As usual, embedded in your story lies our group identity which we might call "applied complexity". Well done!
On 1/15/19 9:29 AM, Steven A Smith wrote: > Glen claims "antisocial" and I think Dave has mentioned his own "tendency to > withdraw from society" (my paraphrase, I welcome correction or elaboration. > I hypothosize that *many* who are significantly engaged in online > discussion/community may well fit one of the myriad positions on (and near?) > the anti-social spectrum? > > I personally prefer to consider myself to have "asocial tendencies". I'm not > entirely uncomfortable in social groups, but I know I tend to prefer smaller > groups or sub-groups within a larger group, to the extreme of engaging mostly > in serial one-on-one conversations at dinner parties. I tend to reserve the > term "anti-social" for something a bit more active in the sense of not only > avoiding engaging in social groups/activities, but being hostile (openly or > not) toward such groups. I can admit to being somewhat judgemental about > large-group activities (attending pop culture events en-masse, including > political rallies and street protests), but more in the sense of "I wouldn't > be caught dead doing that!" rather than "anyone who participates in such > things are mindless idiots!" I even accept that under the right > circumstances I have been known to participate. I do attend small gathering > performances/readings/events and in most cases find their downside more about > the > tedium than the actual content/experience itself. > > My father (1927-2014) was a bit of a paradox on this topic. He was born and > raised amongst his hillbilly relatives. His father (my grandfather > (1898-1975) and grandmother(1899-1950) were the first of their generation to > get an advanced education (MS/BS degrees vs typically 8th grade) and escape > the day to day circumstances of their otherwise humble origins. My > grandmother, despite education and living in a small city through her adult > life, never left her "mountain origins" while my grandfather fashioned > himself much more of a "modern man". My own father spent his self aware > life in one of three uniforms, two in the service of the US Government. The > first was in the Boy Scouts of America for his teen years. The Second as a > recruit in the US Navy at the very end of WWII, not leaving dock until after > VJ day, spending his 3 years helping to clean up after the war in the > Pacific. The third was as an employee of the US Forest Service. His roots and > instincts were those of > a very independent person who felt by some measure that every man was an > island, yet his practice was to find his place as an island as a member of an > Archipelago. Half the allure of the Boy Scouts and of the US Forest > Service was his draw to spend time in the wilds... the other half seems to > have been to *also* have the sanction of the authority of a uniform and a set > of rules. His stint in the Navy may have been the same. > > Many of his anecdotes about both the USN and USFS involved him > recognizing/discovering/exercising the distinction between blind observance > of rules and the recognition and pursuit of the spirit of the rules, and him > having ultimately prevailed over strict interpretations with common sense > actions in the spirit when not the letter of the regulations. His proudest > moment may have been when his court martial was dismissed abruptly after > being charged for deriliction/AWOL during the Port Chicago disaster in 1944 > where 320 Navy men were killed and a similar number were injured. He was a > medical aide/assistant on his ship which was docked near the disaster and > when the injured personnel began arriving, he reported for duty without being > called. After several shifts of non-stop desperate work to do triage and > save the lives (and often limbs) of those harmed, he returned to his berth > only to be arrested for having not been available when they came to collect > him for duty in the > emergency. They apparently ignored or didn't believe his "alibi" and he went > through the whole formal process of being held for a court marshal which > fortunately was quite prompt and at least there, when he gave his account, > the "judge" recognized his earnest honesty and apparently he was not the > first or only one to be mis-charged/handled in this way. There were at > least another dozen altercations of this style (if not gravity) in his career > in the USFS. He seemed to trust implicitely that the system would ultimately > "do the right thing" and it didn't seem to bother him much that he could-be > mishandled while the "sheels of justice" turned. His USFS career involved a > huge amount of time in the field (forest), even during his mid-career stint > in middle management (District Ranger). It was as if he was simultaneously > addicted and allergic to the basic nature of organized systems of authority. > > In the shadow of his addiction/allergy, I avoided uniforms entirely excepting > a few months in the BSA at his insistence. I gave over to the shirt and > necktie but it all felt too much like being a member of the "hitler youth" to > me. I was /institutionalized/ at LANL for 27 years with (too) many of the > same features. In place of a uniform, I had a security clearance, a Z-number > and a Badge which came with their own egregious rule-sets and implied > authority and paradoxes. During that time, my best work was done as the > de-facto leader of small teams (3-10). Each time that de-facto leadership > lead to a formal leadership position, it eventually went bad, requiring me to > move on to fresh pastures. I made a couple of lame attempts at rising to > middle management but couldn't hold a straight face during the interview > process, knowing that I didn't respect many (if any?) of my would-be peers > and fearing that I was about to join them by way of the "Peter Principle". > My 27 year > career at LANL consisted of patchwork of jobs like this ranging from 3-7 > years in duration. I was very relieved the day I decided to leave LANL > (2008) and shocked at how much MORE relieved I was the day I surrendered my > clearances (2010). > > Outside of my institutionalization in BS (big science), I have often been > self-employed and entrepreneurial and generally fairly independent in my > work. I always saw the benefits of working within an organizational context > to be "convenient" but suspect. -- ☣ uǝlƃ ============================================================ 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 archives back to 2003: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/ FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove
