Search Results

Doing Public Management the Fatalist Way?

Christopher Hood

in The Art of the State: Culture, Rhetoric, and Public Management

In the four chapters of Part II, public management ideas that loosely correspond to each of the four polar world views identified by cultural theory are discussed; here the cultural‐theory framework ... More

In the four chapters of Part II, public management ideas that loosely correspond to each of the four polar world views identified by cultural theory are discussed; here the cultural‐theory framework is mixed with a historical perspective to survey recurring approaches to public management that can be loosely characterized as hierarchist (Ch.. 4), individualist (Ch. 5), egalitarian (Ch. 6), and fatalist (this chapter). Starts by asking whether there can be a fatalist approach to public management—cultural theorists have identified fatalism as a viable way of life, but it does not figure prominently in conventional accounts on the provision of public services; Banfield has stated that in fatalist societies (such as Montegrano) public management will be (only) narrowly bureaucratic and statist because only paid officials will be concerned with public affairs, and the citizenry at large will be cynical about the motives of public officials; in spite of this widespread belief, however, there are likely to be few effective checks on public officials in a fatalist society, and Banfield sees fatalism as a social pathology bound to produce social backwardness and stagnation. Cultural theory is ambiguous on whether fatalism can be a viable basis of organization in the sense that a Montegrano‐type society could survive and reproduce itself over time, nor is it clear from the work of cultural theorists exactly what fatalists’ focus on karma amounts to. The last possibility—that fatalism might link to how‐to‐do‐it ideas about organizational design, as distinct from a view of the world as ineluctably ruled by the fickle goddess of fortune—has had little attention: from conventional cultural‐theory accounts, it would seem the most appropriate role, for fatalist social science in public management would be like that of the chorus in classical Greek theatre—and the second section of the chapter examines such a perspective on public management, looking particularly at one influential strain of ‘new institutionalist’ literature, which portrays the functioning of organizations as a highly unpredictable process, involving eclectic decision‐making unavoidably dependent on chance connections. It then moves on to build on the recipe for contrived randomness, and argues that a fatalist perspective can at least in some sense be taken beyond commentary and criticism into a positive prescription for conducting management and designing organizations to operate on the basis of chance.Less

Taking the Long View of History

Richard Crouter

in Reinhold Niebuhr: On Politics, Religion, and Christian Faith

Chapter 2 examines the sense of history (awareness of the heights and depth of our existence) set forth in Niebuhr’s masterful book, The Nature and Destiny of Man, as an ever-present motif of his ... More

Chapter 2 examines the sense of history (awareness of the heights and depth of our existence) set forth in Niebuhr’s masterful book, The Nature and Destiny of Man, as an ever-present motif of his thought. He shares the view of the prophets of ancient Israel and Jesus of Nazareth regarding human moral blindness and hypocrisy. Like them, Niebuhr draws from past cultural, political, and religious experience to illumine events of the present day. The human self’s capacity for self-transcendence and freedom lies at the center of our grandeur as well as folly. An acute sense of the contingency and unpredictability of history goes hand in hand with a need for hope beyond the suffering love that marks the human story. In this biblical perspective the sense of God as supreme mystery coincides with a deep human need to appreciate the basic goodness and grace of the created order that surrounds us.Less

Being Human

Ingo Gildenhard

in Creative Eloquence: The Construction of Reality in Cicero's Speeches

This chapter discusses figures of thought in Cicero's speeches to do with being human and the human condition. Special attention is given to the notions that human beings are inherently fallible and ... More

This chapter discusses figures of thought in Cicero's speeches to do with being human and the human condition. Special attention is given to the notions that human beings are inherently fallible and that human life unfolds in an unpredictable environment (personified in Fortune, goddess of happenstance and caprice) and is thus subject to random, i.e. amoral disasters. Both notions found articulation in new comic scripts, before appearing in other genres of discourse, such as rhetorical handbooks and public oratory. Against this background, the chapter explores how Cicero uses them to fashion models of the human self and of the universe, not least to address the problem of social accountability.Less

