[FRIAM] Motives - Was Abduction

[Nick Thompson]

Thank you, Marcus, 

 

Good wrapup!

 

Nick

 

Nicholas S. Thompson

Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology

Clark University

 <http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/> http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/

 

From: Friam [mailto:friam-bounces at redfish.com] On Behalf Of Marcus Daniels
Sent: Wednesday, January 09, 2019 12:20 PM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <friam at redfish.com>
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Motives - Was Abduction

 

Nick writes:

 

< Writing … taking positions and pushing them until they break … is for me just about the best part of being alive >

 

Terri Gross <https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/17/style/self-care/terry-gross-conversation-advice.html>  contrasts the difference between “What do you do for work?” and “Tell me about yourself.”    

The first question is an expectation of conformity, the second is open ended.  (And that Glen has the presence of mind to redirect by choosing a generally ambiguous term, simulant and define it for them on the fly.)   People that pose questions like the first one, or go on to draw conclusions like that engineers are one way and poets are another, or that software engineers are non-existent (laugh), are being pushy, accusative, and in my view trying to assert a sort of social dominance.   Thus they may perceive some pushback from me resembling STFU.   Yes, as you say it is different when there is a reasonable expectation of good faith debate where everything is on the table, including dogs.   Things get more like fighting and less like playing when there is not good faith, as there is no obligation to declare intentions or to maintain any kind of continuity.   I’d argue the distinction between fighting and playing for dogs is not so categorical either, but somewhat quantifiable by the power diverted to the jaw.  This is the general case – the world is a political place.   

 

Marcus  

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