Re: [xmca] Fwd: The Privilege of Absurdity

[Huw Lloyd <huw.softdesigns@gmail.com>]

On 29 May 2012 11:42, Peter Smagorinsky <smago@uga.edu> wrote:

> I read a lot of history, and presently we seem to be headed toward a
> feudal system where the peasants (the 99%) are expected to pay taxes to
> further enrich the wealthiest landowners. Progress?
>

Maybe!


> From: Andy Blunden [mailto:ablunden@mira.net]
> Sent: Tuesday, May 29, 2012 6:29 AM
> To: Peter Smagorinsky
> Cc: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
> Subject: Re: [xmca] Fwd: The Privilege of Absurdity
>
> Thanks for that totally intriguing postcard on US cultural history, Peter.
> Please continue to use such allusions, provided you elaborate in footnotes.
>
> An Ignoble Award should be given to whoever it was that worked out that
> the most effective rhetoric for justifying inequality is to abuse those
> (educated) social strata who try to mitigate the position of the poor. A
> brilliant move. In Australia it is latte coffee and chardonnay wine that
> are the symbols of privilege.
>
> Had you heard that Gina Rheinhart, who inherited a vast fortune in W.
> Australian mining (thanks to mining licences from a friendly government) is
> now the richest woman in the world. Last year she actually joined a street
> demonstration carrying a placard opposing higher taxes. She is currently
> trying to buy control of the Fairfax newspapers, and in court trying to
> block her own children from receiving their share of her father's
> inheritance, and has persuaded the government to allow her to import
> workers prepared to work under the hellish conditions she provides in her
> mines. She would not be out of place in a dickensian fish market. The
> desparately poor and the disgustingly rich have a shared fervent desire for
> a bigger slice of the pie.
>
> Andy
>
> Peter Smagorinsky wrote:
>
> My apologies for my US-centric references. The Underground Railroad was
> the escape route for slaves prior to the US Civil War, and they used coded
> texts to provide directions. "Follow the drinking gourd" was a spiritual
> that was coded to indicate that when traveling at night, slaves should
> follow the Little Dipper constellation to make sure they were always headed
> toward the North Star, which is in the constellation. There was a whole
> range of symbols embedded in quilts and other homely objects designed to
> indicate the escape routes and hiding places. The "n-word" is the polite
> term for "nigger" which has historically served as a hateful term used by
> Whites on Blacks, more recently appropriated by Blacks for their own usage.
>
>
>
> My chippy (in the US, meaning aggressive and easily irritated) response
> concerned Jay's dismissal of his opponents as "elites," which in the US has
> served as the Conservative term to dismiss academics or anyone else with an
> informed position that they don't like. It tends to be anti-intellectual in
> usage, which I regret to say is characteristic of much public opinion in my
> beloved land. "Elites" are to be distrusted because of their social
> engineering, their drinking of wine instead of beer, and eating of arugula
> instead of regular old lettuce, etc. So any time an academic gives an
> opinion, it's dismissed as "elitist" and Joe the Plumber is consulted for
> what Real Americans think. And so Barak Obama, who grew up in a
> single-parent home with little money, was painted as an "elitist" because
> he taught at a private law school before entering politics full-time;
> meanwhile, his immensely wealthy opponent (McCain) and dimwit running mate
> (Palin) were somehow cast as "Real American
>
> s" who could be trusted, unlike the elitist academic, Obama.
>
>
>
> So, I was quite surprised to see Jay use "elitist" in the same pejorative
> way to describe policymakers whose beliefs he opposes, since it's the same
> means by which Jay, you, and I are dismissed by the political Right in the
> US. It's just a tactic I don't like because it creates a straw person
> that's easy to blow away because it's based on caricature and
> overgeneralization. p
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
>
> From: xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu<mailto:xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu>
> [mailto:xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu] On Behalf Of Andy Blunden
>
> Sent: Sunday, May 27, 2012 11:48 AM
>
> To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
>
> Subject: Re: [xmca] Fwd: The Privilege of Absurdity
>
>
>
> Peter, your interesting email is so full of (what are to me) esoteric
> allusions that I can hardly grasp your meaning.
>
> But would you agree that in this discussion there seems to be an
> unwarranted presumption that equality is a universal norm? Granted that the
> "moral equality" of all human beings is rightfully a universal norm, but we
> take for granted all kinds of situational inequality. If I buy something in
> a shop I don't claim equality in determining the price of the goods. In the