Epilogue

Kristian Kloeckl

in The Urban Improvise: Improvisation-Based Design for Hybrid Cities

This concluding chapter reviews the central arguments of the book and reflects critically on living with uncertainty and unpredictability as a form of critical mobility for urban living. It considers ... More

This concluding chapter reviews the central arguments of the book and reflects critically on living with uncertainty and unpredictability as a form of critical mobility for urban living. It considers how the focus on efficiency, data-driven predictability, and control in the narrative about cities over the past two decades strikingly recalls the early days of the twentieth century. What then was the idealized new and modern has become the smart of today. The development of technology has long pursued the superlatives of faster, higher, bigger, cleaner, stronger, better, and safer. This was a promising strategy when the scope and reach of technologies were limited. Today, however, networked information technologies pervade not only cities but also large and intricate parts of our everyday practice.Less

What Do Lotteries Do?

Peter Stone

in The Luck of the Draw: The Role of Lotteries in Decision Making

This chapter defines a lottery as a process capable of generating a set of outcomes in which the particular outcome to be expected whenever the process occurs is unpredictable given available ... More

This chapter defines a lottery as a process capable of generating a set of outcomes in which the particular outcome to be expected whenever the process occurs is unpredictable given available information. (This is, according to the argument given here, equivalent to saying that the outcome is random.) One implication of this decision is that whenever a decision is made by lot, the decision cannot be made on the basis of reasons. The chapter then argues that lotteries can occasionally prove desirable in decision-making precisely because they prevent decision-making on the basis of reasons. Sometimes an agent faces indeterminacy, in which the good reasons available to the agent prove indeterminate, and there is the danger that bad reasons may enter into the process. Lotteries prevent this by ensuring that the final decision is made on the basis of no reasons. Lotteries can thereby sanitize decision-making. This is called the lottery principle.Less

Unmasking true nature

Deborah Chester

in The Fantasy Fiction Formula

Often a character’s essential, true nature is revealed in the story’s middle, a revelation brought about through the stress or excitement of the central story event. A complex, multi-dimensional ... More

Often a character’s essential, true nature is revealed in the story’s middle, a revelation brought about through the stress or excitement of the central story event. A complex, multi-dimensional character will have an inner personality that contrasts with the surface mask he or she wears. Once a character’s basic nature is revealed, however, the mask should be slipped back on then later allowed to drop again at strategic moments in order to keep readers intrigued.Less

Cosmos and its Discontents

Peter Coles

in From Cosmos to Chaos: The Science of Unpredictability

The word ‘cosmology’ is derived from the Greek ‘cosmos’ which means the world as an orderly system. To the Greeks, the opposite of cosmos was ‘chaos’, and views the universe as consisting of two ... More

The word ‘cosmology’ is derived from the Greek ‘cosmos’ which means the world as an orderly system. To the Greeks, the opposite of cosmos was ‘chaos’, and views the universe as consisting of two competing aspects: the orderly part that was governed by laws and which could be predicted, and the ‘random’ part which was disordered and unpredictable. With the rise of quantum theory and its applications to the theory of subatomic particles and their interactions, the cosmology has gradually ceded some of its territory to chaos. This chapter explores a few issues relating to the way uncertainty and unpredictability have forced their way into theories of the universe. These are the areas where a proper treatment of probability is vital. The cosmological ‘flatness problem’ is also discussed, along with the anthropic principle.Less

Miss Halsey moves her foot

Marian Stamp Dawkins

in Through Our Eyes Only?: The Search for Animal Consciousness

The first part of human's quest for consciousness in other species is to look at what is now known about their behaviour and to see whether this can be dismissed as simply the workings of unthinking, ... More

The first part of human's quest for consciousness in other species is to look at what is now known about their behaviour and to see whether this can be dismissed as simply the workings of unthinking, unfeeling automata, blindly going through a set series of actions with no hint of a mind to guide them or whether what they do is complex enough and unpredictable enough that it suggests the possibility – even a remote one – that somewhere a spark of consciousness has come alight. A stumbling block that many people have when they look at animals is that they see their behaviour as being the opposite of clever and complex. In fact, they see animals as essentially stupid.Less

Innovation as a Behavioural Response to Environmental Challenges: A Cost and Benefit Approach

Phyllis C. Lee

in Animal Innovation

This chapter presents a general review of how non-human primates adjust to environmental variability via behavioural innovation, and place innovation into context as an adaptive strategy for coping ... More

This chapter presents a general review of how non-human primates adjust to environmental variability via behavioural innovation, and place innovation into context as an adaptive strategy for coping with unpredictability. It explains that primates as a group are renowned for their behavioural flexibility, their technical capacities, and for creating new contexts for social opportunities. Both phylogeny and life history underlie differences between species in their capacity to innovate, while within species, local ecological opportunities and constraints affect when, where, how often and among which age–sex classes innovations may arise and become fixed within behavioural repertoires. The chapter outlines here in a theoretical context how modelling costs and benefits could increase our understanding of innovation and dissemination of novel behaviour.Less

Intervention: What is it like to be an improviser?

Neil Heyde, Christopher Redgate, Roger Redgate, and Matthew Wright

in Distributed Creativity: Collaboration and Improvisation in Contemporary Music

Four highly experienced contemporary musicians—cellist, violinist, oboist and turntablist—who had never previously played together as a quartet discuss a public performance of free-improvisation. The ... More

Four highly experienced contemporary musicians—cellist, violinist, oboist and turntablist—who had never previously played together as a quartet discuss a public performance of free-improvisation. The conversation ranges across unpredictability and technology, composition and improvisation, and the rewards of getting to know one another through music.Less

Lives taken over

Catherine Proot and Michael Yorke

in Life to be Lived: Challenges and choices for patients and carers in life-threatening illnesses

In life-limiting illness, life is taken over, not only in practical and observable things, but also in outlooks, hopes, fears and priorities. Heightened by uncertainty and dread, time becomes the ... More

In life-limiting illness, life is taken over, not only in practical and observable things, but also in outlooks, hopes, fears and priorities. Heightened by uncertainty and dread, time becomes the frame for mixed and confused feelings. Carer and patient experience it differently: for the one time may seem to fly, for the other to drag. Time heals but it also threatens. The sense and power of time is considered and how it influences mood and behaviour. Time changes the priorities when much needs attention. For some the threat of unpredictability is hardly bearable. Time is not only about the passage of minutes, but poses questions of value—how do we use time? We argue the importance of awareness that patients and carers may seem on different tracks of time. Understanding by the one of the other is fundamental to caring and how it is received. Psychotherapy‘sformat and goals too are affected by the experience of time.Less

Summary and Perspectives

Wolfgang Banzhaf and Lidia Yamamoto

in Artificial Chemistries

This chapter starts with a discussion of some common criticisms of the artificial chemistry approach to modeling systems. It turns out that “opaque thought experiments” are an answer to some of them. ... More

This chapter starts with a discussion of some common criticisms of the artificial chemistry approach to modeling systems. It turns out that “opaque thought experiments” are an answer to some of them. Next we delimit the borders of the field, since obviously not everything can be modeled as an AC. After a summary of the main features of artificial chemistries we conclude the book with appeal to curiosity and research initiative of the reader.Less

Statistical Stability of Chaos

David P. Feldman

in Chaos and Fractals: An Elementary Introduction

Sensitive dependence on initial conditions makes it difficult to predict chaotic systems in the long term, as two initial conditions that begin close to each other rapidly get pushed apart. This ... More

