tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045565.post114264703981309311..comments2023-09-30T03:57:11.799-05:00Comments on ahistoricality: Baking Cakes while Rome Burns...Ahistoricalityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04004964192885891003noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045565.post-1142798858017770142006-03-19T15:07:00.000-05:002006-03-19T15:07:00.000-05:00Reading your response, I'm struck by how many of P...Reading <A HREF="http://annezook.com/archives/002820.php" REL="nofollow">your response</A>, I'm struck by how many of Phillips' markers are perceptual: the first one, for example, cites "public concern" before actual polarization and gap; the second and third (and fourth) are the classic "sky is falling" enlightenment Hegelianism argument about stages of human development being intellectual; Five and six are actual policy issues about which something could be done. Culture is a slippery thing: there's a concrete side to it, but there's also a behavioral/perceptual side which is very vulnerable to modern media "framing". <BR/><BR/>I'm saving this for a later post, because I need to think it through, but the implications of <A HREF="http://www.harvardmagazine.com/on-line/030640.html" REL="nofollow">behavioral science</A> (also <A HREF="http://www.harvardmagazine.com/on-line/030681.html" REL="nofollow">this</A>) are rather disturbing when you compare the techniques which "work" to influence behavior with those used by Republicans (and alternately, our high-minded approaches are regularly cited as being very ineffective without very careful framing).Ahistoricalityhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04004964192885891003noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045565.post-1142788625870816432006-03-19T12:17:00.000-05:002006-03-19T12:17:00.000-05:00I'd very much like to believe that these "declinin...I'd very much like to believe that these "declining empire" signs aren't bad enough to really signal that the USofA is about to enter some kind of Dark Age. <BR/><BR/>Being only the most casual student of far too many eras of history to "know" any one of them, I've been working on the assumption that what we're facing is more of a series of cautionary signs than real 'impending doom' signals.<BR/><BR/>The problem, of course, is that is does no good for <I>me</I> to be aware that we might be in trouble. Those with power are the ones who need to be reading this particular roadmap.<BR/><BR/>Interesting post, thanks!<BR/><BR/>Anne Zook<BR/>http://annezook.comAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com