Schein
2019 - 2020
The Marcel Schein and Edgar Schein works are named after great-grandfather who studied cosmic ray physics in the 1940s and my grandfather who is a social psychologist and organizational leadership specialist. Cosmic rays are super-fast particles that enter the earth’s atmosphere and collide with air particles--scientists are still trying to figure out where they come from. They cannot be seen by the human eye, but they are constantly raining down on us and can cause errors in computer technology. I like the symmetry between the way a scientific phenomenon like this is discussed and the way many people practice spirituality--as a belief in that which exceeds the visible. The Edgar Schein works are based on my grandfather's "Lily Pond" theory of culture, a metaphor used in social psychology to look at the underlying assumptions and beliefs that influence cultural objects and practices.
