[From Kent McClelland (960820.1145 CDT)]
FYI: I will shortly have available for distribution a revised version of
the paper I presented to the CSG meeting in Flagstaff. The paper brings
together and elaborates my efforts over the past several years to use
simulations of the interaction of elementary control systems in order to
rethink fundamental issues for sociology and other social sciences.
The paper presents (yet another) introduction to the basic PCT model and
tracking experiments; the results from a series of simulations of
cooperative, conflictive, and conflictive-cooperative interactions; a basic
typology of interactions, including accommodation and obstruction, as well
as cooperation and conflict; a discussion of the HPCT levels as three main
"layers" of perception; definitions for "meaning" and "symbolic meaning"
from an HPCT perspective; and finally, a redefinition of the concepts of
"social structure" and "culture" as collectively controlled perceptions.
The revised version is fairly similar to the version presented at
Flagstaff, but there are a few new wrinkles. Besides correcting typos,
I've revised my discussion of the HPCT hierarchy, added a couple of new
diagrams, added some material to the conclusion, and given the paper a new
title: "The Collective Control of Perceptions: Toward a Person-Centered
Sociology."
If you'd like to receive a copy of this paper, send an e-mail reply to me
directly and include your snail-mail address. With Gary Cziko's help, I'll
also eventually be putting a copy of the manuscript on the CSG web page,
though getting this lengthy document ready for the Internet will probably
take a few weeks.
ยทยทยท
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i.kurtzer (960813.1615)
. . .
Now in the evolution of language it is told that these core words are the
ones that change least. Why? Why is it that water is still awfully
close to vodka though we think that the people that spoke the previous
language had separated long ago. (I am assuming common origin and not
borrowing). Well, it falls out that the larger the population that is
using the word (though potentially containing more variabilty for
individual pronounciation) then the less it will change as the virtual
control sytem is in effect as function of the gain across all members.
This can be seen by us when we consider changing terminology to avoid the
common impolications of "control", "feedback", "perception", etc . . .
I didn't notice that anybody picked up the thread of your "brief
consideration in the linguistics vein" last week, but I thought you made a
good point in observing that the more widely a collectively controlled
perception (like a word in a language, for instance) is held, the more
slowly it will be likely to change.
Change is evidently easiest when the group controlling the perception is
relatively small or at the margins of society, and deviant groups like
ethnic-minority youth often become the creative "avant garde" for new
styles and usages. It probably adds to their creativity that they usually
experience lots of error from the more widely held collectively controlled
perceptions that define the conventional status quo. Their creativity
comes from random reorganization to cope with their own errors. Does that
make sense to you?
Kent
Kent McClelland
Professor of Sociology Phone: Office 515-269-3134
Chair, Department of Sociology Home 515-236-7002
Grinnell College Fax 515-269-4985
Grinnell, IA 50112-0810 USA E-Mail: MCCLEL@AC.GRIN.EDU