tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50659651909657642562023-06-20T21:22:46.805-07:00Cosmic AutonomyThoughts on life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.J.P.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08149973609624910053noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5065965190965764256.post-89275950378259856832012-11-09T18:53:00.003-08:002013-02-05T08:55:31.558-08:00Clarifying the concept of envy & The Inevitability of EnvyThis is a quick post providing some supplementary information to another article I wrote for Students for Liberty entitled "Envy and Libertarianism". The book I cite is entitled "Envy: A Theory of Social Behavior" by the late Austrian-German sociologist Helmut Schoeck. You can <a href="http://catalog.libertyfund.org/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=989&category_id=11&vmcchk=1&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1">find a copy through Liberty Fund</a><br />
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<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Clarifying Envy</b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Citing a
careful definition provided by William L. Davidson in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics</i>, Schoeck writes:</div>
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<br /></div>
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Envy is an emotion that is
essentially both selfish and malevolent. It is aimed at persons, and implies
dislike of one who possesses what the envious man himself covets or desires,
and a wish to harm him [the envied]... There is in it also a consciousness of
inferiority to the person envied… He who has got what I envy is felt by me to
have the advantage of me, and I resent it. Consequently, I rejoice if he finds
that his envied possession does not give him entire satisfaction – much more,
if it actually entails on him dissatisfaction and pain… (Schoeck, pg. 20-21)</div>
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<br /></div>
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With this definition, we see that envy is complicated. It is
generally a painful emotional state, but can give rise to pleasure if the
envier subjectively perceives that the envied person is in some way set-back or
dissatisfied. Typically the object of envy is something material, but it need
not be, as in the case of fixating on the envied persons “good looks” or
“superior intelligence”. Schoeck elaborates that “envy very often denies the
asset itself” (pg. 19). By this, he means that the envier fixates more on the
perceived level of satisfaction of the envied person than the actual object of
envy, in some cases preferring the loss or destruction of the object to the
perceived detriment of the envied person. Even dissatisfaction suffered by the
envied person unrelated to object can please the envier. </div>
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Shoeck goes to great lengths to
distinguish what he perceives to be some misconceptions about the concept of
envy. One of these misconceptions is the idea of envy as emulation. When
advertisers use a phrase like “Be the envy of all your friends with Product X!”,
they’re probably not trying to invoke the destructiveness which typically
characterizes envy proper. They’re attempting to awaken the “animal spirits”
(to basterdize a Keynesian phrase) by ingeniously tapping into our deepest
desires for admiration and respect. </div>
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Another common misconception is the
conflation of envy with jealousy. Where with envy, one would ignore/destroy the
object of envy, the coveted asset in the case of jealousy is the prize to be
won. Additionally, Schoeck writes: “…the jealous man is often in doubt as to
the nature of his antagonist: whether he is a genuine, honourable rival on his
own level or an envious man… intent merely on destruction” (pg. 19). The sense
of inferiority is implied with the experience of envy, not necessarily so with
jealousy. Jealousy differs from envy also in that it typically requires
competition between two individuals over a prize: “Jealousy arises out of an
opinion of what is one’s due…” (Schoeck pg. 21). It’s not clear that envy
requires this competition, as we can imagine the envious person dreaming up all
sorts of violent fantasies directed towards the envied person who remains
totally unaware of their existence.</div>
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<br />
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<b>The Inevitability of
Envy</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Can there
be such a thing as an envy-free society? If by envy-free we mean “a social
reality in which nothing is left that is enviable” (Schoeck pg. 341), then as
we have seen from our definition of envy, this is seemingly impossible – the
object of envy can very easily transfer from distributions of wealth to
intangible personal attributes. The presumption that envy emerges because of
unjustifiable economic inequalities has led some utopian dreamers to the
conclusion that a strictly egalitarian society, where all are thought to be
treated exactly the same, can solve the problem of envy. The “socialist”
experiments in the Soviet Union are a tempting example of the failure of
egalitarianism, but the USSR’s hierarchical decision-making and bureaucratic
nature make it a poor sample of strict egalitarian societies. Instead, Schoeck
cites examples of life on the kibbutz (an Israeli communal settlement and
deliberate experiment in strict egalitarianism first pioneered in the early
20th century), discussing some of the serious challenges that kibbutzniks face.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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In the case of electing leaders for
important tasks, the artificial expectation of intense mistrust of anyone with
an elevated social status, even if democratically imposed, leads to a ‘refusal
pattern’, where “all seek to evade nomination or acceptance wherever anyone has
to be chosen for necessary office” (Schoeck pg. 347). As natural divisions of
labor emerged due to the unique talents of individuals, Schoeck recounts an
experience that kibbutznik Melford Spiro encountered when he lived on a kibbutz:
“One man told Spiro that he found it impossible to develop his poetic gift
because he could not help thinking of his comrades, capable only of manual
labour, who, as children, had sat next to him in the latrine…” (Schoeck pg.
351). The kibbutznik come as close as any modern society to establishing strict
egalitarianism, but the problems of envy continue to persist. It would seem
then that envy is an inevitable part of social life. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<br />
REFERENCE<br />
<br />
<div id="gs_cit1">
Schoeck, H. (1969). <i>Envy: A theory of social behaviour</i>. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World.</div>
<br />J.P.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08149973609624910053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5065965190965764256.post-25856678856622175072012-11-05T01:03:00.001-08:002012-11-05T01:10:11.216-08:00Government and The Psychological Need for AutonomyThis was an essay I wrote for the California Review, an alternative newspaper at UC San Diego, some time ago. It published under the name "No! End Government Worldwide!", which was in response to another essay. Modified it a bit for publishing on this blog.<br />
<br />
<b>Government and The Psychological Need for Autonomy</b><br />
<b> </b>
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<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">END
GOVERNMENT WORLDWIDE! Or rather, encourage and practice self-government and
personal accountability. What is really meant by such a statement? Why should
government end? Doesn’t government provide for us some of our basic human
needs, like safety, subsistence, and social order?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many people today would respond with a
resounding “Yes!” Governments produce roads, provide clean water, generate,
adjudicate, and enforce law – if government doesn’t provide these necessary
social services, who or what will? The answer to this question is at once
simple and extremely complicated, far too complex to be translated into
effective public policy. The people who will provide for our basic needs will
be (and has always been) none other than you and me, us and them… every single
being<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, together</i>. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>As an individualist anarchist, it
may seem strange that I arrive at this conclusion of the power of collective
action. Perhaps it is imagined that the typical individualist suffers from some
sort of solipsism, a tyrannical ego, or some combination of the two. I contend
that my fascination with individualism, as a relatively new intellectual
tradition, is a reflection of my fascination with the source or foundation of
life. My perceived experience of life is all that I have; the concepts which
populate my mind are formed by the activity of my own brain. When it comes to
the formation of personal identity and self-concept, or all concepts really,
all social or endogenous exchanges are factors. This fact, however, does not
negate the deeply personal experience of life. Now, what does all of this have
to do with ending government and social harmony? Quite a lot!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The basic
human need which is expressed by individualists worldwide is that of personal
autonomy, independence and freedom. It is important to consider the ways in
which governments, defined as groups of people who participate in the
centralized planning of a larger society within a geographic region, are
unaware of or outright deny this basic need. Plans require means, economic or
otherwise, and governments typically acquire these means in a variety of ways.
One harmful method, in terms of providing for this basic need for autonomy, is
the practice of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">taxation</i>. Taxation is
a compulsory levy imposed on a population by its government. It is argued that
taxation is unavoidable, a necessary evil of any well functioning society – but
if the stated goal of a government is to increase social harmony and to provide
for basic human needs, it has failed from the start. When the means contradict
the ends, or the ends are used to justify some means, there is dissonance. To
claim that something created and imposed by human beings is unavoidable is
essentially to undermine the human capacity of choice. A whole host of internal
contradictions, bizarre psychological dilemmas, are the product of denying
one’s own personal choices. The consequences of self-denial can be devastating
(e.g. self-destructive practices like drug abuse, unrestricted consumerism,
violence, self-imposed isolation or even suicide). I leave it to the reader to
consider the ways in which the U.S. government and its multi-million dollar
corporations have encouraged or discouraged the practice of self-affirmation
and personal choice in the average American.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">According to the Humanist psychologist Abraham
Maslow, human beings are subject to a unique hierarchy of needs. At the bottom
of this hierarchy, physiological needs like subsistence, safety, and
procreation motivate action. As people gradually satisfy each tier of Maslow’s
hierarchy, they approach the highest need – that of self-actualization.
Self-actualization is described by Maslow in his paper <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A Theory of Human Motivation</i> as “the desire for self-fulfillment,
namely, to the tendency for him to become actualized in what he is potentially”
(pg. 10). His hierarchy is a good starting place; however it says nothing about
the means to achieve such needs. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Should
we depend on the generosity and benevolence of others to accomplish our
lower-tier needs until we have reached a point where we can finally begin to
create a healthy self-concept for ourselves? I argue that self, or ego, is an
ever-present element of our existence and is formed by all of our actions, even
those that contribute to lower-tier needs like subsistence. Therefore, it is
important for people to act in their own interest and to understand their
actions as contributing to, or detracting from, the health of their egos. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The plea of the anarchist is not to
ignore basic needs but to find a non-hierarchical, fair, or voluntary means of
meeting those needs, a social organization which does not depend on an
unquestioned authority. Many, many minds, men and women from cultures all
across the globe at different periods throughout history, have wrestled with
the possibility of sustaining such a society.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It is arguable that human history, Western or otherwise, has been
nothing but a cyclical process of achieving anarchy then escaping it into an
unsustainable government. What compels a government, initially established to
satisfy basic needs, to turn on its people, its goal, and itself by increasing
its use of force, seeking to increase its own power over others? Perhaps it has
something to do with autonomy and freedom of choice – the basic human need it
frequently overlooks. Implicit in this desire to increase power over others is
the assumption that others can be perfectly manipulated, managed, or molded. It
is easy to identify this assumption in the reasoning of all governments, from
nation states to tribal/family heads – the superiority of one individual or
groups choices over another’s, and the subsequent justification of the use of
force. But this is not reason at all, nor is it in service to the basic needs
of life. With that said, it is very likely that an anarchist society will be
one of plurality, reflecting the complexity of human choices and the variety of
human thought. But the consequences of an action should always lie with the
actor; this is the best basis for personal growth as well as the growth of a
society. In the words of the American libertarian author Albert Jay Nock in his
book <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Memoirs of a Superfluous Man</i>:
“If one takes care of the means, the end will take care of itself.” (pg 307).</span></div>
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<![endif]-->J.P.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08149973609624910053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5065965190965764256.post-16790552256454277322011-06-16T01:01:00.000-07:002013-02-12T22:31:18.667-08:00Some poetry samplesI'm posting some sample poetry for my own pleasure!<br />
<br />
<hr />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Me and I</span> by James Paul Gonzales<br />
<br />
Stretched and wound between<br />
The Silent Space, a vivid place,<br />
Where once we faced each other.<br />
Canonized, none could devise<br />
A simpler way to waste our lives.<br />
<br />
In looking back, I can't abstain,<br />
My myth and madness are in sustain.<br />
You have taken me by name and health!<br />
Just how may I reclaim myself?<br />
<br />
Dare you speak yourself from stillness,<br />
As I reach to strike the illness<br />
Of our shrill, begotten past?<br />
You just cannot understand,<br />
With any clarity or brevity,<br />
The confrontations that have easily amassed.<br />
<br />
For from the quiet crept the willing,<br />
Crept the abled, who kept instilling<br />
A morality too rigid to define.<br />
And by leaving marks of might and carry,<br />
Would one, compelled to fight the wary,<br />
Rise from silent spaces, vivid places<br />
To win aside our humbler faces.<br />
<br />
And what of this dark, profound omission of yours,<br />
Shaken by the roots as my fruition pours<br />
Floors and floors... of virtue and contentment?<br />
So I recognize that I alone,<br />
In any way, cannot condone<br />
The lying self in all its shame,<br />
The intemperate soul bewitched by fame.<br />
<br />
Now it is <span style="font-style: italic;">your</span> dimness and <span style="font-style: italic;">your </span>pomp<br />
Which split-cast shadows as I walk.<br />
Stay behind me, that the hindsights of purity<br />
Frail and derail you.<br />
<br />
Stay behind me<br />
In a still submission,<br />
Unwound<br />
In sweet division.<br />
<br />
<hr />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Turn About</span> by James Paul Gonzales<br />
<br />
I often wonder<br />
Of our turning points and adaptations.<br />
Only paraphrasing milestones;<br />
A simple expression of progress.<br />
<br />
Are we moving, you and I?<br />
Or do our endless victories,<br />
Endless defeats,<br />
Belong in photographic memory.<br />
As relative isolations make a history whole.<br />
<br />
In an evolution of thought,<br />
Change continues along a narrow line.<br />
We are corridors, ever sectioning<br />
This indefensible spirit.<br />
<br />
By the collapsing sand<br />
Through the mouth of the hourglass,<br />
Our alterations protect something infinite.<br />
Oh! These brittle appearances will fight like no other<br />
The roaring substance in me!<br />
<br />
But though I often wonder<br />
Of Time's pivots and revelations,<br />
I'll embrace the nature<br />
And toss the narrative aside.<br />
<br />
<hr />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Analogous, </span></span>Autonomous</span> by James Paul Gonzales<br />
<br />
Analogous;<br />
Alike enough to hold hands;<br />
We are gentle binaries, or<br />
Twin sets of information.<br />
Factual exposures,<br />
Collating toes beneath the covers,<br />
Perpetual association<br />
From the fever of skin on skin.<br />
<br />
Autonomous;<br />
Sound identities in a disparate blur;<br />
One of me, one of you,<br />
As two solutions authored to dissolve the<br />
Instability of wondrous experience.<br />
We hold ourselves in our arms,<br />
Lift ourselves high unto the Source<br />
So that others may rely on our operation.<br />
<br />
Analogous... Autonomous...<br />
Analogous... Autonomous...<br />
Us together... You and I.J.P.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08149973609624910053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5065965190965764256.post-34386551098200527162011-04-10T00:13:00.000-07:002011-04-10T00:28:53.728-07:00Self-Affirmation and the "Participatory Culture"This is an essay that I wrote for an scholarship contest provided by <a href="http://newthreatstofreedom.com/contests/">Templeton Press</a><br /><br />The essay is a critique of an original essay written by Lee Siegel: <a href="http://newthreatstofreedom.com/news/free-preview-2/#disqus_thread">"Participatory Culture and The Assault on Democracy"</a><br /><br />My critique was definitely sloppy. I wrote it amidst other responsibilities and did not manage my time well. There are some good ideas, however. 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mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 200%;"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 200%;" align="center"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Self-Affirmation and the "Participatory Culture" </span><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 200%;">It is not difficult to perceive the fear and frustration emanating from the words of Lee Siegel in his essay <i style="">Participatory Culture and The Assault on Democracy<a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5065965190965764256&postID=3438655109820052716#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b style=""><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" >[1]</span></b></span></span></span></a>. </i>With emotionally driven phrases like “the most serious threat to freedom in America”<a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5065965190965764256&postID=3438655109820052716#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" >[2]</span></span></span></span></a> or “there is no escape from culture into a personal space,”<a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5065965190965764256&postID=3438655109820052716#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" >[3]</span></span></span></span></a> Siegel’s essay is a genuine expression of dismay directed towards the dramatic changes that have been occurring in large, industrialized nations since the major world wars.