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Some of us, we are<br>
just a few syllables short<br>
of a haiku
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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 2/5/21 9:09 AM,
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:thompnickson2@gmail.com">thompnickson2@gmail.com</a> wrote:<br>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Gosh. We’re all pretty good at this. N<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Nick Thompson<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="mailto:ThompNickSon2@gmail.com"
moz-do-not-send="true"><span style="color:#0563C1">ThompNickSon2@gmail.com</span></a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a
href="https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/"
moz-do-not-send="true"><span style="color:#0563C1">https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/</span></a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b>From:</b> Friam
<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:friam-bounces@redfish.com"><friam-bounces@redfish.com></a> <b>On Behalf Of </b>Stephen
Guerin<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Friday, February 5, 2021 8:52 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee
Group <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:friam@redfish.com"><friam@redfish.com></a><br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [FRIAM] what complexity science says ...<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">On Wed, Feb 3, 2021 at 1:29
PM <<a href="mailto:thompnickson2@gmail.com"
moz-do-not-send="true">thompnickson2@gmail.com</a>>
wrote: <br>
> Roger, I have to admit that this is one
of the papers that causes me to display “howling
in the wilderness” syndrome. <br>
<br>
Howling in the wildnerness<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Murder of complexity crows
accompany me<br>
Their beaks move, but I can't hear what they say<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">On Wed, Feb 3, 2021 at 1:29 PM <<a
href="mailto:thompnickson2@gmail.com"
moz-do-not-send="true">thompnickson2@gmail.com</a>>
wrote:<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto">Hi,
Roger, <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto">Have
I ever sent you <a
href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/288818273_Shifting_the_natural_selection_metaphor_to_the_group_level"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">THIS</a>
before? It makes the argument that group selected
individuals will be selected for flexibility, like
some classes of immune cells, for instance. Or
honey bee workers. I am not sure how this idea
works with the idea in the paper you sent out. Flow
IS an emergent trait, so that works. But it’s hard
to think of LeBron James as a “generalist”. I guess
we could argue that if his team is to have “flow”,
he has to have enough versatility NOT to do the
thing he’s best at when it’s not called for by the
demands of “flow.” I certainly agree with the Aeon
article that there are “flow-catalysts” among us and
that they are great to have on a team. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto">Here
is the relevant text from the article (pp 97-8). <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="gmail-m-3719719592151650048quotation"
style="text-indent:.5in">If trait-group selection is
to play the role of a "genetic mechanism" in group
selection theory, then it must be the case that, for
instance, groups with more "group promoting"
individuals (an aggregate trait) must be better
organized and more harmonious (emergent traits).
What sorts of individuals would be<span
style="letter-spacing:.05pt"> </span>group<a
name="m_-3719719592151650048_p._99"
moz-do-not-send="true"></a> <span
style="color:#050505">promoting in this way? What
sort of elements which, when aggregated, would
foster emergence of some group trait? The answer
that comes to mind immediately is "flexible
elements." A boat would be a poor competitor if it
had all the best coxswains in the race or all the
best stroke oarsmen; but a boat with all the most
educable rowers in the race might be a very good
competitor, since educable rowers could learn the
skills appropriate to each position in the boat.
Thus, the relationship between emergent traits as
a selective force and trait-group selection as
an inheritance mechanism may account for why
complex organizations in nature seem so often to
be composed of generalist elements that become
specialized during development to serve different
functions within the whole. Think of the body's
cells, for instance, which all contain the same
genetic information but come to serve very
different functions during the course of
development. Think of the neurons of the human
cortex, which become structured and organized by
position and by experience. Think of the workers
in a beehive (Seeley,<span
style="letter-spacing:2.4pt"> </span>1995). …</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="gmail-m-3719719592151650048quotation"><span
style="font-size:10.5pt"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="gmail-m-3719719592151650048quotation"><span
style="color:#050505">The analysis of this paper </span><span
style="color:#4D4D4D">. </span><span
style="color:#050505">suggests another reason why
humans might be generalists--powerful group
selection. Selection for aggregate properties at
any level is impotent to select for functional
differentiation. It can, however, select for
differentiability. Thus, the undifferentiated
brain tissue and generalized behavior potential
that characterize human beings and that make human
language and culture a possibility may be a
direct result of group selection (Boyd &
Richerson, 1985; Boehm, 1997). The exact mechanism
by which this selection would come about is a
combination of group selection, which would assure
that functionally integrated groups generate more
offspring groups than their nonfunctionally
integrated alternatives, and trait-group
inheritance, which would assure that aggregations
of differentiable individuals are available to
form functionally integrated<span
style="letter-spacing:.65pt"> </span>groups.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="gmail-m-3719719592151650048quotation"><span
style="color:#050505"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="gmail-m-3719719592151650048quotation"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto">Roger,
I have to admit that this is one of the papers that
causes me to display “howling in the wilderness”
syndrome. I think it is one of my most interesting,
both in the conclusion it reaches and in the formal
analysis of metaphor that leads to that conclusion.
Yet, nobody seems to see any reason to discuss it.
Any thoughts on this quandary would be deeply
appreciated. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto">Nick
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto">Nick
Thompson<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><a
href="mailto:ThompNickSon2@gmail.com"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"><span
style="color:#0563C1">ThompNickSon2@gmail.com</span></a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span
style="color:#0563C1"><a
href="https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/</a></span><o:p></o:p></p>
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