"Never wrestle with a pig, you both get muddy, but the pig enjoys it" as the old saying goes. But what if we, secretly, enjoy it too? Or if wrestling with the pig is a safer and more fun option that wrestling with the angry rabid hippo who is next in line? WTAF am I... Continue Reading →
Overflows and undertows – Callon, James and so on.
Bimbling around looking for work on how economic modelling is used to 'construct' reality/possibility, I stumbled on "An essay on framing and overflowing: economic externalities revisited by sociology" by M Callon, 1998. This (among other bits) struck me - The second attitude, typical of constructivist sociology in particular, takes the view that overflowing is the rule;... Continue Reading →
Innovation in complex systems? Oh, FFS…. And CCS
By FFS I mean “Full-Flight Simulators”. What am I on about? So, innovation in mass produced commodity products (aka “widgets”) is, cough, relatively straight-forward. Lots of opportunities for iteration, incremental learning, process and product innovation, tacit knowledge creation/management. Shakeouts after the establishment of a ‘dominant design’, followed by incremental shifts that squeeze a leetle more... Continue Reading →
Machiavelli on incumbency and insurgency…
As Mr. Machiavelli said- “It ought to be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things. Because the innovator has for enemies all those who have done well under the old conditions, and lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the new. This... Continue Reading →
Phantastic objects and concept fetishism
What are phantastic objects? This - phantastic objects are subjectively very attractive “objects” (people, ideas or things) which people find highly exciting and idealise. They engage core biological and psychological processes of human attachment and falling in love so that people seek to attach themselves to them because they imagine (feel rather than think) they... Continue Reading →
The writing of “independent” reports – a flowchart (first draft)
So, working on the creation of the acceptable limits of discourse, and the use of "independent" reports based on economic modeling to set and sustain those limits. Here is a flow chart (first draft). What have I missed?
Having the courage of your conviction…narratives
I'm googling around exposing myself... to ideas to back up a piece I've two-thirds written. It's on the use of economic modeling to justify action/inaction on climate change. It's based on my Australian case study, and looks closely at the key period - 1989-1992, slightly less closely at the next period 1993-1997, and then dips... Continue Reading →
Of the Anthropocene, types of denial and William Connolly
It's good to have a really good handle on why it is "unravelling" (1). Might help us spot some of the hows of the unravelling before they quite arrive. No averting, that's a 20th century delusion... Anyway thanks to a smart and compassionate friend (who took me out to the coast last Tuesday, when I... Continue Reading →
Bill Stan Jevons and the meteorology/economics connection
So, this 19th century economist called William Stanley Jevons came up with a Paradox around how the increased efficiency in the use of a commodity/element of production would lead to an increase in overall usage. If it gets cheaper to use, it will be used up more. I made a video a few years back.... Continue Reading →
Nugget Coombs on power defending itself…
I play a "Tardis" game. I'd scoop up various folks and bring em forward to the here and now; set them up in a London penthouse with a subscription to the FT, Economist, cable TV, a kindle with an unlimited download limit. I'd give them a month to come up with their analysis of where... Continue Reading →
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