Saturday, March 21, 2009

Systems View

Marine_debris_on_Hawaiian_coast

The real difficult part of this period of time in our lives is that we are living through a confluence of multiple systems undergoing rapid change at the same time. 

Human nature being what it is, we will try to sort and categorize all of the data into understandable categories.  The trouble with this view is that we will pigeonhole the data incorrectly and that will skew our analysis.   The act of classification leads to all sorts of problems.

Which is the phenomenon?  Which is the epiphenomenon?  Is there a causal link between A and B?  These are fundamental questions that have not been answered to my satisfaction.

The current raft of problems that we are experiencing are one of the difficult brews that percolate though the human population from time to time.  I would very much recommend a little brushing up on the phenomenon of the Bundschuh in the sixteen century HRE. 

We are on the verge of a major change.  I feel it in my bones.  But my bones have led me wrong before.  They have also been tragically right.  In order to understand and make plans, you have to understand the first principles.  Getting involved in petty squabbles about the appropriate classification of a minor symptom isn’t going to help you.

If I can get a decent handle on this, I will let you guys know. 

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Yes we are on the cusp of the greatest social change since the reformation. It is the duty of the radical critics of the status quo to try and chart a course between defence of the current order and a conflagration that will make the thrity years war look fun.

Radical change, yes. Thomas Muntzer NO NO NO