Generational Dynamics World View

[Bob Butler 54]

(11-14-2020, 01:54 PM)pbrower2a Wrote:

(11-13-2020, 08:33 PM)John J. Xenakis Wrote: Does 1+1 = 10?

Sure. In binary.

In hexadecimal, 7 + 9 = 10

Note that we usually use decimal arithmetic, and someone using something other than base-10 so identifies this. 

Your binary and hexadecimal examples remind me of an old software engineer’s story.  In those days, many such programed in assembly language, and depending on the mini computer manufacturer dealt absurdly commonly with arithmetic in either base 8 or hexadecimal.  An engineer often came to see that these bases unusual to most people were the only possible natural bases.

One such engineer got into a loud and deeply felt argument with a bank teller.  His monthly bank statement had an obvious mistake.  I mean, it is painfully obvious that 7 + 5 = 14, not 12, right?  How could the bank want to stick with such an obvious mistake?

The difference between myself and Xenakis is similar.  He commonly deals with minor power where tribal thinking is still common, and the older Agricultural or Industrial Age tribal thinking is still dominant.  If in the Information Age has had to deal with nukes and proxy wars, and the major powers have had to find other ways to change, the many minor powers have not yet run into nukes and proxy wars.  They are still using tribal thinking, have not had to switch to the WEIRD.  Insisting that the old tribal thinking is the way to go, that he does not have to incorporate WEIRD thinking into his understanding of the world, is very compatible to using base 8 math in a world where base 10 has become the assumed default.

My sister the retired first grade teacher used to have occasional bussed students from the Boston inner city environment to her rich suburban school system.  She spoke of a ghetto mind set.  If you are going to succeed, you have to become a sports star, a drug pusher, or a mother.  Intimidation, violence in attitude were an important part of gaining status.  The law was optional, something to be bypassed when possible.  Being a part of a gang, incorporating the gang mannerisms, was important if one is to gain status in the neighborhood.

The looters in the recent unrest might often share the ghetto mind set.

Is it really comparable to Generational Dynamics?

The ghetto mind set is a way of adapting to a particular inner city environment.  It is a way of understanding the world.  I lists a bunch of goals to which one should strive.  If one is living in the inner city and has a certain skin pigmentation, are you better off pursuing the ghetto mind set or Generational Dynamics?  World views and values reflect the environment in which people grow up.  If you grew up in the inner city, what good is Generational Dynamics?

Now I grew up in the suburbs.  I bought into the blue mindset.  The ghetto pattern is abhorrent to me.  Adapting the ghetto way of thinking in a reasonably well to do suburb would soon make me a social outcast and get me into trouble.  That doesn’t mean if you don’t make a sincere attempt to understand it, you can have a good understanding of the urban problems.

But if your computer works in base 8, you learn and default to base 8.  Just remember that the bank teller will not understand.  If you use the wrong tool for the environment, you are going to have a mess.