Sensitive dependence on initial conditions makes it difficult to predict chaotic systems in the long term, as two initial conditions that begin close to each other rapidly get pushed apart. This chapter reconsiders this general phenomenon and examines some other ways to visualise and characterise the behaviour of chaotic orbits. It demonstrates that chaotic systems exhibit statistical regularities despite the unpredictability of the path of a particular orbit. Before discussing the statistical stability of chaos, the chapter considers the statistical properties and chaotic behaviour of orbits with the aid of histograms. It then looks at the ergodicity of orbits and the ergodic nature of the logistic equation with r = 4.0. It also shows how a chaotic logistic equation can be statically predictable despite having unpredictable orbits.Less

The Chaos-world: Towards an Aesthetic of Relation

in Introduction to a Poetics of Diversity: by Édouard Glissant

Chaos theory is applied to processes of cultural mixing in which cultures retain their differences, and which used to occur over large expanses of time but now happen at great speed. The notion of an ... More

Chaos theory is applied to processes of cultural mixing in which cultures retain their differences, and which used to occur over large expanses of time but now happen at great speed. The notion of an erratic deterministic system allows us to understand the unpredictability that is seen as a major feature of contemporary cultures. Such a system is sensitive to its initial conditions, so that the present-day cultures of the Caribbean and the Americas, and Africa, cannot be understood without reference to the slave trade. The unpredictability of the erratic deterministic system allows us to distinguish between hybridity, which is predictable, and creolization, which is not. It is poetics that enables us to live with unpredictability. Measure and immeasurability combine in different relationships to characterize different periods in world literature.Less

The Economy as a Macroprocessing Network

Nick Gogerty

in The Nature of Value: How to Invest in the Adaptive Economy

This chapter first reviews the principal components of the economic panarchy discussed in the preceding chapters. It then discusses how economies are unpredictable but show general patterns and ... More

This chapter first reviews the principal components of the economic panarchy discussed in the preceding chapters. It then discusses how economies are unpredictable but show general patterns and trends similar to evolution's other processes. The challenge is to understand how these unpredictable and more predictable changes interact. Evolution's predictable economic trend toward growth and change seems to be held back mostly by knowledge and value flow blockers such as greed, abuse of power, and corruption. Understanding these factors may help investors pick economies that are viable for investment. The chapter looks at how more general evolutionary trends can help the allocator identify economic systems that are promising for investment.Less

Introduction to Scientific Perspectives on Emergence

Mark A. Bedau and Paul Humphreys

in Emergence: Contemporary Readings in Philosophy and Science

The following chapters present contemporary scientific perspectives on emergence. Covering a wide range of approaches to emergence, they include examples of each of the leading ideas on emergence: ... More

The following chapters present contemporary scientific perspectives on emergence. Covering a wide range of approaches to emergence, they include examples of each of the leading ideas on emergence: irreducibility, unpredictability, unexplainability, conceptual novelty, and holism. The following chapters also use concrete cases as examples of the flourishing scientific literature invoking emergence today, which are essential reading for those attempting to understand how science deals with emergence. Rich raw material is also offered from which empirically grounded generalizations about emergence in contemporary science can be generated. Comparing the philosophical analyses of emergence in part I with the empirical examples of purported emergent phenomena found in part II is a useful exercise.Less

Canonical complexity

Johanna Nichols

in The Complexities of Morphology

This chapter proposes canonical complexity as a counterpart to enumerative/taxonomic/inventory complexity. While enumerative complexity measures complexity as the number of elements, features, ... More

This chapter proposes canonical complexity as a counterpart to enumerative/taxonomic/inventory complexity. While enumerative complexity measures complexity as the number of elements, features, values, etc., in a system, canonical complexity counts the number of departures from what is canonical, and provides a usable measure of non-transparency and inconsistency in that system. The chapter lays out the definitions, terms, domains, and criteria for measuring the canonical complexity of a representative sample of inflectional morphology in nouns, pronouns, and verbs. Applied to a 113-language worldwide sample, it shows that canonical and enumerative complexity are independent of each other and hence can function as distinct typological features; there are large-scale distributional trends of interest especially in the northern hemisphere; and canonical complexity levels appear to correlate well with the sociolinguistics of isolation vs. expansion.Less