Bill's date below is wrong?!
[From Dag Forssell (920621-3)
Post formats:
I just downloaded two marvelous posts from Bill. They both had the formatting
problem. It went away when I adjusted my margin out another .3 inches. Sorry,
it was my problem, not a generic one.
Bill Powers (920618)
I've ranted for years to the CSG that if we want to have a revolution, we
must revolt. We can't just go on using the same old customary modes of
observation, description, and explanation if we want to find the
significance of the first new concept of human nature since Descartes. If
people are going to try to make a smooth transition into control theory,
preserving everything they had thought important up to that point and
simply adding a few new interpretations, where convenient and supportive of
former beliefs, we are going to get exactly nowhere. Control theory gives
us the chance to tear all of our old ideas down to their components and put
them back together into a new structure of understanding.
And in "An agenda for the control systems group 1986" (LCSII, page 171) you
point out that the "human pie" has already been sliced.
I am working on an illustration of this. I think people need to be told
specifically what it is about our daily language that is 1700's thinking.
As a tentative list, I have:
Mental illness
Depression
Addiction
Phobias
Anxieties
Compulsion
Reinforcement
Conditioning
Marital problems
Crime
Character
Preference
Aptitude
Personality
Intelligence
Self-esteem
Some of these are mentioned by Bill. Some I am not sure belong on the list.
Suggestions and comments are solicited.
Rick will note that I put Character on the list. I have accepted that:
"It is ALL control." Perception and control is all there is!
Bill Powers (920621.1200)
What he didn't realize was that I don't lead the CSG. I don't want any power
over anyone. In fact people who understand control theory just don't lead
worth a damn. There's a lot of cooperation going on, but the competition
level hovers around zero.
In my book you lead this group, and well. You use what I have labeled
Purposeful LeadershipTM.
In his book: "Leadership is an art," Max De Pree writes: "The first
responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The second is to say thank
you. In between, the leader is a servant."
You lead by offering information at the highest level. A new systems concept
of reality called PCT. You answer questions, explain and serve without letup.
You allow those who choose to follow to derive principles from the systems
concept information you offer (and so on down the entire hierarchy.)
You do NOT lead by coercion, threats and "rewards," you abhor those, but that
does NOT mean that you do not lead.
I for one am glad that you do lead!
Affectionately,
Dag