Designing with when VVR, designing for collective well-being, right? And plural ways of knowing, doing and thinking. Yeah. Plural ways of, yeah, knowing, doing and being. Yeah. Okay. There's a lot to unpack here. First of all, maybe the term, and I'm going to go back to when VVR, what's that all about? And how did that get on your radar? Yeah. When VVR, when means good, VVR is like living, a good living. It's a term in that you can find in Latin America. Originally, it came, it's more linked to sumacosai, sumacosai, sumacosai, sumacosai, sumacosai. Which are Andean, Quechua, and Aymara ways of, it's a good life, a quality of life, simple life. And it's being used in the constitutions in Ecuador and Bolivia, so it's known, it's kind of a philosophy from indigenous communities. However, like when VVR is a term in Spanish, but it's being used, let's say it's kind of an umbrella term that unites because different indigenous communities in different parts of the world, at least in Abia Yala, that's the name of the American continent. Different communities have different ways of different philosophies of when VVR, like for example, I work alongside Mayan weavers, Tzil and Celtal weavers from Chiapas and the state that I'm from in South of Mexico. And for example, for them, their Buen Bibi could be, it's Lequil Cuslechal. Lequil is good, Cuslechal is life. So yeah, different indigenous communities have these ways of Buen Bibi. So that's how I end up. This isn't a topic that's on everybody's radar. How did you develop an interest in exploring this and connecting this to design? It's being used, like Buen Bibi in a way, it's an alternative to development, but development from a Western perspective. So yeah, like in Latin America, it's a concept that has been growing in popularity or knowledge. It's being more widespread. And so when I was doing my PhD, I was starting my PhD focusing on artisanal design. That's a field in Latin America, in different Latin American countries as a space where designers and artisans collaborate. So I was exploring that alongside yeah, this collective of weavers. And while working together, we started after, I think it was after the first field research that, because he said that sometimes it was sustainability and all the practices. And then, but in a way, they come from a kind of a Western global North view of development and sustainability and all of that. So yeah, in our conversations and in our work together, we were, I was wondering how, what is the one Bibi from them? What is the good quality of life that is attached to the work that they do? So yeah, like just by talking and working together, then I realized that part of the, that's when I knew about the Kipus Lechal, which was similar to the one Bibi and other alternative of one Bibi for them. So that's how we started exploring that. And that led to the, even the title of the thesis, like towards a Boen Bibi-centric design. So we started to explore how designing or Boen Bibi would look like as a harmonious coexistence of diverse beings with nature, culture and Mother Earth and all of that. So having a different logic of design. This concept, you're, in my perspective, you're putting this next to or opposite to what you define as Western design philosophies or global North design philosophies. Can you elaborate a little bit on that? Like what are the differences and yeah. World views or we exist within the way we operate or the way that we see even design and at least design education has been attached more even regardless where you are, it's attached a lot with Western knowledge or European or from the US. So even though I study in Mexico industrial design as my degree, I still learn about the Bauhaus and all of these design approaches that reflect a very particular way of doing design. So yeah, in the last maybe decade or a few years there's this questioning of if that's the only type of design that exists because sometimes even for me, it was a cognitive dissonance because when you learn about like polar theory and all of these other ways of what good design is when you see a reality is like someone from the global South or Latin America, like Mexico, but I also saw that like living in other places like Singapore and so the things that you learn as what good design is, it kind of clashes with what we see every day in our context in the different parts. So in a way that kind of, I'm not the only one questioning this of course and there's other people and other scholars like saying design do exist in our context with indigenous communities, for example, as an ancestral knowledge, but it's just not called that way. So for me, it was kind of trying to open this space or just direct the gaze that actually other designs do exist or the ways of designing do exist. It's just not acknowledged as such. And acknowledged by who in this case? Academia, even in design programs, design education, like we barely just do the exercise, I invite everyone to do the exercise, just Google good design or good designer or famous designer and you wanna see a lot of diversity in that, in that, in those results it shows kind of a view from a modern colonial world view so in a way, I think I wanna believe, I wanna think that I'm part of this movement of designers or scholars who are bringing the attention that actually there are other ways of designing that are more aligned to different contexts, different places, for example, because I live in Alteroa, New Zealand, I can see that here that Maori design, it's a thing, like it's acknowledged and it's recognized and it's aligned to tell Maori, Maori worldview. So that's something that I've learned a lot by being here too. And I think it was a big point of difference of doing the PhD here in Alteroa rather than doing it somewhere else. So this limited and maybe narrow perspective on design or how it's documented, how it's communicated right now. What's the consequence of that? As in, what are we missing or what's not happening through the fact that we're just having a very, well, yeah, maybe narrow lens? Well, first enough, let's see, from a social justice perspective or environmental justice as well or like from a justice lens, design as it is now, or hegemonic design, let's call it, it leaves a lot of people out. So sometimes it designs for just for the 10%, 5% of the population. So at the end, there's a lot of people that are actually left out in design or the environment. The environment is used as a resource to be exploited. And we know the consequences of those behaviors. So at the end, I think it's important that we integrate all of these other worldviews that are a little bit more aligned to, yeah, more responsible, more, not only human, but for example, I talk also a lot about values and in Latin America, there's a concept called sentipensar, senti is feel, pensari is think, from well, recognized by, for Colombian scholar, sociologist Orlando Pals-Borda, that for us, we need to feel, think at the same time to make sense, that it contrasts from, you know, like this thinking approach or like, I think therefore I am, from other worldviews, like from our context, it starts different and also corazonar, that's also aligned to indigenous worldviews from Nabiayala, from the Americas, and also aligned with the thought and my knowledge. So corazonar, to heart and the thought or to core reason, some scholars, they said to think with the heart and think with the head and feel with the heart. So at the end, there's other approaches doing design that are not disconnected to the, you know, like with scientific approaches of objectivity that you disconnect from people and you disconnect from the object or subject of study, while other ways of working alongside people that are more, yeah, aligned with our humanity. And more integrated, maybe, with our situational, more, even more context-aware. Yeah, place-based, they are situated in a context, they acknowledge our own biases, like it's a concept that I use, that I created in the thesis that is called a 3PA, Power, Politics, Privilege and Access. So our position as designers in different contexts, depending how we are perceived or where we are located, it varies our power, it varies our privilege, the access that we can have to think, to think. So I could experience that, that came out of my own experience as a migrant woman of color in New Zealand, doing a PhD on a scholarship, you know, like that grant me access, different access and less power related to, but when I was going to my country to do fieldwork in a way doing a PhD in an English-speaking country in a so-called first world, and I thought of obviously that word. So it really opens and gave me access to spaces just by doing that, even though I'm from there, you know, like, so this changing of situation of places and positionality really make that more evident to me. So that's why I think it's important as designers that we are aware of this, the power that we have, the access that we have, the privilege that we have to be more responsible of our approaches rather than abuse of power. It's more like, how can we balance that? And actually, especially when we work alongside communities, how can we work alongside communities in a way that is responsible and ethical and that we balance those things rather than just benefit from them? Do you feel, because that's a loaded question, do you feel currently design is positioned and educated as a way to benefit and maybe extract and exploit our communities? The reason I'm asking this is that's not the general notion that I'm hearing when I'm talking to the design community, right? Most people who get into this space are really passionate, want to do good for the world. So there's a lot of positive motivation going on there. So I'm curious, like, where do you see, how is this playing out? Yeah, there's, for example, where context I'm from and Chiapas, like, there's so many NGOs and people with good intentions, which is great. You know, like, I think that's a lot of the starting point. Like, for example, I started my PhD thinking about social design and wanted to approach through a social design lens. But then while doing the field work and being there, I realized, like, many say that they do social design and actually they do. However, using a decolonial lens, that would really help to shift and bring into awareness matters of, for example, intellectual property, ownership of knowledge. So while, yes, there are good intentions of collaboration, for example, with indigenous communities. But many times, depending who's the funder, the IP becomes part of the funders or part of, like, for example, indigenous artists and designers' collaboration. Sometimes those knowledges are actually registered and to be appropriated by external or NGOs or academia or other ways that, but if we think about the Nesbo and the declaration of indigenous people's rights, the designs, patterns, and all of that are part of indigenous rights of, the rights of indigenous peoples. So, you know, so there's good intentions, but there's also a lot of systems that are designed to benefit more certain groups than others. So I think it's very important that we not only come, yet straight, that we have good intentions, but we need to also be aware of these power relationships and all of the complexities of systems