> hospital ED I don't claim equality with the triarge nurse in determining
> priorities. And we accept that a mother has the right and duty to control
> the behaviour of their child and not vice versa, etc.
>
>
>
> Andy
>
>
>
> Peter Smagorinsky wrote:
>
>
>
> Are "elites" (whatever they are) the only ones who manipulate symbols?
> Consider the underground railroad, in which a whole system of symbolic
> subterfuge was developed to provide roadmaps to the North (e.g., the song,
> Follow the Drinking Gourd). Or the current appropriation of "the n-word" to
> take on a whole new set of meanings.
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
>
> From: xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu<mailto:xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu>
> [mailto:xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu]
>
> On Behalf Of David H Kirshner
>
> Sent: Saturday, May 26, 2012 12:33 AM
>
> To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
>
> Subject: RE: [xmca] Fwd: The Privilege of Absurdity
>
>
>
> This is a very interesting question, and I hope others will chime in.
>
>
>
> In the current political climate in the U.S. of manufactured science, spin
> doctors, and attack ads, it's very hard not to side with Jay that symbols
> and ideologies are being deliberately manipulated by elites in ways that
> directly serve their economic interests. Even though these operatives no
> doubt rationalize their actions in terms of "the greater good," it seems
> very difficult to argue that these elites are not deliberately deploying
> cultural ideas, symbols, and rituals with the intent to manipulate the
> "dupes."
>
>
>
> Where the analysis becomes more difficult to sustain is in the case of
> "traditional churches and their religions as well as historical and modern
> ideologies of more secular kinds" which Jay "would emphatically include."
> First, it is easy to concede that many of these institutions serve the
> interests of elites. For instance, the Judeo-Christian holy scriptures make
> frequent reference to eternal obligations of ordinary people to the poor,
> thereby sanctifying class divisions. And in the Hebrew scriptures, with
> which I am somewhat better acquainted, there is precise codification of
> obligations to the Priestly class--definitely self-serving, if one assumes
> it was exactly that class that wrote/selected the canonical texts. But in
> the meantime, with the destruction of the Second Temple, there is no longer
> a Priestly class in Jewish theological practice, so it is not so obvious
> who the "elites"
>
> perpetrating modern Judaism are, or that their intentions are self-serving.
>
>
>
> David
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
>
> From: xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu<mailto:xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu>
> [mailto:xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu]
>
> On Behalf Of Greg Thompson
>
> Sent: Wednesday, May 23, 2012 11:27 PM
>
> To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
>
> Subject: Re: [xmca] Fwd: The Privilege of Absurdity
>
>
>
> Jay,
>
> I, for one, am deeply skeptical of how intentional are the "creations of
> elites." The elites certainly benefit from these creations, but I think
> that they are dupes just like the rest of us. The elites just happen to be
> the "lucky" dupes (depending, of course, on what you mean by "lucky").
>
>
>
> My sense is that it's dupes all the way down! (or "up," as the case may
> be).
>
>
>
> -greg
>
>
>
> p.s.  Seems better to look at the structure of the system for the key to
> the problem.
>
>
>
>
>
> On Wed, May 23, 2012 at 11:15 AM, Jay Lemke <jaylemke@umich.edu><mailto:
> jaylemke@umich.edu> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> And not just cultural mediation, but cultural politics. If we strip
>
> away the rhetoric of sacred and moral values, we find, I think, that
>
> all such grand causes for which people fight and die, or just slave
>
> away, are the creations of elites who benefit from the naive trust in
>
> these ideas, symbols, and rituals by large numbers of other people. I
>
> think the usual term for such people is, unfortunately but
>
> accurately,
>
>
>
>
>
> dupes.
>
>
>
>
>
> I do not believe that evolution has endowed our species with any
>
> special propensity for being duped by false gods. Our herd comfort in
>
> grand causes and ideals may be real enough, but it is simply the
>
> political manipulation of the underlying human capacity for mediation
>
> by symbols (discourses, images, ideologies, etc.) that gives cover to
>
> the pursuit of their own interests by elites.
>
>
>
> The problem is not even so much that all such gods are false. It is
>
> that they are gods made by other people to serve themselves. And I
>
> would emphatically include in this analysis the traditional churches
>
> and their religions as well as historical and modern ideologies of
>
> more secular kinds. It is customary in polite society to simply
>
> tolerate these forms of mass deception for the comfort they give to
