Steve, Glen, Marcus,
I am liking these responses. Thankyou for giving the question your all. I am not sure I am man enough to respond usefully to them, but they are causing me to think. One thing that they make evident is a way in which "basin" is a metaphor that I had not thought of. It offers a picture of a three dimensional structure as a model for goings-on in an N dimensional space. Not at all clear to me that the intuitions drawn from a three dimensional model have any use at all in n-dimensional space. I have always been persuaded that a model that requires a model to make it intelligible is no model at all. I mean, either a model is sufficient to bring a phenomenon within the range of some set of useful intuitions, or it is of no value. Well, as I say: thank you. I hope others will pitch in. N Nicholas S. Thompson Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology Clark University <http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/> http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/ From: Friam [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Steve Smith Sent: Monday, April 14, 2014 2:45 PM To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group Subject: Re: [FRIAM] basin filling Wise Nick - As usual, I got my ears boxed on the substance, but everybody gave me a pass on the use of the metaphor, "attractor and basin". It's been quite a while since I read any complexity literature and nearly as long since a complexity topic has graced these pages. So, I am wondering, if any of you would care to advise me on how to use that metaphor properly. If we were dedicated to "filling that basin", what would that look like? What does this "systems talk" contribute to a discussion, other than a whiff of modernity? Would I have said less or more if I had suggested that we "alter the incentives surrounding childcare for men and women", or the like. By all means, let's return to considering the phenomena in question (Openness vs Inequality) using the tools of complexity theory. In particular, of the socio-economic status of individuals within our system when engaged in one or more of the obvious "Open Systems" that are popularly included in western (and especially US culture) and specifically the global communication/information network comprised mainly of the Internet but also Cell Networks, Publishing and other Media Networks, and perhaps even outliers like HAM or CB radio and real-world public events such as meetings, conferences, public protests (e.g. Occupy), Democratic Processes, and the Marketplace. If we consider each individual over time as occupying a point in this space (a given gender, age, salary, net worth, educational-level, employment status, group-affiliations, etc.), and their being an Evolution function (F(t,_v)) which describes how that individual "moves" in phase space, then perhaps we can recognize and describe various point, line(Orbit), area(basin) and volume (in N-dimensions) attractors. Following Glen's criticism of the "Landscape Metaphor", I will add that terms such as "orbit" (celestial navigation?) and "basin" are useful for their familiarity, but are very limited. In particular (no ear-boxing intended) I don't think the idea of "Filling a Basin" is apt... but ignoring that misleading aspect of the landscape metaphor, I think your point can be used to talk about exploring the adjacent possibles to F(t,_v) (name them Fn(t,_v) which might be alternative rule-sets (social, regulatory, religious, ???) whose attractors are more "equal" across the identified qualites of Gender, Race, and Sexual_Orientation (GRS). This opens the question of "what means more equal?". I suppose first we need to identify what we are measuring... perhaps salary is key, maybe accumulated wealth/assets is another measure many follow, maybe social status (within what group? how broad?), maybe access to *other* resources besides $$? Some would include other features such as (likelyhood of being sexually harrassed, murdered, or raped). Once we identify that, then I suppose that we are interested in Fn(t,_v) whose attractors, when projected into the dimensions being valued, show no correlation with GRS? G, R and S, for our purposes are characterized by small integer sets (G cardinality of 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 or 6 if we differentiate between trans in each direction and hermaphrodite and maybe Neuter?) and (R cardinality of 2, 3, or 18,973 depending on how distinctive we want to be at which point it seems like R has smeared into Ethnicity and even Tribal/Clan/Family distinctions?) and S (roughly the cardinality of GxG?). I can't tell if modeling these things more formally will help understanding, but perhaps? I suspect that *equality* is not precisely what we seek.. but maybe there are other properties of the phase space and the attractors which we would like to find? The term "Class" in popular discussion seems apt. As is often the case with *any* system, thoughtful, informed, motivated modeling of the domain often helps us understand things which were a puzzle before, and sometimes even solve the implied "problems" that were represented in our puzzlement. In this case, what resources or experiences do SWMs have access to which non-SWMs do not (as easily?) and/or how can we change F(t,_v), or more to the point, choose from an infinite set of Fn(t,_v) which match the criteria we seek... and EVEN more to the point what does the space of Fn(t,_v) look like, what are the "adjacent possibles" to our current F(t,_v) and can we imagine or prescribe an evolution from Fo(t,_v) TO a desired Fn(t,_v)? Just to be difficult or oblique, let me close with a highly figurative allusion to a familiar children's allegorical tale: If Jack and Jill go up the hill (Landscape metaphor) to fetch a pail of water (seeking a more equitable Fn(t,_v) for all) then must Jack fall down,and break his crown? And if so, what does that mean? A fall from grace of the SWM? And must Jill also therefore come "tumbling after"? If figurative speech using metaphor is risky, I suppose turning a simple children's fairytale into an allegory for modern socioeconomic equality is even riskier? - Wonky Steve
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