I'm always late to the game, since I (try to) unplug on weekends. But this excerpt caught my eye:
On 11/10/2013 08:44 AM, Steve Smith wrote: > We are not > who we are proud of being for the most part, and I find that sad. Each > of those 11 nations in Woodard's model have a strong story about what > makes them unique, what they are proud of. I hope we might look to > those ideals and return to them, not as laurels to rest on, but things > to aspire to. > > [...] > > I believe that the only way out of our spoiled and usurious lifestyles > is to return to the roots of what we can honestly be proud of and focus > on that. In many ways, I feel we long ago threw out the baby and kept > the bathwater. It shows in virtually every walk of life. We are now > much more interested in what everyone else is "doing wrong" than what > "right we should be doing". To be proud of something that's biologically (or otherwise, I guess) determined seems a bit odd, to me. E.g. other Texans claim to be proud of their being born and/or raised in Texas makes me laugh and cringe at the same time. (To this day, Renee' claims that I'm not _really_ a Texan because I tend to point out the stupidity that is most of Texas ... my addiction to pickup trucks isn't enough, apparently. Having been adopted as an infant, I can't really argue with her... I used to imagine my biological mom was sequestered at a distant nunnery in Houston for 6-10 months to avoid the shame of birthing a bastard.) Anyway, I can't accept determined attributes as being something worthy of pride. Enter the "free will" -- for individuals -- and "stigmergy" -- for collectives -- debate(s). What attributes can we really be proud of and what do we chalk up as hysteretic? Similarly, what can we _expect_ from those around us without seeming "spoiled and usurious"? Even the most John Wayne style individualist (self sufficient, yet generous, honorable, naively respectful, etc.) will end up disrespecting her environment (people and things) because individualism is ... bullsh!t, to put it nicely. So, one not only should we have expectations, we _must_ in order to fully understand symbiosis. (That reminds me of the continuing increase in narcissism scores of college students. Oddly, as civilization progresses, entitlement progresses... funny that.) What should we expect, if not lives better, richer, more luxurious, more relaxing, than our parents'? -- ⇒⇐ glen ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
