Posted by
Nick Thompson on
URL: http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/A-New-Society-for-the-Study-of-Cultural-Evolution-tp7586275p7586282.html
Glen,
Oh, I don't think that these people are manipulative, particularly. Not at all. There is at least one person on the list I am enthusiastic about. If I were to think anything bad about them (and I don't think I do), it would be that they are naive. I just think that the whole project looks like it is based on the idea that we can analyze, plan, and reform in the societal domain, and I wasn't sure whether that was your cup of tea? I believe that we can do all of those things, but I am beginning to wonder if my commitment to that idea is more a value than a belief. An example of a kind of phenomenon that makes me doubt the possibility of successful social planning is the apparent rush to tear down the confederate battle flag that seems to be surging through the south. Talk about tipping point! Could we have planned for that?
Nick
Nick
Nicholas S. Thompson
Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology
Clark University
http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/-----Original Message-----
From: Friam [mailto:
[hidden email]] On Behalf Of glen
Sent: Monday, June 29, 2015 11:01 PM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] A New Society for the Study of Cultural Evolution
That's a great point. But I suppose it all depends on who composes it. To say a group like this will advocate foolishly or manipulate without admitting that every other group, without exception(!), advocates foolishly and manipulates, is to place too much burden on these particular people. We all do our best to balance what we think should happen against worries that interference could go wrong. (Some of us are better at that balance than others. But that's also true of everyone about everything ... which makes it a useless statement.)
In the end, to be against something before it's even begun is a bit silly, I think. Personally, I'm neutral. But it's interesting in the same way Lessig's May One or the genetic literacy project are interesting ... and manipulative. Even more political is the interesting "neoreactionary" movement. I'm even neutral about that, though I think I'm starting to turn a bit against it. The trick, as we've been discussing, is to never flip the bit one way or the other.
On 06/29/2015 07:43 PM, Nick Thompson wrote:
> I am afraid I have not been following this closely enough to know the white hats from the black hats. I think one of the dimensions of disagreement here is on the possibility of social planning. If one thinks that the subject matters studied by sociologists and economists are essentially chaotic, then social planning is either foolish or manipulative … like bishops telling parishioners to defer gratification so they, the bishops, can live opulent lives in the Bishop’s Palace. As a consequence of running such a scam, the Vatican runs half of Rome, right? That new society sounds like a reforming and a planning lot. That’s as far as my thinking has gotten on this. As you see, it’s not very far.
--
⇒⇐ glen e. p. ropella
She'll borrow bullets and return em' to your skull
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