>
> those who have little else, but I think we know that this is not the
>
>
>
>
>
> path to a better world for all.
>
>
>
>
>
> JAY.
>
>
>
> On Tue, May 22, 2012 at 5:25 PM, mike cole <lchcmike@gmail.com><mailto:
> lchcmike@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> I have a suspicion that cultural mediation may play a role here.
>
> What do you think?
>
> mike
>
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
>
> From: Scott Atran <satran@umich.edu><mailto:satran@umich.edu>
>
> Date: Tue, May 22, 2012 at 12:36 PM
>
> Subject: The Privilege of Absurdity
>
> To: COG-SCI-REL-L@jiscmail.ac.uk<mailto:COG-SCI-REL-L@jiscmail.ac.uk>
>
>
>
>
>
> Science and Religion Today
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> http://www.scienceandreligiontoday.com/2012/05/22/how-can-a-better-un
>
> d erstanding-of-sacred-values-help-us-resolve-intergroup-conflicts/
>
>
>
>
>
> Humans define the groups to which they belong in abstract terms.
>
> Often
>
>
>
>
>
> they
>
>
>
>
>
> strive for lasting intellectual and emotional bonding with anonymous
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> others, and make their greatest exertions in killing and dying not
>
> to preserve their own lives or to defend their families and friends,
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> but for the sake of an idea-the transcendent moral conception they
>
> form of themselves, of "who we are." This is the "the privilege of
>
> absurdity; to which no living creature is subject, but man only'" of
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> which Hobbes wrote in *Leviathan*. In*The Descent of Man*, Darwin
>
> cast it as the virtue of "morality ... the spirit of patriotism,
>
> fidelity, obedience, courage, and sympathy" with which winning
>
> groups are better endowed in history's spiraling competition for
>
> survival and dominance. Across cultures,
>
>
>
>
>
> primary
>
>
>
>
>
> group identity is bounded by sacred values, often in the form of
>
>
>
>
>
> religious
>
>
>
>
>
> beliefs or transcendental ideologies, which lead some groups to
>
> triumph over others because of non-rational commitment from at least
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> some of its members to actions that drive success independent, or
>
> all out of proportion, from expected rational outcomes.
>
>
>
> For Darwin himself, moral virtue was most clearly associated not
>
> with intuitions, beliefs, and behaviors about fairness and
>
> reciprocity, emotionally supported by empathy and consolation-which
>
> constitute nearly the entire subject matter of recent work in the
>
> philosophy, psychology,
>
>
>
>
>
> and
>
>
>
>
>
> neuroscience of morality-but with a propensity to what we nowadays
>
> call "parochial altruism": especially extreme self-sacrifice in war
>
> and other intense forms of human conflict, where likely prospects
>
> for individual
>
>
>
>
>
> and
>
>
>
>
>
> even group survival had very low initial probability. Heroism,
>
> martyrdom, and other forms of self-sacrifice for the group appear to
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> go beyond the mutualistic principles of fairness and reciprocity....
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> http://www.scienceandreligiontoday.com/2012/05/22/how-can-a-better-un
>
> d erstanding-of-sacred-values-help-us-resolve-intergroup-conflicts/
>
>
>
>
>
> __________________________________________
>
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>
>
>
>
> --
>
> Jay Lemke
>
> Senior Research Scientist
>
> Laboratory for Comparative Human Cognition Adjunct Full Professor,
>
> Department of Communication University of California - San Diego
>
> 9500 Gilman Drive
>
> La Jolla, California 92093-0506
>
>
>
> New Website: www.jaylemke.com<http://www.jaylemke.com>
>
>
>
> Professor (Adjunct status 2011-2012)
>
> School of Education
>
> University of Michigan
>
> Ann Arbor, MI 48109
>
>
>
> Professor Emeritus
>
> City University of New York
>
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>
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>
>
>
>
>
> --
>
> Gregory A. Thompson, Ph.D.
>
> Sanford I. Berman Post-Doctoral Scholar Laboratory of Comparative
>
> Human Cognition Department of Communication University of California,
>
> San Diego http://ucsd.academia.edu/GregoryThompson
>
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> --
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> *Andy Blunden*
>
> Joint Editor MCA: http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/hmca20/18/1
>
> Home Page: http://home.mira.net/~andy/
>
> Book: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1608461459/
>
>
>
>
>
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>
> --
> ________________________________
> *Andy Blunden*
> Joint Editor MCA: http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/hmca20/18/1
> Home Page: http://home.mira.net/~andy/
> Book: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1608461459/
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