tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4058766287077382431.post3422400733314480652..comments2024-03-23T04:01:39.348-04:00Comments on Understanding Society: Structures and structurationDan Littlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15953897221283103880noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4058766287077382431.post-90513012539389982172011-04-10T16:37:47.629-04:002011-04-10T16:37:47.629-04:00Enlightening and interesting write-up. But compari...Enlightening and interesting write-up. But comparing the sweetness of sugar to the emergent properties is a case of false analogy. Sugar can be reduced to its component CHO elements but the same can’t be done with individuals comprising the structures. A CHO molecule or atom is indistinguishable from similar molecules and atoms but there are significant physiological and cognitive differences even between the identical twins, let alone the individuals comprising different ethnic, linguistic and cultural groups. When the basic building blocks of emerging structures are not fully understood then how can we claim to comprehend the structures scientifically? This is a fundamental problem with social sciences that we cannot understand the whole without first understanding the constituent parts, i.e. individuals. We come across the obstacle of wave-particle duality and uncertainty principle a lot sooner than expected.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4058766287077382431.post-71873839820227469222011-04-09T12:12:14.549-04:002011-04-09T12:12:14.549-04:00A fundamental problem is that we want to claim tha...A fundamental problem is that we want to claim that human agents are essentially autonomous. This is a key presumption of our concepts of liberal democracy, individual responsibility, and personhood, for instance.<br /><br />However, human beings rarely act autonomously except in rather trivial ways. That's way we have theories like structuralism and institutionalism to explain patterned behavior.<br /><br />I view this dilemma of freedom v. pattern in terms of entrainment. Social entrainment among humans is largely language (symbol)-dependent. Memes > memeplexes > conventions > institutions.<br /><br />The question then becomes how memes and memeplexes get formed. Memes have already been traced to brain function, but a lot more work needs to be done before the broader cognitive dynamic that leads to society, agency, and social change is understood.<br /><br />For example, mirror neurons are suggesting how the brain makes humans empathetic. This may suggest how the process of entrainment operates socially through group formation and collective action.<br /><br />Back in the '60's and '70's, we used to take about the "vibes." "Good vibes." "Bad vibes." "I don't vibe with her." Etc. Scientists laughed at this then, but there is a raw wisdom there.<br /><br />People who used this terminology, and I was one of them, were picking up on what I am calling "entrainment" in terms of something akin to magnetic attraction and repulsion. Just what are those "vibes" anyway in terms of brain function?Tom Hickeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08454222098667643650noreply@blogger.com