that benefit some people more than others. And especially when we work with marginalized communities, like historically marginalized communities, we have a big, I think our sense of responsibility should be greater than. And how does that, how does that greatest sense of responsibility manifest itself? Like, how do we need to change our approach, our attitude, our thinking? I think that's also kind of between a personal journey, because depending on our position, our positionality and our situation, again, we will have more or less power access, privilege and all that stuff. So at the end, I think that will be a good first approach that I've seen in from, well, from feminist approaches, feminist theories, the colonial theories, indigenous, it's to start by positioning yourself and break the positionality, recognizing all of these, yeah, powers that are coming to play, because so we can try to balance them, you know, like also related to bias, you know, like unconscious bias is something that is wired already, but being aware of those biases can help you to try to balance them. So exploring these things on a personal level, I think it's important as designers, especially if we really want to do good. Like exploring your biases and understanding the power that you have, like which position you take in the system, I dose examples of things that are missing in sort of the Western design philosophy that people, I don't know, maybe look more at the process oriented perspectives of the design craft and not so much on the things that we just mentioned. Is that an example of things that are missing in the Western design philosophy? If we think about the design history, design history, because I teach that part of those parts in here, if we think about designer, like for example, the origin of all design methods and tools, they're attached or they emerged from on a particular time, like 60s, 70s and it's related to designer science. So they have this notion of objectivity and you can predict and all of that stuff. So they emerged from that part until like, well, later on they were like, you know, like Sean, not Sean or Sean, talking about the reflexive practitioner, you know, like there was another wave of designers and creatives who were questioning that approach as a science, designed as science, that it was more attached to engineering, but also like talking about intuition, experience, all of those stuff. So it's not necessarily that it's like, all Western approaches don't have that. However, we need to recognize and acknowledge the origin of all this and why they maybe they are not there at the beginning, but fortunately there's many, many researchers that you have a few in your show already who are approaching things differently. And that gives me always a lot of hope. And that's, as a design educator, I try to, when I give examples of what's being done around the world, I try purposefully, I try to bring this examples from places that are not necessarily from the, actually minority world. We call it the global majority or the global South. So to make visible these initiatives that they already exist. And I collaborate with researchers from different parts of the world and also, well, especially now Australia that we're trying to bring all of this and share resources for other design scholars because sometimes it takes a lot of time when you look for examples or cases around the world, normally what you find are mainly from Europe or the US and it takes time and it requires an effort to really try to diversify the curriculum as well. But again, there's many, many emerging resources you can find online, even from the US, from Canada that are bringing these other ways of doing design. So it gives me hope. I'm really curious. I don't know if you sort of know by heart, but what are some of these examples that you see resonate with people where when you share this, people go like, ah, now I get it. Or, ah, yeah, now I see the gap that exists. Are there any sort of iconic or stereotypical examples that you revert to? Don't say typical, but just being in Alteroa, being in New Zealand, like Maori design and tell Maori and the influences, it's here. So I show and bring those things. I'm in the Netherlands, so I have no clue. What is it that you show and what is it that you see around you? Yeah, I will talk about people that I know and that are amazing designers, Maori designers or this, for example, organization called Nahu Maori Design that is a network of Maori practitioners, creatives, designers, architects and they're doing amazing work on indigenous design. So because they design based on their worldviews. So that network, then, well, from Alteroa, that will be Ngahu, then Iria, indigenous design, like with Johnson, with Tahira, and yeah, there's Nafanga showroom. There's many in Alteroa. And then there's also through them and through indigenous design, I've met, yeah, architectures and designers and creatives from, for example, from Turtle Island in Canada and in the US, architects, that they are, the way that they approach design or architecture or whatever field they are, it's based on indigenous worldviews that resonate and work alongside and they collaborate differently. Then from, yeah, from Latin America as well, there's a lot of push as well, bringing, for example, design from a, feminist design from a gender lens, the programs in Argentina and in Mexico too, like push to bring gender, a gender lens into design. Yeah, just to mention something. Yeah, so in essence, the outcome of this design process could be, I don't know, a building, a place, a service. And I'm just trying to make it tangible for myself. This could be, I don't know, a healthcare service for the elderly, but designed in a way which is more aligned with the context of situation, indigenous ways of knowing, rather than following a more, again, let's generalize a Western academia-based design process. And the outcome could be, again, in both cases you might have a healthcare service for the elderly, one is going to be more aligned with the community, the other one less, I don't know. Is there a simplified summary here? Yeah, like for example, here in the New Zealand context, again, out to Ottawa, we talk about well-being, like related to well-being, right? Health and well-being. Like the Ministry of Health acknowledges, and you can find it on the official websites, acknowledge Hauora, Hauora is like the Maori well-being. And they have different models. For example, one is called Te Fare Ta Pa Fa. Fare is house, Ta Pa is the size, Pa is four. So they make an analogy of a Fare of a house, of a well-being of a person, come from Maori worldview. So for example, you have Taha Tinana, which is the body, Taha Wairua, the spirit, Taha Pana, family and community, and Taha Hinena, our mind and emotions. So they, from based on Teau Maori, Maori worldview, it's like a person's well-being. It's like a house. You can have a standing house if one of the sites are not in balance. So, and that's part of the, you can find it on the, in the Health Ministry of Health in New Zealand. So acknowledging ways that for Maori, Sangata Fenua, the well-being of a person is not only the physical, it's all of these other dimensions that are important to acknowledge. Another example is, for example, in housing. Sometimes when you, when you build houses, you build based on a nuclear type of family, you know, like you have even gender, like parents, kids, how many, but if you think about Pacific here, like different Pacific communities from Samoa, Tongan, because there's a big Pacific communities here in Aotearoa and not for being in Pacific too, Maori too. That structure, that family structure that is only within nuclear family, is actually not the reality for many. You have intergenerational households, which is like actually that's something that I saw in Singapore as well, like the public housing now, they're trying to do this type of living that are, you know, like intergenerational houses. So there are small departments that are kind of attached. So you have the grandparents living next to, next to the family. So you know, so it is very culturally responsive of ways of being rather than having this approach of what I think it's a family looks like. Actually it's acknowledging that there's all kinds of families, sizes and intergenerational that are part of a culture of approaching living. So having this awareness of different cultures and different worldviews is actually beneficial and it's more appropriate to the context and people. What I find interesting here and still sort of hard to grasp from what I know from the Western design practice and the things that I've been exposed to most is a good designer will do user research, will try to understand the needs and desires, will try to hopefully understand the worldviews of the people, the communities they are designing for. It's like, what's lacking there? Why do you feel that that's not enough? Sometimes it could be transactional or it could feel a bit transactional that even the perception, the language that we use as user as something that you're detached but design in other parts of the world is more, or communities are more relational. So more than project based that you finish and then you're gone and then they never see you again or you touch into different communities and then you disappear and then the communities that you work with or they never hear about the results or because that happens sometimes sadly. So it's like more like a top down approach where, okay, we just consult a lot of people and then we get the information and we make the decisions and we take this, make the decisions based on what we know. Well, if you think about reciprocity, if you think about relations, these things are more long-term. It's not only transactional for like very short period but it's something that it grows through time. So of course it requires longer, it requires decision-making together, it requires all the ways of collaboration that are rather than, yeah, like extractivist of the information that I need and then I make all the decisions.  