I heard the CBC radio reporter this morning refer to bank mergers as leading to increased competition and hence more responsive customer service. Do not adjust your set -- transmission problems originate with the network. War is peace. Hate is love. Monopoly is competition. 1984 is '98. What happens when you embed a "shortcut" in the algorithm for processing complex information and decisions? 1. it's easier to process routine information/decisions. 2. it's easy to forget that the shortcut is there. 3. it's harder to adapt to non-routine circumstances. 4. the shortcut generates its own constituency. Y2K is a minute symptom of a much larger psychological-cognitive problem. Stated as simply as possible, the problem stems from the tendency to mistake metaphorical shortcuts for "the whole story". The technical name for the problem is "reification": to mistake a concept for the concrete thing that the concept is supposed to represent. The two-digit date is a shortcut that became part of the algorithm for handling all sorts of other information. Analogous shortcuts can be found in ANY accounting system and most specifically in the econometric rituals that dominate current public policy "thinking". The public policy triumph of neo-liberalism cum monetarism can be largely traced to the monetarists' adroit use of conceptual shortcuts. It didn't hurt that those shortcuts flatter the self-importance of the people in society who command the most resources. Those shortcuts have become hard wired into the supposed data that informs and inevitably supports the current policy regime. That makes it look like "there is no alternative". The Y2K computer bug looks like mickey mouse alongside the godzilla socio-economic bug introduced by the monetarist policy hackers. Regards, Tom Walker ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Vancouver, B.C. [EMAIL PROTECTED] (604) 669-3286 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ The TimeWork Web: http://www.vcn.bc.ca/timework/
