[Bulk] Perception or Reference

[Martin Taylor 2006.08.11.19.23]

[From Rick Marken (2006.08.04.1100)]

Here is a recent statement made by Condoleza Rice, who, believe it or not, is the US Secretary of State.

"I'll stack up [my] policy in the Middle East against any," she said. "I think we have made more progress under this president toward a Middle East that will be different and better than at any other time in recent memory."

There was an awful long thread on this in the week I was away, but so far as I saw, nobody mentioned the PCT mantra: "All behaviour is the control of perception" and used it to ask what perception she might have been trying to control by making this statement. Verbal behaviour is behaviour, and presumably is executed with some intent to alter some perception in the talker. So what perception might she have been acting to control?

Isn't that the question to be asking, rather than whether she peceives things differently from some of us, or has different reference values, or says things that don't represent her true perception?

I don't attempt to answer the question, but it might be worthwhile to look for the kinds of effects that someone in her position who says something like that might expect such a statement to have. For example, it might have the effect of inducing some who were wavering in their support of the policy to continue their support a little longer, and she might be controlling for that to happen; or she might hope that other national authorities might perceive the US intentions to be more benign than they might otherwise think; or ...?.

Such a search is a poor substitute for "The Test", but I think few of us have much power to disturb Rice's perceptions in a way that might elucidate what perceptions she might have been wanting to control when she made the statement.

(Personal opinion: I agree with her statement if one deletes "and better". That aspect remains to be seen -- thinking of the Chinese notion that out of bad comes good, and vice versa.)

Martin

[From Rick Marken (2006.08.11.2210)]

Martin Taylor (2006.08.11.19.23) --

Rick Marken (2006.08.04.1100)]

Here is a recent statement made by Condoleza Rice, who, believe it or not, is the US Secretary of State.

"I'll stack up [my] policy in the Middle East against any," she said. "I think we have made more progress under this president toward a Middle East that will be different and better than at any other time in recent memory."

Verbal behaviour is behaviour, and presumably is executed with some intent to alter some perception in the talker. So what perception might she have been acting to control?

Isn't that the question to be asking, rather than whether she peceives things differently from some of us, or has different reference values, or says things that don't represent her true perception?

I don't attempt to answer the question, but it might be worthwhile to look for the kinds of effects that someone in her position who says something like that might expect such a statement to have.

Actually, I suggested something like this possibility when I said that she might just be lying to achieve some political end. But I dismissed this possibility by noting that Republicans don't lie (they impeached Bill Clinton for it so they must be very opposed to it). I guess some people thought I was being sarcastic, leading to the accusation that I was making a self-indulgent political statement (mea culpa). But I think you're right. I think Condi was probably doing something other than describing her perceptions of the Middle East situation.

Best

Rick

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[From Bill Powers (2006.08.12.0825 MDT)]

Rick Marken (2006.08.11.2210)--

[Martin Taylor]:it might be worthwhile to look for the kinds of effects that someone in her position who says something like that might expect such a statement to have.

Actually, I suggested something like this possibility when I said that she might just be lying to achieve some political end. But I dismissed this possibility by noting that Republicans don't lie (they impeached Bill Clinton for it so they must be very opposed to it). I guess some people thought I was being sarcastic, leading to the accusation that I was making a self-indulgent political statement (mea culpa).

Looks like you were the first to mention that -- I don't recall seeing any other comments about it. Do you think you were being sarcastic? It might be interesting to discuss what that approach accomplishes that is not accomplished by saying what you meant (I assume you meant that
Republicans are deliberate liars, and that since she is a Republican, Condy is a liar, and because she is a liar, what she said about progress in the Middle East was a lie). That might be more useful than just saying "mea culpa" and forgetting it.

Best,

Bill P.

···

  But I think you're right. I think Condi was probably doing something other than describing her perceptions of the Middle East situation.

[From Rick Marken (2006.08.12.1120)]

Bill Powers (2006.08.12.0825 MDT)--

Rick Marken (2006.08.11.2210)--

Actually, I suggested something like this possibility when I said that she might just be lying to achieve some political end. But I dismissed this possibility by noting that Republicans don't lie (they impeached Bill Clinton for it so they must be very opposed to it). I guess some people thought I was being sarcastic, leading to the accusation that I was making a self-indulgent political statement (mea culpa).

Looks like you were the first to mention that -- I don't recall seeing any other comments about it.

I don't know which of the many things I was first to mention you are referring to. Is it Republican hypocrisy, lying, my sarcasm, self-indulgence?

Do you think you were being sarcastic?

About the Republicans not lying? Yes, I think it could be called sarcasm (saying that I think it could be sarcasm could be considered sarcastic as well, as could this comment on the sarcasm of the previous comment -- and up we go;-)

It might be interesting to discuss what that approach accomplishes that is not accomplished by saying what you meant

Sure, if you like. I think sarcasm (I lIke to think of it as satire) is a form of humor. What sarcasm/ satire accomplishes is what Yiddish jokes accomplished for the Jews before the Jews (some of them) became oppressors themselves (now it's as hard to find funny Jews as it is to find funny Republicans). Anyway, what sarcasm (or satire) accomplishes is a very personal kind of satisfaction -- an imagined little victory over oppression -- for the person using it. When a Jew living in the Pale of Settlement (as did all my grandparents) made the sarcastic blessing "May god bless and keep the czar... far away from us" he was doing it for himself (and his fellows in the Pale), not for (or against) the people carrying out pogroms for the czar. The people doing the oppressing weren't going to stop just because some Jews kvetched about it, just as the Republicans doing the hypocritical demagoguery aren't going to stop because some control theorist kvetches about it. The sarcasm, I think, helps one go up a level and see the silliness of the situation. It eases the pain.

(I assume you meant that
Republicans are deliberate liars, and that since she is a Republican, Condy is a liar, and because she is a liar, what she said about progress in the Middle East was a lie).

That's not quite what I meant. I don't think Republicans lie any more than anyone else. The meaning of my sarcastic comments was about hypocrisy. Lying is nothing; sometimes it's a good thing (like when you're trying to protect your wife from the embarrassment of public disclosure of an affair) and sometimes its a bad thing (like when you lie your way into a war to improve your political position). But hypocrisy (to me, anyway) is always despicable. Republicans won the first election by claiming to be the party of honesty and integrity, not like those lying Dems with their tawdry stained dresses. And the Republicans still claim to be the party of honesty and integrity. In fact, Republicans are no more honest than anyone else, they (many of them, not all, of course) are just more hypocritical.

But explaining humor kind of wrecks it, doesn't it.

By the way, the people who were the most offended by Yiddish sarcasm were, of course, the oppressors who were the object of its scorn and fellow Jews who didn't want to rock the boat.

That might be more useful than just saying "mea culpa" and forgetting it.

But it wouldn't be as funny -- to those of us living in the Pale;-)

Best

Rick

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[Martin Taylor 2006.08.12.16.29]

[From Rick Marken (2006.08.11.2210)]

Martin Taylor (2006.08.11.19.23) --

Rick Marken (2006.08.04.1100)]

Here is a recent statement made by Condoleza Rice, who, believe it or not, is the US Secretary of State.

"I'll stack up [my] policy in the Middle East against any," she said. "I think we have made more progress under this president toward a Middle East that will be different and better than at any other time in recent memory."

Verbal behaviour is behaviour, and presumably is executed with some intent to alter some perception in the talker. So what perception might she have been acting to control?

Isn't that the question to be asking, rather than whether she peceives things differently from some of us, or has different reference values, or says things that don't represent her true perception?

I don't attempt to answer the question, but it might be worthwhile to look for the kinds of effects that someone in her position who says something like that might expect such a statement to have.

Actually, I suggested something like this possibility when I said that she might just be lying to achieve some political end. ... But I think you're right. I think Condi was probably doing something other than describing her perceptions of the Middle East situation.

