[From Rick Marken (950607.1545)]
Bruce Abbott (950607.1355 EST)--
My example was intended to convey the point that having control can be
stressful if maintaining control is difficult.
To the extent that control is not maintained there is error -- and stress IS
error. But NOT having control is always AT LEAST as bad as having it, and
usually FAR worse.
Bruce Abbott (950607.1155 EST) --
No real control system can keep the controlled perception exactly at
reference at all times regardless of disturbance.
The phrase "regardless of disturbance" is ambiguous. Do you mean "given
disturbances that change over time" or "no matter what the disturbance
happens to be"? If you mean the latter, then the statement is obviously not
true since a real control system can keep p exactly equal to r as long as
d is a constant.
Bruce Abbott (950607.1245 EST) --
Hmmmm. Rick, you don't have a CLUE as to what my motives are.
You are correct. I don't know your motives because there is no such thing
as a "motive". "Motive" is a dormative principle that was used to explain
behavior before people understood the nature of behavior as the control of
perception. Poeple don't have motives any more than flammable materials have
phlogiston.
What you do have are perceptions that you are controlling. I think I have a
pretty good idea what some of those perceptions are. It's impossible to hide
the perceptions one is controlling from someone who knows how to find out
what they are (using the Test). That's what I meant when I said
(950606.1900):
When you know what to look for, controlled perceptions are really quite
obvious. Of course, Bill Powers (950606.1440 MDT) picked up on it too.
I'm not saying that I know EXACTLY what perceptions you are controlling; and
even if I did know your controlled perceptions exactly you might reject my
description of them becuase you don't like the words I use to describe them
(you could be controlling for using particular words to describe your goals);
or you might not like acknowledging, for whatever higher level reason, what
you are controlling (you might be controlling for "privacy of purpose").
But if you're interested, I'd be happy to tell you what perceptions I think
you are controlling. I would imagine that you could do a pretty good job
of telling me what perceptions I am controlling, too. You did a nice job of
describing some of those perceptions when you answered my question about
why you thought I was against spending much time trying to explain the
findings of conventional psychology using PCT.
Best
Rick