So the outcomes and also people when are involved, they can take ownership of these things and it's a capability building. There's all the ways of relating to people, I think as well that is in a way becomes also personal, at least in my experience. Yeah, so the power dynamic is one thing, for instance. And the designer who has the power to make the decisions and who, I don't know, tries to approach things from, even though when they use empathy and sort of intuition, try to make it sort of scientific, they still are in the position of power, of leading the design process while what you're describing is even a more humble position of the designer and that's going to make a huge difference, obviously. Yeah, we can see approaches that it's shifting the role of the designer from an expert to more like a facilitator of processes. That's a shift that we've seen in design practice. But also, I think, as you said, it's a matter of power sharing and it's a matter of knowing and recognizing people that they are the expert of their live experiences, count a lot and they are the expert of their own lives. So our roles are starting to shift. So compared to where it's starting to study, like industrial design, like many, many years ago, there's a big shift, but also, that's why it comes from a sense of responsibility. Ethics is something that it needs to be up in the front more. For example, my critique about thinking and empathy as a stage on a design process, it's rather than it has to be all along. It's not something that you perform in a certain stage. It's an approach, it's a way of being. That's why I'm talking like career ways of being, because at the end, the way that we relate to people, it's not only when we are gathering information, but it's a long way where we make decisions as well that it might not be, let's say, aligned to the funder fully, but could be the more responsible thing to do. So sometimes it's hard, because sometimes what I've experienced, sometimes it's just saying no. When I get approached to certain things and I think that it's not the right thing to do, I just have to say no, I'm not the right person for this. What do you say to service design or design professionals who are in a reality where they work and live and operate in a pretty industrialized civilization, very driven by creating stuff or creating services? Like that's how design is mostly being used to put out things that people wanna buy or improve public services, but there is a very industrialized way of using design. And when you share this story, does it resonate? Are they able to translate that in their context, in their situation? I think we all can contribute to change systems, whatever we are. Because even for me, it kind of put me on hold for a while while starting the PhD and I was using decolonization theory or decolonization and then it's like, well, academia is one of the most colonizing institutions or fields. So I felt these paradox and it's like, whatever I do, I will be, you know, like, but I used the principles of leading biobain, the Mandaro Vedeciendo from the Zapatista movement. And one of the, they have seven principles and one it says, construir, no destruir, like to build and to construct, not to destroy. So that really helped me a lot to say, there's always ways to create alternatives. So this, it takes time and effort, of course, and it's not easy, but that's why, for example, was sustainability something that when I was studying, it was kind of a post-grad or a view that it was not even, it was very marginalized still. And now everyone knows what sustainability is and want to change things and systems and products and ways of doing because of the need of doing this. You know, like we're in a world that, in a stage in the world that we need to take action. And I think there's always ways that we can do and take action. And even with small changes that we do in the place that we are, just, for example, saying, no, if we are offered projects or we're offered things that doesn't feel right, they don't feel right or we see that they are not, they will oppress people, they will marginalize more. We can always say, no, if, and that's a good start, even passing that project, I'm not the right person because this is working alongside these communities but I have, I know someone who's great and it's part of that community that maybe, or bring them in, bring them into the project. Like if you, but something that I learned here that I like is whole space. It's not for us to, if we're in a position of power a little bit and access for a project that it will be alongside communities. So hold the space but bring people in so they can act and they can do rather than us telling what to do. It's more like, okay, if I'm in this position, I will just hold space for communities to do what is more appropriate for them. So there's always little ways that we can do that. What I find really fascinating and interesting from our conversation, and this is, and this is already going to be my takeaway. Like when I, again, look at how design is practiced, educated thought, there's very much a God syndrome. Like we can create, we can shape the world. We are, and especially when you're dealing with design crafts that do work with tangible aspects, graphic design, visual design, product design, you really do have that makers instinct. You wanna shape the world. What I'm getting from your reflection is that that's great but at the same time, it's also very important to understand your limitations and know when you should, like you said, say no or call in somebody else or recognize that it's not your, position, it's not your moment, it's not your skill to shape this. And because you might be doing more harm unconsciously by getting involved in a specific challenge that's not aligned with that community. Does that make sense? Yep, new summer is great. So what have you found is the most difficult thing to, I don't know if explain is the right word, but to get across about this topic? I normally start, for example, when I talk, lecture or give talks or workshops or whatever it is, I start a little bit with a disclaimer. And I started a disclaimer in a sense that I invite people to reflect and think. And I have, like for example, if it's a workshop, just I have a section somewhere there so they can write what they're going through, their emotions, and because sometimes when we realize, especially when you talk about power and privilege, when we realize that we have more power than or we are privileged than, it can come as a sense of guilt or shame or like, oh, or even you put an emotional reaction of put people in defense and block. So kind of before starting, sometimes, well, normally, commonly I start with this disclaimer and this invitation for people to think like the topics that we're gonna talk, it might be triggering for some people. And I said, I invite you to whatever you're going through when you're feeling first stop and think about it, take notes, what are you feeling? What are the thoughts in your head? Where does it feel like sometimes like, oh, you know, like in the stomach or a heart or sweating or whatever it is, just take notes. Just don't react, don't respond because sometimes when, yeah, I have a kind of a phrase there when it's like, when some groups benefit more than others because history of marginalization. And then I would say people that, a common response is not my fault. It's not my fault that my grandparents or my ancestry did this. It's like, yes, it's not my fault, but we do benefit from systems that oppress some people and benefit us. So in a way is we are responsible. So I have this slide at the beginning. So yes, just observe when you're trigger, why you're trigger, take notes, reflect and in your own time, think about these things. Why do you think you're triggered? Why do you think this is touching you? And then once these emotions go through, what are you gonna do about it? Because yes, it is not our fault that I didn't choose to gender raise or ethnicity, socioeconomic status, country. Like we didn't choose anything when we were born, but we do benefit in certain ways or not. So what am I gonna do about it? That's a really interesting question and it's very tempting to go deeper into that, but that kind of reflection and putting away the, or not putting away, experiencing that resistance, feeling it deeply and then trying to do better and acknowledging that everybody is in this position one way or the other. Everybody has some sort of power, privilege, whatever benefit. So as long as I think as you recognize that everybody has this, it's okay. Like it's almost not personal. What is your hope for the future? I think that we are more connected to ourselves personally, but as a whole self, you know? I talk about in the research in the thesis, talk about embodiment, you know, like to really being in our bodies, being present. So that we are more aware of all of these things and that moves us to make things better from a Buen Vibir perspective, like collective well-being. Like how can we not only think on our own, Buen Vibir, or our own well-being personal, because sometimes when we think about well-being or wellness, it's very centered on a personal level, but actually we're part of a community. Humans are part of the planet of nature and I always emphasize nature culture as a unity, like aligned to indigenous worldviews because this culture comes from environment, like the nature and all that stuff. So it's like if we, yeah, that will be my hope, like that we can think and act for a collective well-being in many dimensions on wherever we are. If somebody is inspired by our conversation and wants to learn more about this, are there any good resources that you can recommend? Yeah, I think there's work from other scholars. Like, yeah, I'm starting to write more about this as well, like outside, like, but not only academic papers, but just, they can start with getting inspiration by people around them, their communities, their families. Just be more present and really listen more and be more in touch with nature as well. Like for me, that's my medicine. So in terms of I share sometimes content on my LinkedIn and there's, yeah, you have great guests already as well in the, in your show that I've been hearing for a while. And so I think it's just a matter of being curious of questioning our practices and ourselves, not only practice and not, and don't see, you know, like for me, it's also important to think that yes, our work or our practices, it's our work, it's not everything that we are, but it is personal at the same time. So it's not, it's not, I use a lot of weaving analogies. So in our whole fabric textile, a thread of our lives is our work or our design practice, but also who we are and the worldview we bring. So everything is intertwined at the same time. So we need to explore this and be aware of these things more. And I don't think that that will only benefit your work, but also your personal life, your family life. So that's maybe a general good piece of advice to explore. Deanna, if you could summarize our conversation in one center, I know it's hard, but what would you say? It was a nice dialogue. It's a dialogue at the end because we thought, sometimes we think about communication or we think that we communicate, but sometimes it's more than what we wanna say rather than we want here and really a two-way flow of talking. So I think at like summary, part of what maybe it could be this starboard by this dialogue, really dialogue with ourselves, dialogue with other people, dialogue with nature, just get the, yeah, the earth is talking all the time. That's a great line to conclude and end up on for today at least. Deanna, thank you so much for coming on, sharing this with the community, making us aware that this exists, giving us new stuff to look upon Google or chat GPT these days. I know that this is going to benefit a lot of practitioners. So thank you once again. No, thank you. Do you feel that our current Western dominated perspective on design is limiting? If so, why and how? Leave a comment down below and I'd love to hear from you. If you enjoy this conversation, make sure to click that like button. That lets me know whether or not we're on the right track by addressing topics like this. My name is Mark Fontaine and I wanna thank you for spending a small part of your day with me. It's an absolute honor and pleasure. Please keep making a positive impact. I'll catch you very soon in the next video.