I think both you and Bill (not cited) have been missing my point. Rice might have been describing the situation as she believes it to be, or she might not. It's irrelevant which is the case. For PCT, the point is that she performed an observable behaviour (verbal, as it happens), which was, according to the PCT basic concept, in order to affect some perception that SHE had.

Since she is a public official, she clearly must have known that there was a good likelihood that her statement would be widely disseminated. Therefore, it's a fair assumption that at least some of the perception she was controlling would relate to the effects she would perceive on people she did not personally know -- though it's quite possible she might have been also concerned with its effects on the President and on the Foreigh Ministers with whom she might have to deal.

Does it matter whether what she said had any relation to what she believed at the time she said it -- whether or not (as a Cretan [sorry, Republican] ) she had to be lying? I think not, unless one of the side-effects of her behaviour would have a differential effect on a person who, hearing it, would react differently if she was perceived as telling her true belief or as lying,and, importantly, whether she cared about that difference. Maybe people who would automatically believe she was lying were not those she was hoping to influence.

What you or I believe about her veracity is unimportant to the PCT analysis. What's important is the control reasons that might underly her saying what she did, whether or not she believed what she said.

Martin

[From RIck Marken (2006.08.12.1420)]

Martin Taylor (2006.08.12.16.29) --

Rick Marken (2006.08.11.2210)--

Actually, I suggested something like this possibility when I said that she might just be lying to achieve some political end. ... But I think you're right. I think Condi was probably doing something other than describing her perceptions of the Middle East situation.

I think both you and Bill (not cited) have been missing my point. Rice might have been describing the situation as she believes it to be, or she might not. It's irrelevant which is the case. For PCT, the point is that she performed an observable behaviour (verbal, as it happens), which was, according to the PCT basic concept, in order to affect some perception that SHE had.

Yes. But one perception she might be trying to affect (and control) is her perception of the accuracy of her description of the way she sees things in the Middle East. That is, the observable verbal behavior she produces is both a means to affect some other perception (such as the perception of the effectiveness of her policies) as well as a controlled perception itself (or, at least, part of a controlled perception -- the perception of the statement about what's happening the Middle East).

Does it matter whether what she said had any relation to what she believed at the time she said it

It does if one of the things she was trying to do (perceptions she was trying to control) was provide an accurate verbal description of what she believed was happening in the Middle East. That is certainly a perception she _might_ have been trying to affect (and control) with her verbal statement.

What you or I believe about her veracity is unimportant to the PCT analysis.

That's true only if we can be sure that veracity was not something she was controlling for.

What's important is the control reasons that might underly her saying what she did, whether or not she believed what she said.

I think a verbal statement like Condi's is both a means of controlling another perception (like the perception of the success of her policies) and a controlled perception in itself. I think that's the way hierarchical control works. So when I make a sarcastic statement, the statement is both a means of controlling some other perception (like Bill's irritation level;-) and at the same time a controlled perception itself (I am selecting words that, when combined, result in the perception of a statement that is sarcastic).

Best

Rick

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From [Marc Abrams (2006.08.13.0007)]

[Martin Taylor 2006.08.12.16.29]

What you or I believe about her veracity is unimportant to the PCT
analysis. What’s important is the control reasons that might underly
her saying what she did, whether or not she believed what she said.

An excellent point, but in trying to understand what “perception(S)” she is attempting to control other considerations are the goals and references she has. Some no doubt are hers personally and some she has taken on as policy from the administration

It is folly to think that anyone can possibly begin to understand what someone else is controlling for without direct access to that individual and that individuals cooperation in allowing others to know about it.

I don’t believe Rick has the courage to talk about why he controls for what he does. His sarcasm is a way of hiding behind his cowardice and unwillingness to explore his own beliefs.

Its interesting how the thread between Bill and Rick evolved into a couple of good 'ol boys just “joking” around and the discussion never getting back to Rick and what he was attempting to control with his sarcasm and why he felt he needed to use sarcasm in order to control for it.

