Glen, A village is not an extant thing? Let's assume it is. Then could it not serve as a model for a larger social organization?
A model to me is a concrete process or object that we think we understand so well that it can stand in for a similar process or objedt that we understand less well. My favorite example of a model is "natural selection" which takes as its model, the creation of specific breeds of domestic stock by a breeder and applies that model to explain how different species have arisen. N Nicholas S. Thompson Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Ethology, Clark University ([email protected]) http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/ http://www.cusf.org [City University of Santa Fe] > [Original Message] > From: glen e. p. ropella <[email protected]> > To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <[email protected]> > Date: 11/25/2009 11:13:54 AM > Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Dunbar numbers and distributions > > > We're not quite in agreement. Tweeting and updating your facebook page > is not an attempt to "become a celebrity". That's where I'm disagreeing > with you. Such behavior is no more an attempt to become a celebrity > than, say, telling a joke to 5 friends in a pub or, say, giving a toast > at a wedding ... or organizing a local seminar on emergence. > > True, for _some_ people, people we might diagnose as narcissists, EVERY > opportunity to take the stage might be a form of trying to "become a > celebrity". But normal people don't do that. And Facebook consists > primarily of _normal_ people. > > Now, there are corporate facebook pages and corporate twitter feeds > (including people who've become "institutions" like John Cleese or Guy > Kawasaki) and those people use these media as public relations outlets > or even to deliver their product. But even in those cases, they're not > using the media to become celebrities or exploit a weakness. For the > most part, they're merely doing what their fans/customers ask of them. > > As to the behavior of some celebrities and why they do what they do, > there can be an infinite number of reasons. And I caution you against > over simplifying those reasons in the same way I caution you against > oversimplifying trust relationships. For example, we have a local bread > maker named Dave. Dave was a criminal. Then he learned to make bread > and that others liked his bread. Now he uses his celebrity status in an > attempt to demonstrate that criminals can redirect their energy into > productive behavior that benefits those around them. Is Dave a > narcissist? Is he exploiting his fans? I don't know. And, frankly, I > don't care. The fact is that such behavior is much more complex than > you portray. > > Quoting Nicholas Thompson circa 09-11-25 09:28 AM: > > We have only to explain the behavior of the celebrity her- or himself: why > > anybody might be tempted to try to put ourselves in the celebrity position? > > Here, multilevel selection comes into play. While the routine function of > > fan clubs might be to make groups out of strangers, for the celebrity > > herself, it becomes an chance to exploit that weakness in human nature for > > her own individual gain. Any one of us who sees a chance at that > > opportunity would be a fool not to try and exploit it. Hence facebook and > > "friends". > > -- > glen e. p. ropella, 971-222-9095, http://agent-based-modeling.com > > > ============================================================ > 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
