Steve Yegge often writes about a wide variety of issues, focusing more on the social and human element of programming. His most recent post about body modification, social mores, and more deeply about disruptive change and how societies respond has gotten me thinking. His thoughts about body modification and such are fun to read and think about, but one of the underlying points has left me wondering how to recognize and cope with disruptive change.
There are plenty of examples of disruptive ideas and social phenomena that were so in conflict with those of their time that they were only really adopted in large numbers by the next generation, those that grew up with them. Take evolution for example. Many of the leading lights in biology at the time were never convinced of it, and went to their graves arguing against it. They missed out on an opportunity to make significant groundbreaking contributions because of their prior ideological commitments. It was the next generation of biologists, coming into the field without having made any commitment to a biological ideology that were able to look at the various explanations of life and recognize evolution’s explanatory and predictive power in contrast to alternative ideas. So it is with many social movements. In America, a large number of people three or more generations back were and are quite racist, largely because racism was built into their world views at a young age. It is my understanding that racism has largely died out in America not through convincing people who already had a strong opinion, but through a generational change.
The interesting question here on a personal level is how recognize this sort of change and how to consider these ideas fairly when they go against deeply set beliefs and understandings of the world. Certainly it appears that the older you get the rarer this ability is, but there were a number of people who were well established in biology who accepted and argued for evolution. If there is a radical disruptive idea in my field or in society in general, I want to be able to consider it on its merits, rather than discard it for not cohering with other ideas I hold to be true, and I want to know how to be prepared to do so.
Keeping an open mind and being open to questioning of any aspect of your world view is one pretty sensible response, but I think there’s an additional element.
There is a well known principle of psychology that we are loathe to question critically something we’ve made a visible, tangible, or most of all monetary commitment to. This principle is exploited to powerful effect by everyone from scam artists to cult leaders, stringing people along far beyond what they would have accepted otherwise. An excellent case study in this is Scientology, wherein large commitments of time, energy, and money are ensured before one learns of their more ridiculous beliefs. Therefor, a level of humility is necessary, I think, to be willing to admit that one has been wrong and that one has publicly and repeatedly acted and spoken based on false assumptions.
A related concept that he doesn’t really expound upon is that there is a tipping point for an idea to be generally accepted. I loved the commentary about the stupidity of people in groups.
September 9th, 2006, at 8:45 am #Hey Peter, I think you’re right - or that Yegge is? - that substantial societal psychology changes with time as much as with solid argument and good merit. Or maybe - instead - that solid argument and good merit take time to sink it. I take comfort in that in some ways, that we - as a people - will come around on some things as they become more visible. But, I’d caution you that while generations’ passings have brought evolution into our textbooks and turned racism into an understood wrong, there are many who do not buy into the idea of evolution for the same reasons they never did (and that’s probably ok; we are not so different, most of us who do buy into it don’t really understand it), and racism is still built into every aspect of our institutional society and, arguably, into all of our personal psyches. It’s understood to be wrong, but we fool ourselves by thinking it’s gone. While time can change perceptions, it seldom changes things deeply. Real change takes MUCH more concerted effort! There’s my rant, may be totally off the real Yegge topic, but there you go… Fun to see your trip up online. Hope you have a fabulous time in Turkey!
January 7th, 2007, at 9:42 am #I like the way you think and I love you.
September 10th, 2007, at 8:04 pm #I think racism is still very much a part of our lives. I have experienced it first hand i.e. myself. It is good to hear talk about racism not being there and the espoused anti-racism causes, but it is all rhetoric and in reaity we have still to get out of the mindset. Subtle ways and very sweet ways are used to practice racism, but it is infact what is called-”malicious righteousness”.
January 31st, 2008, at 6:11 pm #The person who does practice racism takes all the legal precautions to protect himself and gets away with it.You know it is racism but cannot prove it on paper or in the court of law.. That is how it is.