If you expect others to take this crap as “scientific” you are truly delusional.

A very nice try Martin in trying to bring this discussion into a constructive and useful discussion from a PCT perspective, but Bill decided that rather than put the heat directly back onto Rick he switched to “defining” terrorism.

What the hell does PCT say about “terrorism”?

Regards,

Marc

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[From Rick Marken (2006.08.13.1145)]

Marc Abrams (2006.08.13.0007)

It is folly to think that anyone can possibly begin to understand what someone else is controlling for without direct access to that individual and that individuals cooperation in allowing others to know about it.

I don't know what you mean by "direct access" but you certainly don't need a person's cooperation to allow you to find out what they are controlling. All you have to do is be able to disturb potential controlled variables and see if the person acts to protect those variables from the disturbances.

If by "direct access" you mean that you have to be able physically close enough to a person to disturb potential controlled variables, then, yes, this is true. But I think there are naturally occurring disturbances -- introduced when you don't have direct access to potential controlled variables -- that you can use as a basis for detecting controlled variables. I've tested for what people (and dogs) control for when catching balls (and Frisbees) without having direct access to those people (or dogs). I did it by fitting models to data, to which I did have access.

I don't believe Rick has the courage to talk about why he controls for what he does. His sarcasm is a way of hiding behind his cowardice and unwillingness to explore his own beliefs.

Sarcasm is a pretty thin disguise. When I made my sarcastic remark -- saying that "Condi couldn't be lying because Republicans don't lie" -- I think my own beliefs were pretty transparent or my comment wouldn't have even been perceived as sarcastic. My belief is obviously that Republicans do lie -- just as everyone does. Seeing the sarcasm turns on the listener knowing how I feel about Republican self-righteousness about their honesty. If you didn't know that about my belief's then you wouldn't even see the sarcasm; you might have taken it as a statement of fact. If someone like O'Reilly or Hannity had said it instead of me it would probably have been perceived as not sarcastic.

When you ask why I control for what I do, I think ultimately its because I am controlling for a vision of society (a system concept, if you like) to which nearly every action and statement of the Bush administration is a disturbance. I want a world where violence is the _last_ resort to solving problems, where poverty is unknown, where the sick and mentally ill are cared for by the society, where learning and teaching is revered and ignorance is scorned, where harmless differences between people (like their sexual preferences) are tolerated, where art and innovation are cherished and wealth (especially inherited wealth) and title are disdained. And where my leaders are intelligent, articulate and humane. That is, I want to live in a liberal, secular, egalitarian society, like the one I thought I was living in up until about 1980.

What the hell does PCT say about "terrorism"?

I think terrorism is what Tom Bourbon and Tim Carey call "counter-control". The terrorist is controlling a much stronger adversary by taking advantage of that adversary's very high gain controlling _against terrorism_. Al Queda and Hezbolla have counter-controlled the US and Israel, respectively, right out of the ballpark. Al Queda and Hezbolla knew that the US and Israel would act with very high gain to protect its citizens from further attack. And both terrorist groups got more than they ever could have hoped for; the US invading and occupying a country that had nothing to do with the attack and Israel killing the hundreds of women and children among whom the terrorists were hiding.

The terrorist, like the obstreperous student who doesn't want to be in class, knows that it is impossible to beat the adversary using force. The terrorists were concerned about now are up against the two strongest military machines (US and Israel) on earth. The student is up against a grown-up backed by the campus police. What the much weaker terrorist/student can do is counter-control the opponent, knowing that the steps the opponent takes to control the terrorist's/student's misbehavior will make the opponent look like a fool (or worse).

So the student, by acting up, can make the teacher yell and scream or even call out the cops, making himself look like an fool in front of the other students. Al Queda was able to get the US to invade, occupy and ruin Iraq (which had nothing to do with 9/11), making the US look like an oppressor before the world, creating more potential terrorists and trashing our international reputation. Hezbollah was able to get Israel to kill innocent men, women and children and ruin Lebanon's infrastructure, further reducing support for Israel, even in the US.