<span style=""> </span>The essay discusses several important themes: the emergence of mass-produced culture in America, the Frankfurt School interpretation of this mass-produced culture, self-concept and individualism, interactive media and internet technology, and American democracy. Well-read readers will certainly chuckle at the quips Siegel makes about mass culture’s treatment of Tolstoy or Flaubert, those familiar with online cultural phenomena like YouTube and Facebook are likely to get a laugh as well. While Siegel and the thinkers he acknowledges are absolutely correct in identifying a problem with contemporary American culture and political-economy, he proceeds to paint an unreasonable portrait of a grim, dystopian future. Young Americans, inheriting an economic and political system that is simultaneously collapsing under its own weight and rife with opportunity for restructuring and radical innovation, are compelled by Siegel to adopt a view of <span style=""> </span>culture that is fundamentally alienating, hierarchical, and hopeless. By evaluating the various dichotomies and theories of culture, interactive media, individualism and self-concept presented throughout <i style="">Participatory Culture</i>, there is a glimmer hope for those willing to think and act for themselves. </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 200%;"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 200%;">The irreconcilable choices that are presented to the reader in <i style="">Participatory Culture</i> can be a little overwhelming, many of them seem unnecessary. Consider Siegel’s interpretation of music in contemporary culture:</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; line-height: 200%;">Indeed, the participatory turn accounts for the way rhythm has overtaken melody in popular music: it’s easier to assimilate rhythm’s sameness to your fantasies than to step out of yourself and follow melody’s different changes. Rhythm is music’s first person, as the close-up is film’s.<a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5065965190965764256&postID=3438655109820052716#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" >[4]</span></span></span></span></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">This claim speaks to the toe-tapper in all of us; rhythm is immediately engaging for any organism and is most certainly the oldest element of music. The emergence of popular musical genres like R&B, drum and bass, techno and hip-hop may suggest that rhythm is becoming more important to musicians today, but the melodies and harmonies of Classical Beethoven do not occur in a rhythmic vacuum – rhythm and time provide the context for all music. Some might also suggest that mass culture has not forgotten the great musicians of yesteryear<a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5065965190965764256&postID=3438655109820052716#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" >[5]</span></span></span></span></a>. More importantly however, Siegel is using this claim about the shift in musical development as proof of the existence of mass culture’s negative preoccupation with itself and encouraging the reader to choose between his interpretation of culture and the imaginary shame that comes from enjoying a funky beat. Siegel also cites other trends in the arts – a growing interest in first-person fiction, three-dimensional cinematography, and video games – as indicative of some essential moral dilemma. <span style=""> </span>Despite his subjective aesthetic value-judgments, readers should not be deterred from gleaning the greater truth from his arguments about mass culture. </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style=""> </span>Another dubious dichotomy which relies on aesthetic prejudice and moral condescension is that of old versus new art. Siegel attacks contemporary artists when he offers these straw men arguments: “the hallmark of great popular art used to be the way a performer put an original twist on a standard genre of formula,” “…it used to be that performers strove to create excellence and originality within a popular style, in order to become popular,” and “In today’s culture, you strive only to be popular – in order to become popular.”<a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5065965190965764256&postID=3438655109820052716#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" >[6]</span></span></span></span></a> The examples he provides of today’s popular art range from talking cats on YouTube to American Idol and James Cameron’s <i style="">Avatar</i>, a film so formulaic that the Internet can’t resist making fun of it.<a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5065965190965764256&postID=3438655109820052716#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" >[7]</span></span></span></span></a> An extensive list of innovative and genre-bending artists in the 21<sup>st</sup> century could be provided as evidence against Siegel’s claims, as if the utility or beauty of aesthetic values could be objectively defined and cardinally ordered; suffice it to say that young American artists exist, are self-inspired and are not toiling away in vain. Siegel may be reacting to the sheer volume of stuff produced and shared as a result of the advanced breakthroughs in Internet technology in the last decade (e.g. YouTube); undoubtedly, there are many more people sharing media with each other than ever before. To claim that an interactive platform like YouTube is somehow threatening to art is simply nonsensical; an environment where artists can share freely and easily is the first place that someone should expect to find a New Renaissance in the arts.<a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5065965190965764256&postID=3438655109820052716#_ftn8" name="_ftnref8" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" >[8]</span></span></span></span></a> The political-economy that many Americans are enduring now, one filled with astronomical government debt, wars, and an attack on basic human rights at home and abroad, also inspires the artist to create in novel ways.