On Sun, Jun 22, 2008 at 10:42 AM, Aadisht Khanna <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> You make an assumption that there is a well known, and widely >> accepted, objective definition of "progress". Tell me, what is the >> progress being achieved in the conflict in the Democratic Republic of >> Congo? Northern Uganda with the LRA? Colombia with FARC? Are these >> conflicts maximizing individual or societal potentials? > While I hate falling into the trap of quoting management jargon, I think > you're confusing underlying conflict with the medium through which said > conflict expresses itself.
You have a point there. There is conflict the verb and conflict the noun. I am, of course, talking about the verb form. > The examples which you cited are all examples of > conflict leading to war. You can also have conflict resolution through a > civil/ criminal justice process, conflict between companies expressing > itself in marketplace competition, (peaceful) conflict over resources > resolving itself through technological development to spur productivity. In several of these conflicts through war that I list, the conflict as a verb is an expression of market competition. The civil war in Eastern DRC, for example, is, among other things, a conflict over resources but executed (accidental pun) through the means of violence. > This does not do anything to answer Gautam's original question. As you've > pointed out, the expression of conflict can lead to war or any other sort of > destructive power struggle - meaning that conflict is not sufficient to > achieve progress (by any common-sensical definition of the word). Also, if > you hold truck with Heroic / Great Leader theories of innovation (Mozart > would have been a musical genius and written marvelous symphonies with or > without facing any conflict), or Random Walk theories of history (things > just happen. What the heck.), then conflict is not necessary for progress > either. Thanks for this food for thought. Thaths -- Bart: We were just planning the father-son river rafting trip. Homer: Hehe. You don't have a son. Sudhakar Chandra Slacker Without Borders