Terrorism is counter-control and what makes it successful is high gain opposition to the terrorist activity itself. The "war on terror" is certainly an understandable response to the horror of 9/11 but it's also a counter-controlling terrorist's dream come true. The only way to fight terror, I think, is the way the RTP program fights counter-control in the classroom. For one thing, you have to find the terrorists before they act up (as they just did in England) and send them to a special place where you find out (nicely, no torture) what they want and whether they can think of better ways to get it other than by killing innocent people. At the same time you have to work on the roots of the problem; work towards eliminating the reasons why there is so much discontent that people are willing to do terrorism.

Developing solutions to the root causes of terrorism will take real political courage but I think it can be done if people in leadership positions will start treating the reasons for terrorism rather than the terrorist acts themselves as the problem to be solved. I'd like to see a "war on the causes of terrorism" replace the ridiculous, endless and unwinnable "war on terrorism".

Best

Rick

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From [Marc Abrams (2006.08.13.1944)]

[From Rick Marken (2006.08.13.1145)]

If by “direct access” you mean that you have to be able physically close enough to a person to disturb potential controlled variables, then, yes, this is true.

Thank you, now what if the person is not controlling for the variable you are interested in? And frankly, what if the person was controlling for that variable? A person controls for any number of variables. How do you know which variables are the most important? That is, how do you know that they will be willing to act on them in a fashion you desire?

I think a much more important question is why you are controlling for what you are. For instance, we all know that you control for being “right”. The interesting question here is why do you feel the need to be right all the time? Another great question might be why do you feel sarcasm is an effective way to communicate your ideas over the Internet?

But I think there are naturally occurring disturbances – introduced when you don’t have direct access to potential controlled variables – that you can use as a basis for detecting controlled variables.

So what? Detecting what is being controlled is just one small part of interacting with someone else. The much more important and interesting question is why we each control for what we do, not what others might do.

We can look at ourselves, as painful as it might be at times, and see why we are controlling for what we are. But this requires a great deal of courage. It means exposing yourself and your beliefs to questions most of us would rather avoid dealing with, and do avoid dealing with.

So although Condi might be out of reach, I would hope that you are not, at least to yourself. If you want to talk about anyone you might want to try yourself.

Bill developed PCT with large doses of introspection and it is through introspection that good perceptual research can be done, IF people are willing to trust and be honest about their own introspections. But as Argyris has found out, this is no easy task, nor is it sustainable for long periods of time because our control mechanisms are very powerful in keeping threats at bay.

I’ve tested for what people (and dogs) control for when catching balls (and Frisbees) without having direct access to those people >(or dogs). I did it by fitting models to data, to which I did have access.

And what did this knowledge provide you with the ability to do?

I don’t believe Rick has the courage to talk about why he controls for > what he does. His sarcasm is a way of hiding behind his >>cowardice and > unwillingness to explore his own beliefs.

Sarcasm is a pretty thin disguise. When I made my sarcastic remark – saying that “Condi couldn’t be lying because Republicans don’t >lie” – I think my own beliefs were pretty transparent or my comment wouldn’t have even been perceived as sarcastic. My belief is >obviously that Republicans do lie –

So? And Democrats or Libertarians don’t? What does a political party affiliation have to do with either telling a lie or being a jerk?

It is just this kind of outburst and thinking that makes me, and probably others, just shake their heads. Was this in any way a “scientific” statement or hypothesis?

Rick, you’re a whole lot better than this, or are you?

just as everyone does. Seeing the sarcasm turns on the listener knowing how I feel about Republican self-righteousness about their honesty.

And what about your self-righteousness in all of this?

Why is yours ok and others intolerable? I believe this is a question of control and one that needs to be studied because you are no different than any other control system. But your current models cannot answer this question because you do not have all the necessary components in your model. This is a highly emotional issue and cannot be fully understood without understanding how our emotions affect and are affected by our attempts to control.

