Hi Tom,
Not sure I get you point about "bleak visions of the mathematical
modelling of Game Theory came to change the face of society ..." - I
have a lot of time for game theory myself ... so I guess I'll take a
look at the documentaries. Thanks for the link.
I will pick up on this comment you make in connection with the
Cleveland case "You can always tell common sense by the way it is not
based on some esoteric hypothsis"
You contrast "common sense" with "esoteric hyothesis" as if somehow it
is obvious which is the more valuable rational basis for wisdom. Your
pejorative insertion of the word "some" makes it clear you see
anything touchy-feely psychological in a bad light. This is
interesting to me, because that particular Cleveland case is one (like
the cot-death prosecutions, and zero-tolerance policing, too) that
re-inforced in me the problems we have in decision-making (in public
life) that had lead me on my own quest for "new rationality".
For me it is mis-application of your so-called "esoteric hypotheses"
by people looking for simple objective answers that is the problem of
our time. Life's rationality is just complicated enough.
When it comes to common sense, objectivity is only half the story.
BTW do I correctly infer that "game theory" is just another "esoteric
hypothesis" to you ?
Ian
On 3/19/07, Tom Milner-Gulland <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> We seem to be in a new era of documentary making, what with the Great
> Global Warming Swindle last week, and before that, the Conspiracy Files.
>
> This award-winning BBC2 documentary (The Trap: Whatever Happened to our
> Dreams of Freedom?) shown a week ago (yesterday's follow-up will doubtless
> duly be uploaded) shows how the bleak visions of the mathematical
> modelling of Game Theory came to change the face of society, politics and
> management for good:
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOEB05_3-p0&mode=related&search=
>
> This online version is in 8-minute sections; 7 of them.
>
> Was most intersted also in the account of psychiatry: the 'Thud
> experiment' and the various computer-diagnosable 'disorders' that it
> turned out most Americans actually had. I think that appears in sections 5
> and 6 of the online suite.
>
> How come we in the UK are always so ready to import 'wisdom' through the
> channel of the humanities? It reminds me of the 'wisdom' that led to the
> Cleveland Child Abuse Scandal. You can always tell common sense by the way
> it is not based on some esoteric hypothsis.
>
> Tom
>
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