On Monday 17 Jan 2011 11:01:50 pm Anand Manikutty wrote: > but it is worth noting that > large groups of people have worked together since the time of the > Pyramids. > > Formally, Management is a factor of production that can move economic > outcomes closer to the productivity frontier. The economic advantages of > creating a common cause (but really accruing from Management as a factor > of production entailed by the division of labor) were recognized well > before organized religions such as Christianity and Islam came into being. >
I have no argument with this but I would like to ask about absolute numbers of people who were successfully made to work for a common cause and the periods of time over which this was achieved. I don't think the "organization" that built the pyramids lasted as long as, or organized as many people (in absolute numbers) as Christianity or islam. I am not a management literate person and am unable to use management jargon, but if asked to judge, I would judge Christianity and Islam as being far better managers of larger numbers of people over longer periods of time than any previous organization. But both Christianity and Islam had "bugs" in their code that caused infighting and breakdown of the organization. I believe that in human history the development of secular democracy and communism were both aimed at uniting peope in a manner that went beyond the "bugs" of religion. The results of secular democracy and communism are mixed. They have both managed to unite larger numbers of people than either religion, but have not lasted as long as the religions yet. we won't know for several centuries if these organizations are better or worse as a long term method of uniting all people under a common human platform. The web has not managed to cut it. Yet. shiv