If you didn’t know that about my belief’s then you wouldn’t even see the sarcasm; you might have taken it as a statement of fact. >If someone like O’Reilly or Hannity had said it instead of me it would probably have been perceived as not sarcastic.

Maybe, maybe not. This of course is still another untested assumption on your part. Personally, from my days dealing with Bruce Gregory, sarcasm has always been a loser of a way of trying to communicate with others, especially over the Internet.

For me, the interesting question remains; why do we choose to control for the variables that we do?

When you ask why I control for what I do, I think ultimately its because I am controlling for a vision of society (a system concept, if >you like) to which nearly every action and statement of the Bush administration is a disturbance. I want a world where violence is the last resort to solving problems, where poverty is unknown, where the sick and mentally ill are cared for by the society, where >learning and teaching is revered and ignorance is scorned, where harmless differences between people (like their sexual preferences) are tolerated, where art and innovation are cherished and wealth (especially inherited wealth) and title are disdained. And where my >leaders are intelligent, articulate and humane. That is, I want to live in a liberal, secular, egalitarian society, like the one I thought I >was living in up until about 1980.

So, are you angry about being “wrong” about the society you thought you lived in for so long, or angry that you can’t really do anything about it?

Why do you feel that others actually want war? I spent 18 months of my life in one and would not recommend it. I don’t want war. I want peace. I want to be left alone and allowed to live my life as I see fit. Not as you think I should live it.

Do you honestly believe the Israeli’s want war? Unlike Hezbolla, the PLO, and some other idiots who are committed to the destruction of Israel, I don’t see Israel proclaiming the need to wipe a people off the face of this earth. They moved out of Lebanon, the Gaza and the West Bank for peace and what they got was a military buildup and rockets in their cities.

I don’t see Israeli citizens strapping bombs onto their kids and sending them to their deaths. I don’t see Israel building military stations under hospitals and using humans as shields. I don’t see Israel kidnapping Arabs.

I don’t see Israel starting 4 wars to wipe the country off the face of this earth. If Israel is “illegitimate” than so is every Arab country carved out of the ashes of the Ottoman Empire at the end of the First World War.

Maybe you can tell me why when Israel was granted its charter by the UN and a Palestinian state was also established why the neighboring Arab countries told the Palestinian to leave because they were going to destroy Israel in a few days and they would than be able to return.

When Israel was formed over 800,000 Jews were kicked out of neighboring Arab countries, losing all their property. Why are the Palestinian still refugee’s? Why will other Arab countries not allow then to assimilate into their countries?

Israel has Arab’s in their legislature. If your a Jew you can’t even live in Saudi Arabia.

Moral equivalence my ass.

I applaud your ideals and detest your intolerance. Your ignorance is profound.

What the hell does PCT say about “terrorism”?

I think terrorism is what Tom Bourbon and Tim Carey call “counter-control”.

Really? And what scientific proof do you have for this?

The terrorist is controlling a much stronger adversary by taking advantage of that adversary’s very high gain controlling against >terrorism. Al Queda and Hezbolla have counter-controlled the US and Israel, respectively, right out of the ballpark. Al Queda and >Hezbolla knew that the US and Israel would act with very high gain to protect its citizens from further attack. And both terrorist >groups got more than they ever could have hoped for; the US invading and occupying a country that had nothing to do with the >attack and Israel killing the hundreds of women and children among whom the terrorists were hiding.

What complete and utter nonsense. Its a great deal simpler than what you say. Written into the charter of Hezbollah is the destruction of Israel. The sole purpose of these organizations is the elimination of the Jewish state, period. They want a one state solution for the _world_and they are not going to get it.

The terrorist, like the obstreperous student who doesn’t want to be in class, knows that it is impossible to beat the adversary using >force.

And why pray tell are they looking to “defeat” Israel? Israeli “repression”? What repression? Exactly what is Israel doing from stopping the Arabs from developing their own country and economy?

The terrorists were concerned about now are up against the two strongest military machines (US and Israel) on earth.

