Archive for June, 2011
There Be Dragons: Science as the Realization of Fantasy
It’s not often you get a honest account of the foundation of modern science. To be honest, accounts of science, especially those given to second year initiates” is often more polemic and ego that it is science and rationality. But here’s an account that exposes the irrational roots of our rational inquiry. Science, it seems, is as much founded on the irrational (and often egoic and competitive) pursuit of fantasy and imagination than the cold hard facts of reality. And in fact that’s a good thing because, as Tim points out, without fantasy and imagination to drive us, we’d not have achieved the technological wonders of the modern world. It is interesting though. If imagination can bring us the technological world of Captain Kirk, can’t it also bring us the social world of the future as well, a world where money is abolished, everyone is provided for, and nobody suffers or goes hungry. Perhaps you’ll say its just “human nature,” but perhaps its really just a failure of imagination!
Conquering the Beast Within
Are humans basically good, or basically bad? Some people, like Freud, Hobbes, and Foucault, say bad. We’ve got a beast within and the only way to control that beast is to beat it down and repress it. You want proof? Just look at how badly the adults in this world act. They are greedy, selfish, violent, and brutish. But is that the result of human nature, or is it simply the result of toxic socialization? Personally, I think its the latter. Take one giggling, innocent, bubbly, effervescent child, subject them to two decades of disregard and abuse (statistically, rates of child abuse are high), and turn them loose damaged, angry, and desperate! It’s no wonder we live in the world we do. But is it human nature, or should we fault our The System and its agents of socialization? It’s up to you to decide. But be careful, the choice you make determines the society we build.
Socialization
We, especially those of us who live in North America, like to think we are stout individuals. We set our own course, navigate the waves, and actualize our potential. Like Bill Gates we are self made individuals, heroes or losers in our own stories and in the end we’ve got only ourselves to congratulate or blame. But honestly, that’s a Hollywood story. As any Sociologist will tell you we are not the masters of our own fate but are in fact embedded in social networks were Agents of Socialization train us, tune us, and turn us out like so many cogs on an assembly line. Are you born into the working class, well your socialization will NOT prepare you for higher education. Are you born in the upper classes. Your education and training will be different. Different attitudes, different values, and even the presence of paid tutors will increase your odds of educational success. Sucks, but its true. It’s not a level playing field and whether you like it or not, you are the products of the agents who trained you.
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