Like if I was the all-powerful creator of the universe, why would I choose to include that? Does the Bible endorse slavery? What about the seemingly evil things that God did in the Old Testament? And was Jesus even a real person? In today's video, I'm going to be interacting with some objections made by an ex-Christian made a video explaining why he no longer identifies as a Christian. As always, let's dive in. This may sound crazy, but honestly the biggest thing that made me change was reading the Bible and studying Christianity. Because in church, you're kind of taught the same type of things they pick into from certain areas of the Bible they want to focus on. And I think that can be okay, especially when it's focused on the love portions of the Bible and more like good things. But when you start actually diving into the Bible, reading it for what it is, looking at how it was created, the fact that Jesus' life wasn't even documented until 40 years after he left earth, a lot of things just don't really add up. I actually think this is a testimony to the benefit of going verse by verse in church instead of focusing on purely topical messages in order to get the word across. By going verse by verse, yes it takes longer, but it means that you can't avoid anything. The sad truth is is you won't see this in a lot of modern trendy churches because they're scared of certain passages of the Bible and they don't want to scare people away. When you go verse by verse, you were teaching people, you're teaching your congregation that you're not scared of anything, that nothing in the Bible you shouldn't be like, oh, we don't touch that stuff because we don't know how to answer that. No, there is an answer. There is a reason behind it. Okay, but in this next point, my boy is complaining that Jesus' life was documented 40 years after his ascension. He says, how can we believe that Jesus even existed or what he said was true because he was documented 40 years after his life? But hold up, that is still within the lifespan of eyewitness accounts. So it's not even like it's a generation ahead. It's still within that same generation. From purely historical perspective, 40 years is an extremely short amount of time. Now, I'm not exactly sure why he poses this accusation. Maybe he's trying to put into question the existence of Jesus because his life was documented 40 years after his life. But it's important to note that there are extra biblical impartial sources that confirm Jesus' life as well. We can look to the writings of Flavius Josephus, one of the most famous Jewish historians. He affirmed that, yes, Jesus did exist. He lived. He was a teacher and he was crucified.  And then when you get into the verses that talk about slavery, God literally says, I think it's Exodus 21-20, that if you beat a slave and they recover in a couple of days, it's okay because they're your property. Like, if I was the all-powerful creator of the universe, why would I choose to include that in my religious text? And the text is supposed to show my character. Now, part of the reason I do these videos is because people that scroll on TikTok or Instagram are seeing this type of content and they're watching this stuff and they're looking at this verse and they're saying to themselves, oh man, I guess that's it. You know, God supports slavery and he wants people to be enslaved and he doesn't value human rights and all this kind of thing. And it's like, no bro, you're not getting the context of what the verses actually saying. So that's what I want to do. Whenever I get a verse like this, somebody poses a verse to me. I'm like, okay, let me just take a step back here and look at the context. Okay, a couple of things to keep in mind here. Now, I'm no expert at this, but when we're looking at slavery in the Bible, we shouldn't be thinking of maybe slavery that we're more familiar with happen in the United States or in Great Britain or across the world, really, in terms of this kind of undignified kidnapping and slave. And it's not about that. It's about this kind of idea of indentured servitude where somebody would be a destitute, they'd be in poverty, they would sign a contract voluntarily with somebody, somebody that was more wealthy, in order to do work for them for a given period of time and they would become their slave and they would become their master. Another thing to keep in mind, especially in the Old Testament, was God was putting regulations around this idea of slavery that doesn't mean that he gave it his full endorsement. He recognized the hardness of man's hearts and was trying to continue to conform them to his ways. Also, it's important to understand that in the Old Testament, kidnapping and rape were both punishable by death. So, we're continuing to see that this kind of slavery is very, very different from the slavery that we might be more familiar with. Okay, let's look at the verse that he's referring to. It's in Exodus 20 to 21. It says here, when a man strikes his slave, male or female, with a rod and the slave dies under his hand, he shall be avenged. But if the slave survives a day or two, he is not to be avenged for the slave is his money.  Like, that's a good thing. But if the slave recovers, then the master just gets to go free. Like, this doesn't make any sense, but we need to look at the context. In a few verses down, it does address what happens in that scenario.    They will be killed eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. But if that slave recovers, what happens? Do they just kind of, oh, business as usual? No, we learn in this next verse that if they hurt their eye or damage their tooth or like the language that's used, if they abuse their slave in any way, that the slave has the right to walk free, to be released from the contract. Your punishment as a master for abusing your slave is that they are free, that they are no longer bound to your previous agreement.  Of course, it's happened all throughout human history, but what God was regulating was a very different look at what slavery looked like. It was one where people would volunteer themselves because of their destitution or their poverty in order that they can be fed. Obviously, those weren't ideal scenarios, but even in that, we can see God's heart in wanting to provide dignity to the slave. But the thing is, God does some really terrible things in the Old Testament.  And even then, he floods the whole earth. We love to think about how, oh wow, look at the giraffes going on to Noah's Ark. What we don't think about is the millions of people that were drowning just for existing. And people were like, oh, well, that's not God. That was Old Testament God. We have the New Covenant. But God is the same yesterday, today and forever. That's in the Bible. And just for a God that says he's not an author of confusion, he's got to be the most confusing character in history. And the bio has to be one of the most confusing books of literature I've ever seen. There is a lot to unpack here.  Now, many people have posed the accusation before of saying that God is not just, that God is not good because he did these things. But the question that we need to be asking ourselves is, who defines what is just? If we're making these moral accusations against God, what foundation are we standing on? Without appealing to God's objective moral law, we're left on sinking sand. In a world without God, we are merely matter and motion, chemical reactions in body bags. There is no ought, there is no right or wrong. We have no right to dignity, we have no intrinsic worth. In that world, wrong is just an opinion. But the truth is there is a God and he has laid out his objective moral standard. He is the judge, we're not. Take the flood, for instance. Yes, it was gruesome and maybe it was even a perplexing response to what we would consider to be not that big of a deal. But then we look at what was going on there. The world was consumed with violence. It wasn't like everyone was just yippy, skippy and all of a sudden God decided to rain down on them literally and wipe out all those people. No, it was consumed with violence and evil. We need to be asking the question, what do we ultimately deserve? Because we can fight on behalf of these people that were killed by God in the Old Testament and say, that was unjust, that was wrong of God to do that. But we need to look back at ourselves and say, what do I deserve because of my sin? And the truth is that the wages of sin is death. And God would have been within his rights to make this a pattern of his judgment to wipe out the world every once in a while because of the wickedness that we've been consumed with. But he made a covenant with Noah saying that he'll never flood the world again in judgment.  