[FRIAM] unplanned [sen|obsol]escence

[Marcus Daniels]

Compare with these definitions:

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/09/psychological-dimensions-left-wing-authoritarianism/620185/

"The authoritarian mentality, whether on the far left or far right, the authors conclude, exerts "powerful pressures to maintain discipline among members, advocate aggressive and censorious means of stifling opposition, [and] believe in top-down absolutist leadership."

"Coaching" is a pretty slippery word.  In the corporate world, there are a couple of usage.  One usage reveals a way for individuals who have no explicit power to influence another group of people through their special training or knowledge, e.g., an "Agile coach".   If the coaching fails the issue may be escalated to someone that does have that power.   Another usage of the word "coach" is for people that do have some power to threaten people that have less, before taking some disciplinary action.   "I tried to coach Fred on the importance of attending the stand-up meetings, but he wouldn't listen."   The latter is a distinction without a difference:  Fred has no choice but to take the advice as a command.

I suppose the LWA and RWA could both be low entropy configurations, but different ones.   Liberalism  seeks higher entropy.   Of course, talk is cheap and writing editorials counts for nothing once editorials are forbidden.   Or putting it another way, moving away from one low entropy configuration will require criminality by definition and sustaining criminality will require caution and discipline.  

Anarchists don't fit in the LWA and RWA categorization.   Such people could be disciplined (in small groups or exercising self-control), but they are certainly anti-hierarchical.  

Perhaps the Satel piece is referring to depth of the hierarchy, and not the degree of control of the executive.  For example, the U.S. government has a deep hierarchy and fascists want to make it shallow (or logically shallow).  Bannon's rhetoric comes to mind.  (Although I think he is not even a fascist.  For him it was too hard to work the system for individual gain when the system was complex and highly administrative.   So of course he doesn't want deep hierarchy.)

On the other hand, a highly administrative system doesn't necessarily lead to subjugation of individuals.  An anarchist might even like its inefficiency -- in the sense of executive wants to do X, how long does it take to do X -- because control becomes complicated and directives only can be acted on to the extent gears in the system allow it.

Marcus
-----Original Message-----
From: Friam <friam-bounces at redfish.com> On Behalf Of David Eric Smith
Sent: Friday, September 24, 2021 2:17 PM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <friam at redfish.com>
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] unplanned [sen|obsol]escence

Yes, this seems really important to me:

> That "antifa affiliated" guy who shot Tiny is probably susceptible to peer pressure to *stop* carrying his gun to town, much like the Proud Boys coach their participants not to start fights and always cooperate with the cops. The more organized Antifa groups, like Rose City *do* coach their participants more than the less organized groups do. But the difference in both value alignment and tactics is obvious. If you're like my colleague, you'll claim this is a "distinction without a difference". But the difference is palpable if you're actually present.

Living sometimes in Atlanta, where the past of a civil rights movement that was purpose-driven, sophisticated, strategic, and disciplined has been kept alive a bit more than other places, I watch historical footage from the 60s, of strings of people singing quietly and clapping in time various religious songs while being herded into police vans, and I am awestruck at the dignity and the self-control.  If the current movements could get to that, at the scale of the many-more people that they include today, we could solve a lot of these problems. 

Eric




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