<a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5065965190965764256&postID=3438655109820052716#_ftn9" name="_ftnref9" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" >[9]</span></span></span></span></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 200%;">The disdain that Siegel expresses over interactive media and the growing cultural interest in participating in the creation of media should be immediately alarming to the reader, young or old. Having the essential desire to contribute – to discover one’s own creative power – and the technology to make that happen is absolutely a boon for contemporary society. The potential to apply this technology towards positive social change is limitless.<a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5065965190965764256&postID=3438655109820052716#_ftn10" name="_ftnref10" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" >[10]</span></span></span></span></a> When Siegel criticizes the spirit of Wikipedia, claiming that its creation was motivated by “a more fundamental principle: the more people who were allowed to participate in Wikipedia, the more people who would read Wikipedia,”<a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5065965190965764256&postID=3438655109820052716#_ftn11" name="_ftnref11" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" >[11]</span></span></span></span></a> one might conclude that Siegel would prefer the generation and dissemination of knowledge to be controlled by a “more qualified” class of working intellectuals, or that the common desire to contribute is somehow negative. To be clear, the context of this criticism, along with his criticism of popular art and music, is just the wider interpretation of mass culture as being motivated by the pursuit of nothing more than popularity for the sake of popularity. Does it occur to Siegel that the average person might take advantage of the opportunity to contribute to the production of media and information because he or she genuinely feels powerless against corporate media monopolies and the governments which grant them power?<a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5065965190965764256&postID=3438655109820052716#_ftn12" name="_ftnref12" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" >[12]</span></span></span></span></a> Given this question, Siegel’s understanding of mass culture deserves some scrutiny.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 200%;">Firstly, no theory of popular culture enjoys complete agreement amongst thinkers, and there is nothing wrong with that – granted the complexity of human behavior and thought, this should really come as no surprise.<a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5065965190965764256&postID=3438655109820052716#_ftn13" name="_ftnref13" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" >[13]</span></span></span></span></a> Siegel describes mass culture as that culture with the capacity for the average person to be at once a producer as well as a consumer.<a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5065965190965764256&postID=3438655109820052716#_ftn14" name="_ftnref14" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" >[14]</span></span></span></span></a> Siegel introduces the reader to the Frankfurt School theory of mass culture via Theodor Adorno and Herbert Marcuse, two thinkers motivated by Marxist class analysis and theory of capitalism. According to the Frankfurt School, mass culture or the “culture industry” is the product of industrialization and the division of labor in the 19<sup>th</sup> century, the emergence of a working class, and the subsequent mass-production of art and entertainment.<a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5065965190965764256&postID=3438655109820052716#_ftn15" name="_ftnref15" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" >[15]</span></span></span></span></a> When it comes to political and economic discourse, the Frankfurt School identifies a true threat in media monopolies, as Siegel quotes Marcuse: “Under the rule of monopolistic media – themselves a mere instrument of economic and political power – a mentality is created for which right and wrong, true and false are predefined…”<a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5065965190965764256&postID=3438655109820052716#_ftn16" name="_ftnref16" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" >[16]</span></span></span></span></a> <span style=""> </span>However, the theory begins to take a turn towards authoritarianism and elitism; Siegel shares Adorno’s belief that the “commodification” of culture is a threat to the properly exclusive “high” culture (e.g. Michelangelo and da Vinci) and “popular” or folk culture (e.g. storytelling amidst grinding poverty) – to merge the two would destabilize what they perceive as prerequisite moral and aesthetic values for the emergence of either a socialist revolution or a true American democracy.<a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5065965190965764256&postID=3438655109820052716#_ftn17" name="_ftnref17" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" >[17]</span></span></span></span></a> In in his book <i style="">An Introduction to Theories of Popular Culture</i>, Dominic Strinati explains that elite values are first assumed and then unquestioningly applied to the criticism of other cultures.<a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5065965190965764256&postID=3438655109820052716#_ftn18" name="_ftnref18" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" >[18]</span></span></span></span></a> The simple truth is that high, popular and mass culture are all high-level abstractions which vary from person to person; clearly, some people have never even considered a theory of popular culture. Aesthetic values are truly the last thing to be considered when facing real-world problems like poverty and war. <span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 200%;">What is especially bizarre is Siegel’s contradictory identification with the elitist sentiment of the Frankfurt School theory and his intellectual divorce from it: </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; line-height: 200%;">For Adorno, Marcuse… the answer to brutish, dehumanizing culture and politics was dismantling of “the rule of monopolistic media” and the establishment of participatory culture, in which, presumably, access and transparency would be the order of the day.