Per the unanswered inquiry left in this thread: Steve Smith: So, do you (Agar or others) feel that these concepts are relevant to the current discussions about social networks?
I am curious to hear any replies/comments. My guess would be that Hall's inter-cultural communications concepts have some relevance in social networks discussions. Though, Proxemics is more of a physical distance tool, where so much of the social network space is virtual, so I am not sure what its adaptability to social network theory is. ------ On the matter of whether Edward is alive, I believe our Edward is still with us. I see no evidence on google otherwise, which surely will be there when he leaves us. I have long been a follower of Hall's and his cultural anthropology works, so periodically I have checked on his continued presence with us. I had lunch with him at the old Palace Restaurant at time or two, now years ago. There was another Edward T. Hall, an English physical scientist, mentioned in Nature for having passed, but the English Edward T. lived from 1924-2001, well within the life brackets of our Ned, as our Edward T. was known. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v413/n6856/full/413588a0.html Much is made of our so-called tri-cultural harmony in New Mexico, most of it folkloric and quaint. Ned's substantial contributions in the field of cultural anthropology internationally are perhaps our greatest 'product' to come from the NM cultural 'living lab.' Hall was influenced at an early age by his intuitive observational awareness about the frictions that exist between the region's dominant tri-cultural mix. He was especially impacted by watching the racist-tinged attitudes of the white WPA bureaucrat bosses towards Navajo workers on WPA road crews during the Depression [covered in Ned's autobiography, West of the Thirties]. Rather than whitewash the distinctions for tourism brochures as is often done, he worked to understand why these frictions exist between the different ethos so that cultural understanding/translation could move us towards real harmony. He made his life-works and his name from following this initial curiosity and social concern. As cited in another NY Times story: "Edward T. Hall, the American anthropologist who specialized in cultural differences and advised the U.S. State Department during the the 1950s, once defined culture as the things you take for granted." Some links to Ned's stories on the web: http://www.edwardthall.com/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_T._Hall Edward T. Hall: Proxemic Theory, 1966 http://www.csiss.org/classics/content/13 Gifts of Wisdom: An Interview with Dr. Edward T. Hall http://cms.interculturalu.com/theedge/v1i3Summer1998/sum98sorrellshall NY Times: In Certain Circles, Two Is a Crowd (Proxemics in these avatar times, 11/16/07 - subscription may be required) http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/16/fashion/16space.html?ei=5088&en=2d57a58460 696fe0&ex=1321333200&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&pagewanted=all ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