Do not be deceived. God is not mocked for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. Now I'm not going to sit here and pretend like I understand God's ways perfectly or his justice fully, but it's not God's job to justify his actions to me. Whenever I hear people accuse God of being unjust or condemn him for his works in the Old Testament, I just remember this verse. Evil men do not understand justice, but those who seek the Lord understand it completely. Now what interests me is apparently self-proclaimed Christians in his life have said that there is a difference between the God of the New Testament and the God of the Old Testament. But this young man, kudos to him, actually decided to look in the Bible and see what it says about it. God is the same yesterday, today and forever good on him for picking this up because this is true. He's not just a big meanie in the Old Testament and a big squishball hippie in the New Testament. Just think of Matthew 10 where Jesus says, Do not think that I've come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace but a sword for I have come to set man against his father and daughter against her mother and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law and a person's enemies will be those of his own household. Jesus also said, Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand. Doesn't sound like all ponies and rainbows to me, but then you look in the Old Testament how gracious God was in providing to Abraham a ram so he wouldn't have to sacrifice Isaac. Or think of in Acts when Ananias and Sapphira promised to give what they got from selling their land to the church, but then they held some back what happened when they lied and didn't follow through with what they had promised. God killed them to hold the idea that the Old Testament God is a big meaning and the New Testament God is a squishy hippie is to not actually have read the Bible and I'm sorry and that's what it comes down to sometimes. People pick and choose verses because they think it amplifies their point or their perspective of God or what they already believe to be true about God and they don't want to dig into the nitty gritty of what it actually says to get a full scope of what God has been doing throughout the Old Testament and into the New Testament. Now maybe for you watching this video you're still questioning God's justice, but the question you really should be asking is why is God so gracious to me?  Do you think you deserve that? No, no, we were all in that same space even as Christians when we had yet to know Christ we are in this place where God's wrath was building towards us and yet God was patient with us. You need to know there will be a time where God's patience will run out. I want you to take a good hard look in the mirror and see who you truly are. I had to do this as a young teen when I thought I was a great person. I thought I was you know really good and that I was earning God's favor and that I was a good person and I was doing everything right. But ultimately what I encountered was God's law and I encountered the truth of what it says in James that if we keep the whole law and yet stumble at one point we're guilty of all of it. But what I came to realize too is that I hadn't just stumbled in one point.   He died but then he rose again on the third day defeating sin and death and what we are called to do is just as Jesus proclaimed it repent for the kingdom of God is at hand and put our faith in him to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and we will be saved. I don't want you to get lost about accusations about particular parts of the Bible. Yes it's important to have questions but today God is presenting himself to you so clearly so simply for you to understand for you to receive it just like a child to put down your pride to put down your doubts and believe in him. Hey guys thanks for watching this video as always if you enjoyed it give it a like down below and subscribe because I'm putting out new videos like this all the time. A huge thank you to everyone on Patreon that supports what I do. This is my full-time gig now so your guys support on Patreon is a huge blessing. Thank you so much and I'll see you next time. God bless.


Oh, hello there! I was testing how my website looks on a mobile device. Hmm, it is quite troublesome to keep testing on different devices, such as mobile and tablet during development, isn't it? Don't you find it time-consuming? Tell us in the comments below. You can save time by using DevTools device mode to simulate how your page looks and how it performs on a mobile device. First, click Toggle Device Toolbar to open the UI to start simulating a mobile viewport. Alternatively, you can use the Control Shift M on Windows or Command Shift M on macOS to toggle it. By default, the Device Toolbar opens in viewport with dimensions set to responsive. You can drag the handles to resize the viewport or enter specific width and height to wherever dimensions you need. Even better, there are four ways to help you switch between viewport sizes even quicker. First one, can you see the bar on the top with some preset sizes? Hover over them to view the values or click on them to update the viewport size instantly. On top of that, you can rotate the viewport to landscape orientation to find out how your page looks. One thing to note though, in case your screen size is too narrow, the rotate button will disappear. Second, if you have defined CSS breakpoints in your web page, you can show them on the top bar as well. For example, there are two media queries breakpoints on this page. You can identify them by clicking on the three-dot menu, select Show media queries to see them. Similarly, you can click a breakpoint to change the viewports width. Apart from that, DevTools provides a list of predefined common devices to help you emulate your page's layout. On the dimension dropdown, you can see these devices such as iPhone, Pixel or Nest Hub. Let's select Nest Hub for this demo. Time for a bonus tip, some devices have device frame. You can enable it via the three-dot menu and take a screenshot. Look at that, isn't that nice? Besides that, you can customize the device list or add a custom device. Select Edit from the dropdown menu. You can add or remove any device from the list. You can also create a new customized device. The dimension list will refresh according to your selection. Fourth, a less-known way to change the viewport size is to enable the ruler mode. Select Show rulers in the three-dot menu. Now, you can see the two rulers shown on the screen. You can click on the number to set the device width and height. Finally, another bonus tip just for you. You can use the throttling dropdown to simulate your page's performance on slow CPU and low bandwidth network. For example, the low-end mobile option emulates a slow CPU by six times and a slow 3G mode. Next, select Offline mode and refresh the page. In this case, you will see the offline Dino as expected. However, that's not always the case. There are websites that support offline content. For example, the Angular website has a solid offline experience. Most navigations still work even if the page is offline. In this case, you can use the offline option to test it. All right, now you don't need multiple devices. This emulator can save you time and simulate a mobile user experience of your website. For more device mode features in DevTools, go to google.geal-dev2-device-mode for the complete documentation. If you want to learn more about responsive design and building offline experiences, there are two courses on web.dev. The links are in my video description. Thanks again for watching. See you on the next DevTools Tips. Ciao!


فشرف بل اشتغالي بالعلم ولا تبغي به ما عشت يا دا دا دا لا وياله من شراف عظيم الحمد لله رب العالمين له الحمد الحسن والثناء الجميل وشد أن لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له يقول الحق وهو يهد السبيل وشد أن سيدنا ونبينا محمد صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وصحبه وسلم تسليما كثيرا أما بعد وإنهو كتاب ثلاثة الأصول by شيخ الإسلام محمد من عبد الوهاب رحمه الله تعالى هذا هو سعر fifth and we stopped at where the author said أثانية العمل به أول point that we were speaking about previously was knowledge and now we're going to be moving on to the second issue the second point which is العمل به after the person has gained knowledge then knowledge requests implementation knowledge demands implementation every knowledge that does not bring you implementation is not praiseworthy in our religion rather it is a knowledge that is not beneficial and the knowledge which Allah سبحانه وتعالى he praises and the Prophet ﷺ praised is the knowledge that pushes the person to implementation that the person starts to implement that knowledge الله سبحانه وتعالى he says in the Quran يا أيها الذين آمنوا لماذا تقولون ما لا تفعلون كبر مقتن عند الله أن تقولوا ما لا تفعلون الله سبحانه وتعالى he says all those of you who believe why do you say that which you don't do كبر مقتن عند الله a whole severity in the eyes of Allah سبحانه وتعالى for you to say something in which you don't do صورة الصف آية 2 to آية 3 وقال الله جل وعلا الله تبارك وتعالى also said أتأمرون الناس بالبر وتنسون أرفسكم وانتم تتلون الكتاب أفلا تعقلون do you command the people good and you forget yourselves and you are reciting the book of Allah أفلا تعقلون don't you have any intellect and these kind of topics which is implementing the