<a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5065965190965764256&postID=3438655109820052716#_ftn19" name="_ftnref19" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" >[19]</span></span></span></span></a> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">The contradiction lies in the fact that Siegel employs the Frankfurt School theory of culture industry and mass culture in his analysis of contemporary American culture, identifies the emerging trend of interactivity in media production, unreasonably condemns the trend as negatively contributing to the decay of the American political-economy, and then suggests that the Frankfurt School theorists and others ultimately advocated this decay. This misrepresentation of the Frankfurt School seems outlandish; it is entirely possible that Adorno and others would have agreed with the elitist claims that Siegel advances and would have seen interactive media as some new form of capitalist exploitation.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 200%;">Compared to Siegel’s inspired theory of mass culture, his ideas of individualism and self-concept are very meaningful to the discussion of social progress. Describing the individuals of mass culture as simultaneously being “extra vulnerable to approval,” lacking in self-awareness, and with “egos… both larger than their environment and entirely submerged in it,”<a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5065965190965764256&postID=3438655109820052716#_ftn20" name="_ftnref20" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" >[20]</span></span></span></span></a> the reader begins to see mass culture as modulating between utter self-doubt and unyielding arrogance – an inconsistent view of self-concept. Siegel is absolutely on to something when he identifies in mass culture a genuine problem with self-esteem<a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5065965190965764256&postID=3438655109820052716#_ftn21" name="_ftnref21" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" >[21]</span></span></span></span></a>; this discovery is truly at the core of all personal and social problems. Nathaniel Branden – the former disciple of Ayn Rand and successful Objectivist-inspired psychotherapist – describes self-esteem: </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; line-height: 200%;">Self-esteem is the disposition to experience oneself as being competent to cope with the basic challenges of life and of being worthy of happiness. It is confidence in the efficacy of our mind, in our ability to think… it is confidence in our ability to learn, make appropriate choices and decisions, and respond effectively to change.<a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5065965190965764256&postID=3438655109820052716#_ftn22" name="_ftnref22" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" >[22]</span></span></span></span></a></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">With a reasonable definition of self-esteem provided, one can see the contrast in the understanding of self-esteem between Siegel, who uses of the term “<i style="">amour-propre</i>”<a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5065965190965764256&postID=3438655109820052716#_ftn23" name="_ftnref23" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" >[23]</span></span></span></span></a> or <i style="">self-esteem dependent on the opinions of others in</i> and Braden, who points out that self-esteem is not fundamentally a function of how others see and evaluate us.<a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5065965190965764256&postID=3438655109820052716#_ftn24" name="_ftnref24" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" >[24]</span></span></span></span></a> Looking at individuality, Siegel trips over his words when, evaluating the views of the Frankfurt School, he claims that “the ‘monopolistic media’ left a great deal of room for the cultivation of individual taste and freedom”<a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5065965190965764256&postID=3438655109820052716#_ftn25" name="_ftnref25" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" >[25]</span></span></span></span></a> and in a later passage makes the claim that “no spaces for the cultivation for our individuality exist between us and the media monopolies...”<a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5065965190965764256&postID=3438655109820052716#_ftn26" name="_ftnref26" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:12pt;" >[26]</span></span></span></span></a>. An Objectivist or rational egoist, after reading <i style="">Participatory Culture</i>, might dismiss Siegel’s views of self and individuality as contradictory, but would certainly agree that the values and virtues of individual actors in mass culture contribute to the sort of socio-political climate they generate.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style=""> </span>The view of mass culture that Siegel and the Frankfurt school share, one of total obsequiousness to the elitist agendas of corporations and governments, is simply not true. Art and culture are not dead, the Internet is powerful tool for social change, and the self is something to be cultivated, not restrained. Views of culture that treat millions of people as homogeneous blobs are counterproductive to meaningful change. <span style=""> </span>This is the task set forth for young Americans today: to participate in the creation of their freedom, online or off, and to place that value at the center of their society, as an ever-present ideal. </p> <div style=""><br /><hr align="left" size="1" width="33%"> <div style="" id="ftn1"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5065965190965764256&postID=3438655109820052716#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:10pt;" >[1]</span></span></span></span></a> Siegel. (SOURCE)</p> </div> <div style="" id="ftn2"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5065965190965764256&postID=3438655109820052716#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:10pt;" >[2]</span></span></span></span></a> Siegel. (SOURCE): Final ¶</p> </div> <div style="" id="ftn3"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5065965190965764256&postID=3438655109820052716#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:10pt;" >[3]</span></span></span></span></a> Siegel. (SOURCE): ¶ 24</p> </div> <div style="" id="ftn4"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5065965190965764256&postID=3438655109820052716#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:10pt;" >[4]</span></span></span></span></a> Siegel. (SOURCE): ¶ 6</p> </div> <div style="" id="ftn5"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5065965190965764256&postID=3438655109820052716#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:10pt;" >[5]</span></span></span></span></a> Koerner., <a href="http://www.slate.com/id/2160381/"><i style="">Is Classical Making a Comeback?