Kudos to the social scientists

[glen ep ropella]

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Army Enlists Anthropology in War Zones
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/05/world/asia/05afghan.html?_r=2&ref=world&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

- --
glen e. p. ropella, 971-219-3846, http://tempusdictum.com
Liberty is meaningless if it is only the liberty to agree with those in
power. -- Ludwig von Mises

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[Prof David West]

deja vu all over again

the hearts and minds campaign in vietnam used anthropologists
extensively.  One result - a schism in the American Anthropological
Association and the formation of the Society for Concerned Asian
Scholars.  The very first professional convention I went to as an
anthropologist was in San Francisco when this split occurred.  

Ruth Benedict was an even earlier example - hired to provide insight
into Japanese culture in WWII.

I was on the side that thought the government was offering an unethical
activity for the anthropology profession.

dave west

On Fri, 05 Oct 2007 06:40:10 -0700, "Glen E. P. Ropella"
<gepr at tempusdictum.com> said:

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> Army Enlists Anthropology in War Zones
> http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/05/world/asia/05afghan.html?_r=2&ref=world&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
>
> - --
> glen e. p. ropella, 971-219-3846, http://tempusdictum.com
> Liberty is meaningless if it is only the liberty to agree with those in
> power. -- Ludwig von Mises
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[glen ep ropella]

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Prof David West wrote:
> I was on the side that thought the government was offering an unethical
> activity for the anthropology profession.

Interesting perspective.  I'm largely ignorant of all the subtleties;
but, in general, I believe that any institution (especially monsters
like government) that consults and supports scientists is better than an
institution that ignores them.  Not to mention that such employment
creates demand for scientists.  And we are _sorely_ in need of ways to
motivate people to become scientists (or at least respect them).

Further, of any batch of newly trained scientists, some will go to the
dark side.  But, some will also go to the light side.  Ultimately, even
the evil scientists do good if they are actually scientists and not
shills for their institution.

- --
glen e. p. ropella, 971-219-3846, http://tempusdictum.com
Cynics regarded everybody as equally corrupt... Idealists regarded
everybody as equally corrupt, except themselves. -- Robert Anton Wilson

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[McNamara, Laura A]

Hey all,

As one of the few anthropologists on this list, and as someone working
on a national anthropology commission that's looking at the relationship
between anthropology and national security, let me tell you - this
debate is going to blow up in the anthropology community, and right
along the lines that David and Glen have just outlined.    

What you might not be aware of is the fraught history of
military-anthropology relations dating back to World War I. our
discipline goes back and forth on this topic, depending on whether or
not the war in question is considered "ethical."  If you're interested,
Google and read about the following topics: the censure of Franz Boas,
The Chrysanthemum and the Sword (Ruth Benedict), Project Camelot - and
read this:

http://www.publicanthropology.org/TimesPast/WolfNYRB.htm

Complicating all of this  - and related to FRIAM - is the use of
computational social science in decision making in the intelligence and
military communities - which raises ethical issues that, I fear, my
discipline is nowhere near ready to consider.

Laura



-----Original Message-----
From: [hidden email] [mailto:[hidden email]] On
Behalf Of Glen E. P. Ropella
Sent: Friday, October 05, 2007 11:22 AM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Kudos to the social scientists

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Prof David West wrote:
> I was on the side that thought the government was offering an
> unethical activity for the anthropology profession.

Interesting perspective.  I'm largely ignorant of all the subtleties;
but, in general, I believe that any institution (especially monsters
like government) that consults and supports scientists is better than an
institution that ignores them.  Not to mention that such employment
creates demand for scientists.  And we are _sorely_ in need of ways to
motivate people to become scientists (or at least respect them).

Further, of any batch of newly trained scientists, some will go to the
dark side.  But, some will also go to the light side.  Ultimately, even
the evil scientists do good if they are actually scientists and not
shills for their institution.

- --
glen e. p. ropella, 971-219-3846, http://tempusdictum.com Cynics
regarded everybody as equally corrupt... Idealists regarded everybody as
equally corrupt, except themselves. -- Robert Anton Wilson

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