[MD] (MD] Collective intelligence

[pholden at davtv.com]

Quoting Ron Kulp <RKulp at ebwalshinc.com>:


> Ham, Platt, Micah, just what is it about this idea (collectivism) that drives
> a burr in your saddle?

As usual, Pirsig said it best:

"The events that excited people in the twenties were events that dramatized the new
dominance of intellect over society. In the chaos of social patterns a wild new
intellectual experimentation could now take place. Abstract: art, discordant music,
Freudian psychoanalysis, the Sacco-Vanzetti trial, contempt for alcoholic
prohibition. Literature emphasized the struggle of the noble, free-thinking
individual against the crushing oppression of evil social conformity. The
Victorians were damned for their narrow-mindedness, their social pretentiousness.
The test of what was good, of what had Quality, was no longer "Does it meet
society's approval?" but "Does it meet the approval of our intellect?" (Lila, 22)

The battle against "evil social conformity" goes on to this day. Every hear
of political correctness, hate speech or the thought police?

Platt  


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