</i></a> <http: com="" id="" 2160381=""></http:></p> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"> </p> </div> <div style="" id="ftn6"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5065965190965764256&postID=3438655109820052716#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:10pt;" >[6]</span></span></span></span></a> Siegel. (SOURCE): ¶ 8</p> </div> <div style="" id="ftn7"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5065965190965764256&postID=3438655109820052716#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:10pt;" >[7]</span></span></span></span></a> Wampler. <a href="http://www.examiner.com/comedy-in-national/james-cameron-s-avatar-already-getting-parodied-everywhere-with-funny-videos"><i style="">James Cameron's 'Avatar' already getting parodied, everywhere.</i></a> <http: com="" national="" videos=""></http:></p> </div> <div style="" id="ftn8"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5065965190965764256&postID=3438655109820052716#_ftnref8" name="_ftn8" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:10pt;" >[8]</span></span></span></span></a> Hornaday. <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/02/AR2007020200358.html"><i style="">Rules for YouTube: Make Art, Not Bore</i></a> <http: com="" dyn="" content="" article="" 2007="" 02="" html=""></http:></p> </div> <div style="" id="ftn9"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5065965190965764256&postID=3438655109820052716#_ftnref9" name="_ftn9" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:10pt;" >[9]</span></span></span></span></a> Kaye. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGMQZEIXBMs"><i style="">George Ought To Help</i></a> <http: com="" v="PGMQZEIXBMs"></http:></p> </div> <div style="" id="ftn10"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5065965190965764256&postID=3438655109820052716#_ftnref10" name="_ftn10" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:10pt;" >[10]</span></span></span></span></a> Nauert. <a href="http://psychcentral.com/news/2006/11/29/the-internet-as-agent-of-social-change/438.html"><i style="">The Internet as Agent of Social Change</i></a> <http: com="" news="" 2006="" 11="" 29="" change="" html=""></http:></p> </div> <div style="" id="ftn11"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5065965190965764256&postID=3438655109820052716#_ftnref11" name="_ftn11" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:10pt;" >[11]</span></span></span></span></a> Siegel. (SOURCE): ¶ 10</p> </div> <div style="" id="ftn12"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5065965190965764256&postID=3438655109820052716#_ftnref12" name="_ftn12" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:10pt;" >[12]</span></span></span></span></a> Morales. <i style=""><a href="http://www.gallup.com/poll/143267/Distrust-Media-Edges-Record-High.aspx">Distrust in the U.S. Media Edges Up To Record High</a> </i><http: com="" poll="" 143267="" aspx=""></http:></p> </div> <div style="" id="ftn13"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5065965190965764256&postID=3438655109820052716#_ftnref13" name="_ftn13" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:10pt;" >[13]</span></span></span></span></a> Hinds, Motz, and Nelson. <i style="">Popular Culture Theory and Methedology: A Basic Introduction</i> (pg. 274)</p> </div> <div style="" id="ftn14"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5065965190965764256&postID=3438655109820052716#_ftnref14" name="_ftn14" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:10pt;" >[14]</span></span></span></span></a> Siegel. (SOURCE): ¶ 3</p> </div> <div style="" id="ftn15"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5065965190965764256&postID=3438655109820052716#_ftnref15" name="_ftn15" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:10pt;" >[15]</span></span></span></span></a> Kellner. <i style=""><a href="http://gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/kellner/papers/fs.htm">The Frankfurt School</a> </i><http: edu="" faculty="" kellner="" papers="" htm=""></http:></p> </div> <div style="" id="ftn16"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5065965190965764256&postID=3438655109820052716#_ftnref16" name="_ftn16" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:10pt;" >[16]</span></span></span></span></a> Siegel. (SOURCE): ¶ 16</p> </div> <div style="" id="ftn17"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5065965190965764256&postID=3438655109820052716#_ftnref17" name="_ftn17" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:10pt;" >[17]</span></span></span></span></a> Siegel. (SOURCE): ¶ 21</p> </div> <div style="" id="ftn18"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5065965190965764256&postID=3438655109820052716#_ftnref18" name="_ftn18" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:10pt;" >[18]</span></span></span></span></a> Strinati. <i style="">An Introduction to Theories of Popular Culture</i> (pg. 36) </p> </div> <div style="" id="ftn19"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5065965190965764256&postID=3438655109820052716#_ftnref19" name="_ftn19" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:10pt;" >[19]</span></span></span></span></a> Siegel. (SOURCE): ¶ 18</p> </div> <div style="" id="ftn20"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5065965190965764256&postID=3438655109820052716#_ftnref20" name="_ftn20" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:10pt;" >[20]</span></span></span></span></a> Siegel. (SOURCE): ¶ 15</p> </div> <div style="" id="ftn21"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5065965190965764256&postID=3438655109820052716#_ftnref21" name="_ftn21" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:10pt;" >[21]</span></span></span></span></a> Taylor. <i style=""><a href="http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-power-prime/201006/popular-culture-americas-self-esteem-problem">Popular Culture: America’s Self-Esteem Problem</a><span style=""> </span></i><http: com="" blog="" prime="" 201006="" problem=""></http:></p> </div> <div style="" id="ftn22"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5065965190965764256&postID=3438655109820052716#_ftnref22" name="_ftn22" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:10pt;" >[22]</span></span></span></span></a> Branden. <a href="http://nathanielbranden.com/catalog/info_pages.php?pages_id=14"><i style="">On Self</i></a></p> </div> <div style="" id="ftn23"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5065965190965764256&postID=3438655109820052716#_ftnref23" name="_ftn23" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:10pt;" >[23]</span></span></span></span></a> Siegel. (SOURCE): ¶ 13</p> </div> <div style="" id="ftn24"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5065965190965764256&postID=3438655109820052716#_ftnref24" name="_ftn24" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:10pt;" >[24]</span></span></span></span></a> Branden. <i style="">Honoring the Self: Self-Esteem and Personal Transformation</i> (pg. 5)</p> </div> <div style="" id="ftn25"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5065965190965764256&postID=3438655109820052716#_ftnref25" name="_ftn25" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:10pt;" >[25]</span></span></span></span></a> Siegel. (SOURCE): ¶ 19</p> </div> <div style="" id="ftn26"> <p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a style="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5065965190965764256&postID=3438655109820052716#_ftnref26" name="_ftn26" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=";font-family:";font-size:10pt;" >[26]</span></span></span></span></a> Siegel. (SOURCE): ¶ 23</p> </div> </div>J.P.