Sensibility is intended to be a very general term; basically a sensitivity to a sensory stimulus accompanied by a change of state (positive or negative, but usually negative) in the perceiver of that stimulus. Examples would include: hearing a word or phrase; being hugged or touched; viewing a graphical depiction; being challenged about a core belief or value; being praised in public; smelling perfume at the office; being asked to change your religion; ...
On Tue, 11 Mar 2008 12:46:12 -0600, "Merle Lefkoff" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> said: > How do you define/describe "sensibilities?" > > Merle Lefkoff > > suppose you are trying to grow a diverse community. > > > > you want a shared culture for that community. > > > > you want to respect existing sensibilities that subgroups (and > > individuals) bring to the new community. > > > > in many cases, gender and youth for example, a significant portion of > > those sensibilities are not intrinsic to the group or to individuals > > within the group, they are social constructs imposed on the group. > > (feminism invests energy in challenging and changing many of the > > sensibilities deriving from social construction, AARP does the same for > > elders, relatively little is done regarding youth.) > > > > in all cases, sensibilities are ethnocentric - there are no cultural > > universals! [I will be happy to discuss this with anyone who believes > > otherwise.] > > > > conflict (intensity varying along a continuum) is inevitable: between > > the umbrella culture of the new community and the existing cultures of > > its members; between and among member cultures. > > > > question 1: how does the umbrella culture come into existence? (culture > > IS a complex system) > > question 2: to what extent does the umbrella culture trump the > > ethnocentric sensibilities of its members? > > question 3: should sensibilities based in social constructs be directly > > challenged and/or ignored? > > corollary question 3a: if you want more women in your community > > should your interactions with them be constrained to > > socially constructed norms? > > corollary question 3b: if you want more youth in your community > > should they be constrained (in terms of exposure, > > participation, interaction, and > > communication) to that which is > > consistent with the social > > construction > > of youth? > > question 4: how are the inevitable conflicts mediated? (recognizing > > that the patterns, procedures, powers, and sanctions required for > > mediation must be "built into" the umbrella culture) > > > > > > > > > > > > ============================================================ > > 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 > > > > > > > > > > > ============================================================ > 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 ============================================================ 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