knowledge you know is one of those issues والله that a person should feel الخجل والتقصير he should feel embarrassed and he should feel shy and realized that we haven't reached the calaba or the level that was needed from us in the knowledge that Allah has blessed us with سبحانه وتعالى and the poet said وغير تقي يأمر الناس بالتقا طبيب يداوي والطبيب عليل one who is not pious is commanding piety to the people a doctor who is curing but the doctor himself is ill so this is the position that I personally feel like I fall into a person who is not pious himself is commanding the people to be pious طبيب يداوي والطبيب عليل a doctor who is curing the people and he himself is sick the first people who will be judged the day of judgment the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam told us these three types of people and the hadith Imam Muslim narrated in his صحيح and narrated in كتابه الإمارة باب من قاتل للرياء والسمع استحق النار now we put it in that chapter on the authority of Abu Huraira رضي الله تعالى عنه داد برافس صلى الله عليه وسلم السهل إن أول الناس يقضى يوم القيامة عليه رجل لستشهد فأوتي به فعرفه لعمه فعرفها قال فما عملت فيها قال قاتلت فيك حتى استشهدت قال كذبت ولكنك قاتلت لأن يقال جريء فقد قيل ثم أمر به فسحب على وجهه حتى ألقي في النار ورجل تعلم العلم وعلمه وقرأ القرآن فأوتي به فعرفه لعمه فعرفها قال فما عملت فيها قال تعلمت العلمة وعلمته وقرأت وقرأت فيك القرآن قال كذبت ولكنك تعلمت العلم ليقال عالم وقرأت القرآن ليقال هو قار فقد قيل ثم أمر به فسحب على وجهه حتى ألقي في النار ورجل وسع الله عليه وأعطاه من أصلاف المال كله فأوتي به فعرفه لعمه فعرفها قال فما عملت فيها قال ما تركت من سبيل تحب أن ينفق فيها إلا أنفقت فيها لك قال كذبت ولكنك فعلت ليقال هو جواد فقد قيل ثم أمر به فسحب على وجهه ثم ألقي في النار هذا الحديث يخبرنا وقرأ القرآن وقرأ القرآن وقرأ القرآن one of the people is a person who Allah has given him knowledge and he will be reminded of the blessing of having this knowledge and he would be reminded of this and he would be told and he would be then said to what did you do with this and he would start to say I taught the knowledge that you gave me oh Allah and it would then be said to him you lied you're a liar but you learn this knowledge so you can be called a scholar in other words he learned the knowledge but didn't implement it every knowledge that does not benefit you in the sense where you don't implement it then in reality you are in danger of severe punishments إمام البخاري الإمام المسلم both of them narrated from the authority of Usama Ibn Zaid رضي الله تعالى عنه أن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم قال يجاء بالرجل يوم القيامة يلقى في النار فتندلق أقطابه في النار يدور كما يدور الحمار بريحاه يجتبع أهل النار فيقول أي فلان ما شأنك ليس كنت تأمرنا بالمعروف وتنهانا عن المنكري قال كنت أمركم بالمعروف ولا آتيه وأنهاكم عن المنكري وآتيه أيبان will be brought the day of judgment and he will be thrown into the hellfire his intestines will be brought out and he will be circulating around with his intestines just like the donkey goes around then the people of the hellfire will come around him and they would say to him so and so what happened what is your affairs were you not the one who used to call us to the good and prohibit us from the evil he replied by saying I used to order you the good but I never used to do it and I used to prohibit you from the evil but I used to fall into it also إمام أحمد عبد الله ابن حمايد ربنا أبي شيبا ربنا إحبان and other than them they narrated on the authority of Anasun رضي الله تعالى عنه that the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said أتيت ليلة أسريبي على قوم تقرضوا شفاههم بمقارضة من نار لما قورضت وفت فقلت يا جبريل من هؤلاء قال خطباء أمتك قال خطباء أمتك الذين يقولون ما لا يفعلون ويقرأون كتاب الله ولا يعملون به the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said the night I was ascending up high I came to a people who met two rods were cutting their cheeks the metal rod was from the hellfire every time it gets better then the metal rod is taken and then it is ripped on their cheek فقلت I said يا جبريل the prophet said I asked جبريل I said من هؤلاء who are these people and then the prophet was told خطباء أمتك they are the speakers of your umba الذين يقولون لا يفعلون that which they don't do ويقرأون كتاب الله they read the book of Allah ولا يعملون به and they don't implement it so this is very serious that they got this punishment for having the knowledge and not implementing it وقد كان السلف رضوان الله عليهم يحثون على العمال بالعلم the salaf the pious predecessors they used to urge and push the one who has knowledge to implement that knowledge here we have رضي الله تعالى عنه he said إن الناس أحسن القول كلهم he said the people they have perfected the speech all of them فمن وافق قوله فمن وافق قوله فعله anyone who is speech goes in accordance to his action فذلك الذي أصاب حضه then that one is the person who has gained a good portion ومن خالف قوله فعله and the one who is speech and his actions are not in correlation فإنما يوبخوا نفسه that person he's the one who has made himself into destruction إما إذا الصحابي الجليل أبو درداء رضي الله تعالى عنه he said لا تكونوا تقيا حتى تكونوا علماء ولا تكونوا ولا تكونوا بالعلم جميلا حتى تكونوا به أعملة أبو درداء رضي الله تعالى عنه we said you're not going to be a pious person until you're a person of knowledge and you will not be a person of knowledge until you are one who implements his knowledge the poet he said you're a pious person he started with his own self as an artist so when he finished you're a pious person and there is what you say and he is convinced by the word of you and he is paid for his knowledge all you who teaches other than himself why don't you implement that what you teach do you prescribe are you sure for the one who is ill why would you prescribe it when you're the one who is sick start with yourself from prohibiting yourself from your deviation and your corruption if you do so then verily you are a wise one and only then with your statements be followed and with your guidance make sense بالقول وينفأت تعليمه and your knowledge would benefit another poet he said and the knowledge you didn't do it as a warning upon you and you didn't hear what you were carrying and if you have seen this and you only believe what is the word of the woman and act if you don't implement it it will be a proof against you and you won't be excused for that which you already know if you have come to know لقد قلت لك ، فإنما يصدق قول المرئ ما هو فعله ، then your speech and your actions will go hand in hand. مالي سبنه دينار رضي الله تعالى عنه he said إن العالم , the scholar إذا لم يعمل بعلمه if he doesn't implement his knowledge زلت موعظته his reminder drops عن القلوب from the people's hearts كما يزل القطر عن الصفع the same way the water drops from the rock that has no surface it just flows of it إبنو سماك رضي الله تعالى رحمه الله he said وكم من مخوف بالله جريءا على الله and a number of fear of Allah وكم من تال لكتاب الله ومن سلخ عن آيات الله and a number of letters to Allah وكم من مقارب إلى الله وهو بعيد عن الله and a number of closest to Allah and he is away from Allah إبنو سماك رضي how many people remind Allah to the people but he is one who has forgotten Allah how many people who put fear of Allah towards the people but he is he fulfills that which Allah has prohibited how many people recite the book of Allah when he is far from the book of Allah how many people bring the people close to Allah when he is far from Allah فنسأل الله تعالى we ask Allah الصدق truthfulness وإخلاص and sincerity في الأقوال والأعمال والأحوال in our speeches our actions and our situations أبو درداء رضي الله تعالى عنه he said إني لخائفا I am scared يوم ينادي منادي when the day a caller calls فيقوله he says يا عوائمر he says to me فاقول I say لباك ربي لباك oh my lord I am here to obey you فاقول وذن بيستمي أما علمتا did you not have knowledge فاقول I then say نعم yes فاقال it is then set me كيف عملتا في ما علمتا how did you do what you knew كيف عملتا في ما علمتا how did you do what you knew how have you implemented that which you know and then he said فتأتي كل آية في كتاب الله زاجرا every verse of Allah that prohibits comes to me and every verse that comes to me and he asks me تسألني فرضتها he asks me of its rights its obligation فتشهدوا علي الآمرة the verses that command testify against me and says لما أفعل you didn't do this وتشهدوا علي الزال يرا the verses that prohibit also testify on me بأنني لم أنتهي saying that I didn't stay away from that which I shouldn't have and then he said من قلب الله يخشع from a heart that doesn't find humility ومن عمل لا ينفع and an action that doesn't benefit ومن صوت الله يسمع and a sound that is not heard وعوذ بك and I seek refuge in Allah من دعاء الله يجاب and a dua that is not accepted أعوى بفت محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم as Imam Muslim narrated in his صحيح من حديث زيدي من أرقم that our prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم he used to seek refuge in Allah from a knowledge that doesn't benefit he used to say اللهم إني أعوذ بك من علم لا ينفع او الله I seek refuge in you from a knowledge that doesn't benefit the knowledge that doesn't benefit is the knowledge