[FRIAM] Few of you ...

[∄ uǝʃƃ]

I don't know, man.  I'm an antisocial person.  But I seem to meet a lot of people who truly *enjoy* being in and playing on teams.  Teams are, by definition, algorithmic, some more, some less.  The same could be said about going to arena sized concerts, or chanting silly things at protests or rallies: Lock Him Up! Lock Him Up! 8^)

These people don't *seem* like they feel demeaned.  They seem energized by their mob behavior.  Teams are energized when they play "in the zone".  Etc.  Even in the case of the high rank *nodes*.  Their decisions are more algorithmic than those of the low rank nodes.  The difference is they have to be *rational* ... they have to encapsulate much more of the algorithm inside their heads, whereas the low rank nodes have more of the algorithm in the machinery and processes around them ... the "extended mind" as it were.

The people who "hate the government" are *big* team players.  That's the problem.  They're upset because they don't feel like they're part of the team.  They've been left out (mostly because they can't catch or hit the damned ball!).


On 1/14/19 10:48 PM, Nick Thompson wrote:
> Oh, it was more than the pomp Wouk bristled at.  It was the removal of discretion, as well.  The American military is perhaps better than most in that regard, but any military has to operate on algorithms, and nobody likes to be a node in an algorithm.  So, I guess my thesis was that in the second world war we got a double and conflicting lesson:  how effective an algorithmic system can be AND how demeaning it can be to be part of one.  Two solutions present themselves: 1. Hire mercenaries and 2. Automate.  Of course we have done both.  
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> An officer of your dad’s rank, of course, was an exception and even within that giant system he made big decisions daily, decisions that affected the lives of thousands of people.  There is a scene in that same book where an officer is required to make one of those decisions between surely killing 50 strangers or threatening the life of 150 you know that utilitarians are fond of posing.  It’s a harrowing scene.  
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> I wonder what the relation is between a distaste for government and service as an enlisted soldier.  That’s not a rhetorical question.  I do wonder.  I am thinking there is a high correlation between states with high military participation  and states with anti-government politics.  When a conservative thinks of “government” is he more likely to think of the military?  

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