Self Description of Paul H. Dillon
Paul H. Dillon (dillonph who-is-at tidepool.com)
Fri, 6 Sep 1996 12:33:02 -0700 (PDT)
This is a message of rejoining xmca where I have previously lurked,
trying to find an appropriate place to make contributions with occasional
success. My current activities include: researching the transformation of
regional economies in developed countries, implementing alternative money
systems in northern California, and writing short stories about the central
andean highlands. Among my primary intellectual influences I count Marx,
Hegel, Husserl, Heidegger, Habermas, and, more recently, writers of the
Ch'an Buddhist lineage. In applied social research I am fairly eclectic and
will try almost any qualitative or quantitative approach that allows someone
else to verify the results. I believe that it's real hard to shake off the
chains of ideology even in you don't go to church. Insofar as the modern
theory of evolution is the prevailing biological paradigm, I have a hunch
that a sophisticated version of socio-biology will provide the same for the
integrated social sciences. My recurrent intellectual question is simply:
does human knowledge have anything at all to do with what happens to humans?
If so how? Since human knowledge and what happens to humans are inseparable
from language, culture, thought, and activity, I've always enjoyed this
listserv (even the posts of those who write their article drafts here).
Paul