that a person doesn't implement and that is what لا يزال العالم جاهلة that the scholar is ignorant حتى until يعمل بعلمه until he implements his knowledge فإذا عامل به صار علماء when he implements his knowledge then and only then does he become a scholar فإذا عامل به صار علماء when he implements his knowledge when it comes to leaving it in the Sharia it's of levels the leaving of implementations of level there are some knowledge if you leave you will be a disbeliever number one number two there are some knowledge if you leave implementing it you become a disbeliever that's two three there are some actions of implementation that if you don't do it's disliked which is three four there are implementation that if you leave of doing it it's مباح it's your choice يستوي فيه الطرفان doing it and leaving it is equal no problem so we have four levels of any knowledge that you have if you leave of implementing it you fall in one of these four categories either leaving that knowledge and not implementing it it can either be كفر it can either be معصية a sin it can be مقروه disliked or it can be مباح it can be something that you're not going to get a reward or a sin for it what is it the knowledge that if you don't implement you're going to be a disbeliever it is the knowledge of a توحيد and worshipping Allah alone once a person knows that Allah is the only one who deserves to be worshipped if he does not implement that in his actions and then if he doesn't make sure his worship are only done for Allah's sake leaving of that implementation is كفر بالله so leave فكان ترك العملي في حقه كفران leaving this action now is disbelief the second one which is a sin is a person knows أن الخمر حرام شربها drinking خمر is حرام حرام بيءها buying and selling is حرام but then what did he do خالف العلم الذي عنده he opposes the knowledge in his mind and he doesn't implement that which is what not to drink the alcohol not to buy the alcohol not to drink or deal with alcohol he doesn't rather he opposes that knowledge and he doesn't implement it this one is what this person قدرتكب كبيرة من كبائر الدنوب he is now committed a major sin the third one is ما تركه مكروخ ما تركه مكروخ leaving it is disliked and the example for that is إذا علم أن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم كان يصلي على هيئة the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم he used to pray in a particular way وصف معينا and in a particular manner and then a person comes and he opposes the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم in this particular sunnah after having the knowledge ترك العملي بالعلم الذي عنده فهذا مكروخ this one is disliked because he is not wajib this action is not wajib in the salah it's a sunnah so if he leaves it it's disliked the last one is العمل بالعلم تركوا ما حق the third one is the fourth one which is the last one sorry is ما تركه مباح leaving it is مباح and this is from the way that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم used to walk or the way that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم used to dress هذه الأمور الجبلية الطبيعية these were not true things for the messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم leaving it is مباح even that though you now have the knowledge of it you can leave it if you want to and there is nothing on you I will conclude the insha'Allah for today's lesson سبحانك اللهم بحمدك أشهد أن لا إله إلا الله أستغفرك وأتوب إليه


If you think back on your time when you started at ASB, is there anything noteworthy, anything memorable that maybe something really stands out? Yeah, I think that the ASB, as I said before, the ASB is a very small environment, but it's a cozy environment, and it gives you interaction possibilities with teachers and with other students from other programs, which I don't think that you find in many other universities, and that was really a unique experience from studying at the ASB. And what does it mean for you to be a graduate, to be an alum from ASB? Well, having made the transition from Oslo to Copenhagen, it has given me a network over here, because I'm not alone. I studied with people who also moved over here, and I interact that those people are actually a big part of my social network in Copenhagen now. Thank you.


What's up everybody? This is Chris from the Rewired Soul where we talk about the problem, but we focus on the solution. And today we are going to talk about hopelessness.  Many of us we get complacent in that hopelessness thinking this is my fate, this is the way it's going to be. And I can definitely relate to that because a little over five years ago when I was laying in a hospital bed due to the life choices I made and my family was begging me to stop and get help, I had that hopelessness and I told them to just let me die this way. That is the type of hopelessness that I felt. So if you have ever felt hopeless, this video is all about using science and what we know to get through hopelessness and overcome hopelessness and you're not going to want to miss this. I'm going to start this video out by telling you a little story that is absolutely true. There was a young boy who was fun loving, was able to see the world and all of its beautiful colors and was enjoying life until one day he had an accident and that made him go blind. Chemicals splashed up into his eyes, damaged the nerves and he went completely blind.  But this young man, after he went blind, he was forced to learn Braille because that was his only way to read and continue his education. So he started learning Braille using his right hand to go over these bumps, becoming proficient in that language.  A child who had actually seen before and is now blind, they wanted to see what kind of differences were going on and one thing that they did in this study was they started tapping on his left index finger, the finger that he doesn't use for Braille and the normal brain regions lit up.  Now, here's where it got interesting. When they tapped on his right finger, the finger that he uses for Braille, new regions of the brain lit up and they lit up brighter than you can even imagine. You're wondering why are we talking about these brain regions when it comes to hopelessness because what science discovered is something that is now known as neuroplasticity.  It stopped growing. It stopped changing. And this is still a myth that lingers around today. And that is what promotes this idea of hopelessness. People have this thought or this idea. They believe that anything that has happened to them and the way they function now is what they are doomed to be for the rest of their life. And I am sitting here as living proof that that's not the case. This study that I'm talking about, it has actually been duplicated many a times. And one of the studies that was actually done came from the wonderful college of MIT. Fun fact, this was actually the college I wanted to go to growing up because I was a big technology nerd. Here's what I want you to take away from this. And this comes from the article which is linked in the description below. Studies of plasticity provide key insights into how experience shapes the human brain. This is another main reason why I promote meditation because studies on the brain have shown that monks who meditate actually have more activity in the right prefrontal cortex region which is responsible for happiness. What does this mean to you? This is exactly why I started the depression hack series. This is exactly why I named this the rewired soul because your brain is constantly changing and evolving and you can use this information to your benefit. With the depression hack series, in my introduction I talk about how there are different neurotransmitters that control our depression and we can use those to our advantage to get out of depression. The same thing is true when it comes to anxiety. So this information is meant to provide you with hope that you are not doomed to be the person that you are right now forever. You can change these things. But I do not want to lie to you and say that this is something that happens overnight. It takes work. It takes practice. People ask me all the time, Chris, how did you go from almost dying and killing yourself to one of the most optimistic happy people that I know today and it's because I understood that my brain is not stuck in a certain way and it can change. So even if right now if you are feeling hopeless, believe this. Science has proven that your brain can change. It can evolve. It can help you to lead a better life, to get out of this idea of hopelessness. And if you don't believe, just know that I believe in the fact that you can change. If you know somebody else who is struggling with that feeling of hopelessness, please share this with them.  This will help you overcome mental illness, whether it's severe or moderate or even minor. But you can use this information to better your life.  So if you like this video, please give it a thumbs up. And if you haven't yet, click the little circle below, subscribe to my channel for more videos like this. So thanks again for watching and I'll see you next time.