Yes, they should be much more concerned with getting rid of their corrupt leadership that keeps them down and out. not Israel.

Terrorism is counter-control

Nonsense.

Developing solutions to the root causes of terrorism will take real political courage

Nonsense. It might help if hate were not institutionalized in their educational system and they stopped fighting amongst themselves long enough to get literate.

As long as they insist upon destroying the state of Israel they are going to have a very difficult time getting other things they want.

You say “counter-control”. I say they are controlling for the destruction of Israel and Western civilization. There is no need for counter-control here

Marc

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[From Rick Marken (2006.08.14.1000)]

Marc Abrams (2006.08.13.1944)--

Rick Marken (2006.08.13.1145)]�

If by "direct access" you mean that you have to be able physically close enough to a person to disturb potential controlled variables, then, yes, this is true.

Thank you, now what if the person is _not_ controlling for the variable _you_ are interested in?

The test is an iterative process. If disturbances to the hypothesized controlled variable are effective then you change your hypothesis and continue testing by applying disturbances to the newly hypothesized controlled variable.

I think a much more important question is _why_ you are controlling for what you are.

According to PCT the reason why you control certain perceptions is as the means of controlling higher level perceptions. Since the hierarchy goes up and down, once you have discovered a controlled variable (above the lowest level in the hierarchy), you have also discovered _why_ some perceptions lower in the hierarchy are controlled. So you implicitly answer _why_ certain perceptions are controlled as soon as you have answered _what_ perception is controlled (as long as you know the lower level outputs that are used to control the higher level perception). For example, once you know that the cursor is under control in a tracking task then you also know why the perception of mouse position (which is used to control the cursor) is controlled.

The interesting question here is why do you feel the need to be right all the time?

Control systems act to keep perceptions matching references. The "right" state for the perceptions of a control system (like me and you) is matching their references. So we act to get our perceptions to match our references. When our perceptions don't match our references things are not "right"; we feel stress or anxiety, which probably creates intrinsic error. The ultimate goal of a living control system, I believe, is to keep intrinsic error at zero. To do this, the system must keep its perceptions matching its references. Which is why all control systems need to be "right".

Another great question might be why do you feel sarcasm is an effective way to communicate your ideas over the Internet?

This is like the "Why do you support terrorism?" questions that I see on right wing blogs. I never said that I feel sarcasm is an effective way to communicate. In fact, I agreed with Bill (and my wife) that it wasn't. What I did say was that sarcasm was an effective way to deal with one's own feelings of anger and powerlessness. Sarcasm isn't an effective way to communicate; it's a good way to escape an unpleasant perceptual world.

But I think there are naturally occurring disturbances -- introduced when you don't have direct access to potential controlled variables -- that you can use as a basis for detecting controlled variables.

So what? Detecting _what_ is being controlled is just one small part of interacting with someone else. The much more important and interesting question is why we each control for what we do, _not_ what others might do.

Again, the _why_ question is answered in the same way as the _what_ question; by figuring out the controlled variable that is the reason why another variable is controlled. The reason why we control particular perceptions is as the means of controlling higher level perceptions. So the answer to the question "why are you controlling the vertical optical velocity and lateral optical position of the ball?" would be sought by testing to see what variable is being controlled by controlling these optical variables. I suspect that one reason why the person might be controlling the optical variables is because he is controlling for the ball not hitting the ground. And he's controlling for the ball not hitting the ground because he is controlling for making an out. And he's controlling for making an out because he wants to get out of the inning. And he want to get out of the inning because he wants to win the game. And he wants to win the game because...etc. Not that the answer to each "why" question is another controlled variable.

I've tested for what people (and dogs) control for when catching balls (and Frisbees) without having direct access to those people (or dogs). I did it by fitting models to data, to which I did have >> access.

And what did this knowledge provide you with the ability to do?

To talk endlessly on the net about how to do PCT research.

My belief is >obviously that Republicans do lie --

So? And Democrats or Libertarians don't? What does a political party affiliation have to do with either telling a lie or being a jerk?