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08149973609624910053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5065965190965764256.post-49396469588230756822010-08-06T14:10:00.001-07:002010-08-06T14:35:22.947-07:00Objective reality and quantum physicsHey, for my first post I figured I'd share with you all an excerpt from a wonderful textbook I read about a year ago in a college course I took on philosophy of science. The professor, Dr. Michael Mussachia, wrote this textbook and was quite passionate about philosophy and cognitive science. It was my first exposure to a philosophy professor who had some significant experience in science --Dr. Mussachia worked as particle physicist if I'm not mistaken.<br /><br />Anyways, the textbook is called "Science: Its Cognitive and Philosophical Foundations"<br /><br />This section, entitled "12.2 Objective Reality", is section two of Chapter 12: "A naturalistic epistemology. Part 1". This small excerpt does not do the thoughts and ideas of the entire textbook justice (obviously), but it is an illuminating discussion on the popularization of quantum physics.<br /><br />12. 2 Objective Reality – by Michael Mussachia<br /><br />A fundamental metaphysical assumption underlying both every day cognition and science is that there is a knowable, objective reality outside our minds. It is objective because its characteristics are not determined, at least for the most part, by human perception, beliefs, and or desires. The big exception to this general rule is our own social world, there indeed the perceptions and beliefs of the observer, when they are expressed in some form of behavior, can influence the observed. Most of the physical things and processes of the world, however, have characteristics that are intrinsic in them rather than dependent upon human or animal cognition. The material composition of a stone, the voltage across an electrical circuit, and the orbital motion of the earth around the sun are not a function of human perception or belief, though some of these things may be influenced by human action.<br /><br /> While this scientific view is also the common sense view among non-scientists in their everyday lives, there are two counter tendencies within the broader culture: “quantum consciousness” New Age devotees who believe that much if not all of the physical world is shaped by our minds, and social constructivists, who claim that reality is in some sense a social construction.<br /><br /> New Age popularizations of quantum physics typically claim that physical reality is subjective because it is “determined by our perceptions.” New Age gurus proclaim that the quantum wave becomes a particle only when we perceive it to be so. To hear many quantum mystics describe it, you would think our minds interact with matter in some mysterious and even mystical way. A typical example is that of Deepak Chopra in his book Quantum Healing (Bantam 1989): “Every time we think, something material – the neuropeptide – springs out of nowhere. There is some hidden transformation that turns a thought into a molecule.” Such notions seriously misrepresent quantum physics and the nature of measurements in physical science.<br /><br /> To observe and measure something at the micro-level requires a physical interaction with it or with something connected to it under conditions of “wave functions entanglement.” An electron is a very tiny thing, and its behavior is significantly perturbed by an interaction with just a single photon. We observe things with light, and even if we need only a few photons to observe the state of an electron, the act of observing it will change its state. This in turn usually has the effect of making the electron’s quantum state more deterministic. Thus the state of the particle is dependent upon our observations ONLY because observations are measurements, and measurements are causally significant interactions.<br /><br /> For instance, observations that result in particle-like behavior in quantum interference experiments require a physical interaction, usually with some kind of physical device located along one of the paths of the particle beams. The physical interaction along one of the paths makes the particle beam paths different, and as a result the particles no longer interfere like waves. The observation has physically altered the observed, but it has not created the observed.<br /><br /> There is another confusion common in New Age quantum mysticism, Observations are often taken as equivalent to consciousness and hence beliefs. As one New Age guru put it, “… what science is saying now, that reality is what we perceive it to be”, and “When the observer is in the lab looking at the subatomic particle and watching it change according to the consciousness of the observer, he’s creating a subatomic particle.” (Cited in Gordon, 1988, page 181-182.) Unfortunately, beliefs without actions can neither cause an electron to jump across a semiconductor junction nor put food in the stomach of a starving person. Electrons may be altered by the photons of our observations, but they couldn’t care less about our beliefs. If they did, we wouldn’t need to carry out laborious and difficult physical experiments; we could make do with just thought experiments.<br /><br /> The ability of our observations and measurements to influence the behavior of things is quite limited. Another way to put it is that quantum indeterminacy has its limits. We cannot make an electron do just anything by observing it. No observation will turn an electron into an anti-electron, or a proton, or neutrino, or a quark, or many other things because the transformations and quantum state shifts are restricted by a variety of physical laws. Similarly, even the holiest of gurus cannot turn an apple into an orange or a stone into a loaf of bread. For better or for worst, the world is largely objective in its characteristics, and if we want to bring about a change, we’ve got to do something more than just desire it, think it or talk about it.J.P.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08149973609624910053noreply@blogger.com0