Ed Weick wrote:
economists,
>
> Even where there are facts, their interpretation is never value-neutral. I
> have been in situations in which two contending parties were both given the
> same set of facts. How they interpreted them resulted in entirely different
> conclusions. Instead of coming together, they found themselves even further
> apart.
>
> So, in summary, what I'm saying is that I really don't have much faith in
> human rationality, or in the possibility that we will find rational
> solutions to global problems, and perhaps even local problems. I don't
> think man is a problem solving animal, except on a small scale for problems
> of a particular kind. Wherever and whenever he has tried to solve big
> problems, involving different value systems and different interpretations of
> "reality", his success has been quite limited. The solution to one problem,
> such as high infant mortality, has led to others, such as excessive
> population growth.
>
> All of which leads to the question of how we get ourselves out of the mess
> we are in, a global mess which can be described as a rapidly growing
> population which is dependent on an industrial structure which is in turn
> dependent on depleting non-renewable energy resources. There may be
> technological solutions, such as fuel cells, a return to nuclear energy, or
> even cold fusion. But if there are not, the system will inevitably wind
> down, and our descendants will have to find another to replace it, one that
> does not use energy in the same way as ours does.
I can at the same time both agree and disagree with this.
Facing a situation I guess humans ask at least two questions:
1. What is this?
2. Does this concern me and my folks, and how?/What should I do?
And question number 2. is implied in number one.
The "rationality" thing goes on "my folks".
There is usually a rationality. But to see it one must understand whose
eyes the calculating person is wearing.
There are at least two ways to understand "rationality".
1. Rationality is the efficient way to reach a goal.
2. Rationality is about finding the best goal.
The best way to keep a society rational is to get "the calculators" to
wear the eyes of the common man, that is to avoid the development of
excessive poverty and wealth.
--
All the best
Tor Førde
visit our homepage: URL::http://home.sol.no/~toforde/
email:
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