Absolutely nothing, as I said earlier as well as in the phrase that you didn't include in the quote above, which was "just as everyone does".

It is just this kind of outburst and thinking that makes me, and probably others, just shake their heads.

I think you and those others were probably shaking your heads a little too soon. I bet that as soon as it looked to you like I said that _only_ Republicans are liars you went ahead and wrote about my "outburst". In fact, I didn't say that only Republicans lie; there was no "outburst". But you have certainly made your point about imagination often being a large component of perception.

Rick, you're a whole lot better than this, or are you?

Yes, I'm a whole lot better than that.

For me, the interesting question remains; why do we choose to control for the variables that we do?

I think the PCT answer would be "hierarchical control"; the reason why we control lower level perceptions is as the means of controlling higher level perceptions.

�When you ask why I control for what I do, I think ultimately its because I am controlling for a vision of society (a system concept, if you like) to which nearly every action and statement of the Bush administration is a disturbance.

So, are you angry about being "wrong" about the society you thought you lived in for so long, or angry that you can't really do anything about it?

Both. THough I'm more disappointed than angry. But sometimes I do feel angry.

Why do you feel that others actually want war?

If the "others" you're talking about are Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Condi and their neocon advisors, I feel that they actually want war because 1) they advocated strongly for it 2) they did nothing to avoid it and 3) they resisted massive international pressure to _not_ have a war.

Do you honestly believe the Israeli's want war?

Some do. But, no, I don't think the Israeli leadership wanted Israel to go to war nearly as much as Bush et al wanted the US to go to war.

I think terrorism is what Tom Bourbon and Tim Carey call "counter-control".

Really? And what scientific proof do you have for this?

No proof, just observation. The main observation is that the terrorists are in no position to wage a conventional war, aimed at conquering or protecting territory. All the terrorists in the world together couldn't "take over" the US or wipe Israel off the map. All they can do is what terrorists do: horribly awful things that goad the _much_ stronger adversary into doing equally (or more) horrible things.

The terrorist is controlling a much stronger adversary by taking advantage of that adversary's very high gain controlling _against terrorism_. Al Queda and Hezbolla have counter-controlled the US and Israel, respectively, right out of the ballpark. Al Queda and Hezbolla knew that the US and Israel would act with very high gain to protect its citizens from further attack. And both terrorist groups got more than they ever could have hoped for; the US invading and occupying a country that had nothing to do with the attack and Israel killing the hundreds of women and children among whom the terrorists were hiding.

What complete and utter nonsense. Its a great deal simpler than what you say. Written into the charter of Hezbollah is the destruction of Israel. The sole purpose of these organizations is the elimination of the Jewish state, _period_.� They want a one state solution for the _world_and they are _not_ going to get it.

OK. So you think these terrorists are going to organize and take over Europe, Russia, China, Japan, the US and the rest of the non-Muslim world. I think your view is currently in vogue so I guess we can expect to see this fighting continue indefinitely. Or is part of your theory that if we kill enough of the terrorists they will finally get the message and say "Never mind"? I guess it's a plan.

�The terrorist, like the obstreperous student who doesn't want to be in class, knows that it is impossible to beat the adversary using force.

And why pray tell are they looking to "defeat" Israel? Israeli� "repression"? What repression? Exactly what is Israel doing from stopping the Arabs from developing their own country and economy?

My guess is that it's their own goals and grips that are preventing them from doing this. I don't think that the best approach to solving the problem is dismissing other peoples' goals as illegitimate or wrong. Surely this is something all of us who accept PCT can agree on. Isn't one of the basic lessons of PCT to respect the autonomy of other people? The fact that other people's goals -- whether we like those goals or not -- are _their_ goals, which can't be changed from outside. Aren't Arabs (and Persians) people, too?

Yes, they should be much more concerned with getting rid of their corrupt leadership that keeps them down and out. not Israel.

Unfortunately, we cannot set other people's goals for them. Or does your theory of human nature say that we can?

Richard S. Marken Consulting
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