If the truth did matter there is very little evidence of it. Quite often a viewpoint from the empowered is sufficient.
We seem to have done pretty well thinking the earth the center of the universe. Knowing the truth seemed to be reason enough to end up in the market square to be incinerated. The Group decides what is true. Consensus Truth on the one hand and Emotional Truth on the other are the only choices. The emergence of alternative truths to satisfy the many solipsists is an industry. We sell cars to people who need a mobile platform for their cell-phones and handbags. A coffee cup holder may not be enough soon a car will show up with an espresso machine. Robot butlers and robotic chauffeurs in the ultimate version. Selling or marketing technology claiming it will elevate one's status, while serving as auxiliary memory prosthetic devices. The cell phone removes the burden of remembering phone numbers and you can have a photo for faces you forgot. The new growth industry may well be machines that will speak for us performing in a selected Stage style. Shakespearian or perhaps Rabelaisian affectations. Can we synthesize Basil Rathbone in a Sherlock Holmes-ian style. Technology has a nasty side effect of making us stupid and proud of it. Without extremists who risk immolation the human race would still be cracking nuts with a rock. The failure of extremists to cohere is no doubt a trait that allows every extremist to think s/he is the only competent member of a group. Such people are often Control Freaks who use the talents of others to advance socially or monetarily. There are control freaks and there are gifted people. Control Freaks are a bit like a Prima Dona without the talent. A control freak joins teams simply to garner status and acclaim. Resume padding. Or in more advanced cases the goal is to acquire the IPR's. Team projects do not often succeed because of conflicts between aspiring control freaks. The way Boeing worked on the 747 development seems a marvel or high note of co-operation. Perhaps Lockheed had it right by developing the Skunk Works system deliberately excluding most managers but very extreme. The ethics are an entirely different issue. vib -----Original Message----- From: Friam [mailto:friam-boun...@redfish.com] On Behalf Of Marcus Daniels Sent: July-18-15 9:05 AM To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group Subject: Re: [FRIAM] speculative Q "But the point I was trying to make with those 3 articles still stands: that people who join communities for community's sake are not necessarily only drags on, disrupters of the system. They provide something like a dampening baffle that traps and eliminates the noise of the extremists, the purposeful missionaries. In fact, without _enough_ of that sort of "middling" or "joiner", a project is more at risk when/if extremists fail to cohere. And I think this is true in open source projects as well as proprietary ones." Right, but from the missionary's point of view, the truth is out there, and if one project dies another will fill its place.. It is the truth that matters. Marcus ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