Well, these are what you think We got those aerators in the water now, but they're not as powerful as I thought they would be if you don't know where they are I don't blame you know there and there. I'm gonna actually Brit had a great idea We have these tubes that we use for going down the rivers and stuff I'm gonna float out to the center because I can't walk in there. I'll sink and get stuck I'm gonna float up to the center and pull them a little further out to the center. Hopefully that'll A little work They're not as not as impressive as I thought they would be but it's better than nothing right now and they are helping This on the other hand this creek here has created a nice little beach here for us You guys want to go down to the beach? Hey diesel you want to go down to the beach? Come here bud. Let's go to the beach. It's a little bit sketchy getting down here. You got to be careful But And boom On the beach see diesel beach. What are you doing?   I shouldn't take too long You walk right in there and then apparently just drops down and you got to be careful down there It's very soft soil you might get stuck in there as well So this is a nice little place you can come sit in the water here And I like how this water is constantly moving So it's always fresh water coming in here What do you think diesel? Smells like beavers man. I know that's the beaver dam So far no sign of the beavers this year yet Better stay that way. I like how this turned out here. This is all natural. Hey, well, I'm gonna fall backwards here This is all natural. What do you think diesel? Don't drink that diesel We got clean fresh filtered water for you and your spoiled butt in the house That's nice Anyways, so Today's a new day and yesterday at the end of the vlog. I was telling you that my truck is taking longer to get fixed Then we thought I would There's a part apparently he's called a regulator for the door that They needed to repair the window and it didn't come in when they expected it to so they did some Digging and found out that FedEx lost the part It came from Portugal prairie to Winnipeg. That's 45 minutes So in that 45 minute journey from Portugal prairie to Winnipeg FedEx somehow lost the package And we haven't had any of those riots and stuff out here yet We've been having protests for some reason even though we're a separate country but No looting and stuff in our region Yet hopefully stays that way So I don't think it would have been stolen off the truck but They lost it in the 45 minute journey and So I'm stuck at home now. They don't know when the parts actually gonna come guess I had to reorder it and I'm booked off for this weekend so they can't send me too far So it looks like I'm just gonna be home all week and all weekend and head out probably Sunday then Then I'll be gone on a really long trip because I've been home so much I'll be gone the rest of I might be home in between here and there, but I'll be go go go go go to make up for this But work is helping me out They're not leaving me high and dry So that's a good thing But I'll be home for a while now All because somebody passed me illegally blew out my driver door Like a bug just flew up my nose. Do you see that one second? Was I look at this nice tree while I pick my nose behind the camera. There we go Much better. What was I saying? I forget what I was saying You get it A lot of home time videos coming guys, and I know some of these are low energy and Not much to show you but I appreciate you hanging out with me here Anyway, this is a part of trucking as well truck doesn't get fixed. We're stuck at home What can you do other than mow the lawn and I already did that I Wish the lawn would grow faster. I wish we had more lawns so I could mow more Really want to ride my mower around If you guys didn't watch yesterday's video, we got a new mower. We got a zero-point turn mower It's a cub cadet brand. So we're calling it cubby and It's amazing. It's a I I never knew how how much better they were than a regular mower But I highly highly recommended if you guys are thinking about getting a new mower and you're thinking maybe we should get the zero-point turn It's worth it a little bit more money. Totally worth it though So much faster so much easier just so much better. That's my recommendation. Anyways diesel What you doing over there? You want to fight? Don't fight You want to fight? You want to fight? Oh He's coming back. He's coming back. I'm gonna get you. I'm gonna get you. I'm gonna get you Come at me, bro. Come on. Come on. Go. Ah, I got you. I got you. You're it Dang it, I'm it I'm gonna get you That was close Okay, I'm old I can't play tag for as long as I used to So I borrowed dad's trailer yesterday to get the lawn tractor home Gotta bring that back today and You know that if I'm leaving the property We're not Going to waste any opportunity to get a few things done at the same time We're also going to be Doing a dump run Because I am the garbage man around these parts get everything out of the way here, so So this is our garbage room Probably shouldn't show this to you, but that's where we keep our garbage. It's in a separate room Keeps all the odors and stuff in there We're using this until I can manage to build a proper Garbage hut or garbage enclosure Outside that the bears can't get into so for now We're using what we got Go load this up in the pickup. I'm not gonna use the trailer because then they charge me by weight And put it all in the back of the pickup go drop the trailer off at mom and dad's then go to the dump That way I only have to pay ten bucks instead of them charging me by weight because that would be more Well, it's even better when I can Tram it all underneath a ton of covers that I don't worry, but putting the net over it perfect All packed up ready to go Wonderful No garbage flying out Had to step on it and push it down a little bit, but it works Well, we dropped off the trailer at mom and dad's house and We ended up at the greenhouse. Well, the wife's already on the way. She's almost in already. She's left me behind. She's excited Where have you dragged me to Besides threw me a baseball in Disney World Look at all this those trees back there So we're here to see if they have any lilac bushes in small forms and cheap monies We'd like to plant some lilacs Around the edge of our yard been thinking of it for years already Heard they're five bucks I guess we'll see are these lilacs they kind of look like it Like they've sold a few Korean dwarf Korean lilac we want the bush though right that goes right to the ground All these trees I want all of them All of them Okay, what a weird-looking dude See what happens when you stop at the greenhouse You get put on wagon duty We're just gonna stop in and look Yeah Go get the wagon, honey. We were just supposed to take out the garbage and bring the trailer back But we decided to bring the wife with us What I can't help it if there's a beautiful greenhouse or two in town Luckily the greenhouses themselves in town right now are next to empty because of this quarantine thing people need extra Cheer and they need something to do they're bored.  This is usually how our flower and plant buying goes Hey, we didn't overdo it. We only bought three plants to try out and some soil True we were good. We were well behaved. Thank you very much I Bought you shrubs Sorry heresy the word Yeah, trying to think the word right now. I can't think of it. I'm not smart enough. He's not frazzled from what I just said I know I'm blowing away. I'm shocked We have a Canada flag in here. You should be ashamed. They're not owned by a Canadian company anymore They're not Canadian For those of you who don't know We know but we don't speak of that Blasphemy. Blasphemy. That was the word I was looking for before blasphemy Yeah, our beloved Timmy's was bought out by the Americans, but it's still our national treasure We can't compete with all the money down there money Here we are Digging holes in flip-flops country girl And hold me back. I told her to wear different feet different feet I told you to put your other feet on Your ones I told her to put other shoes on but she's a tough cookie. She says I don't need no shoes Exactly exactly So here we are. I was gonna do a barefoot, but he convinced me otherwise Just don't drop that spade on your toes. That's all I can say Hey, I dug this one most of it So we're gonna plant One of these bushes right there the lilac bush in here and The other bush right there Tracker Josh getting his hands dirty Professional steering wheel holder getting dirt under the fingernails and not just mechanical dirt You're not wearing your boots you can't do that, but I am wearing steel toes That's true, but they're not boots Shave you what's that? Who's yet? So today was the day we take our Christmas lights down since we had the time. I got them all organized here right now I'll put them away to moral probably for now. They're just all off the house and off the garage I'm Chevy And apparently we got about 15 minutes of a thunderstorm coming through here There's this one cloud and you can see there's clear skies out there again Are you scared of thunderstorms or something you will not leave my side? Oh, I did scary diesel in here Diesel you in here. Oh, there you are bud. Hey, man. I thought you were outside. I Hurt your fingers man We just hung yours. Are you okay? You get hit by the lightings I'm good. I'm good diesel. No lightning strike hit me You guys hear that So these are these new bushes that we bought today Brit went and watered them really good today already. I forget what kind they are We'll talk to Brit once we get into the screen room again That's where she is right now. This is supposed to get up to about six feet tall and five feet wide I believe And this is a lilac bush. This is gonna get to about six feet tall as well and about six feet wide And this is the same as that first one. I know you guys can't see much, but we're watching a big lightning storm rolling Oh the wind is picking up now You can smell it coming Here comes. Oh, yeah, show me what you got Come on Brit and I both love thunderstorms and lightning storms the bigger the louder the better But no tornadoes. No tornadoes. Okay. I draw the line at tornadoes and wins that Damage thing. I don't want any damage. I just want some big booms Yeah, no no striking people. Okay, there are rules to these games Come on. It seems like it's gonna be short, but uh Of course now I turn the camera on and it gets shy. There we go There we go. Come on Show the world what a manitoba thunderstorm is all about No, we don't we used to get tons of them, right? I feel like we used to when like you and I were little I feel like we used to get a lot more. Maybe they're just so memorable, but I remember sitting at the windows watching them because I love them so much I find like we only get like two a year like one in the spring one in the early fall Mm-hmm. Yeah. I don't know. We just don't get them like we used to It's kind of disappointing because we love them so much But I'm kind of thankful for that because my stepmom is actually really scared of thunderstorms. She really freaks out Oh, no. Oh, no, that's not good. I didn't know that And they're out of the trailer right now. Oh, no, they're at the campsite. Oh, this will be fun Oh, man, so I know you guys can't really see much so I won't feel much more, but uh, We're having a thunderstorm It's fun. Oh, yeah, and what are those plants called that?  I told them I was gonna ask you what kind of plant that was I did my duty Now I'm gonna enjoy the thunderstorm