Bill writes:
> I interpret this is a call for what instruments, what forms
>and models can be constructed that will contribute to richer
>conceptualizations
>of systems in which diversity is to be valued.
I need to give your comments much more thoughts, especially as I found (in
the UK) Bowles & Gintis useful in my Master's thesis too long ago, and I
have not thought S in C A in CHAT terms. Having been in examining times, I
have not got to Chapter 5 yet either.
However there is a model which recognises the role of diversity in Ashby's
Law of Necessary Variety: that in a situation of complexity N, you need
variety N + 1 to cope with the situation. When viewed through Bateson's or
Beer's cybernetic concepts, systems can respond to complexity either by
closing down diversity or by increasing their variety.
We can witness closing down diveristy as a classic classroom control
technique by teachers, but moreover, it is a technique preferred by
college (or all) administrators too. In the end the closed loop continues
to attenuate itslef and activity diminshes to nothing. The alternative is
to look for variety amplifiers. I think Bowels and Gintis describe a
socialist approach in thier final chapter as one of mass self
actualistaion... a massive increase in variety... the kind of self
actualisation you describe in Cindy.
I will read on Bill.
Martin
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