[From Rick Marken (920221.2200)]
Marc S. Abrams (950217.1000 EST)
Rick, you've been "around the block" a few times with this. Not
interested in beating a dead horse.
No problem for me. I enjoy beating dead horses almost as much as I like
setting up straw men [That's an "in" PCT joke, by the way; we are ALWAYS
accused of setting up straw men when our modelled versions of other
theories fail to behave properly; we are never told, of course, how to
model the "real" theories that we supposedly caricature in our straw men
versions).
But as you see it (
is there any other way) *What* are the issues that
need to be clarified ?
is there any other way) *What* are the issues thatThis is an excellent question. Bill Powers (950221.0850 MST) just made
what I see as great strides toward clarifying what PCT is about. But I
think there are still issues that make it difficult for people to accept
PCT. I don't know whether clarifying these issues will make PCT more
acceptable but here are what I think are the two main "issues" that
drive people away from PCT.
1. All people want to be in control but few want to be told that they are
controllers.
Successful theories of human nature satisfy both these wants; they tell
people what to do to get what they want (to be in control) and they
avoid mentioning what people must be like in order to do this.
PCT is a disturbance to both wants; it tells people that they cannot be in
control of one of the things they most want to control -- other people --
and it says that it is natural for people to want to control others because
all people (themselves included) are controllers.
2. People want to be told the one "right" thing to do in order get what
they want; they would prefer to be told that the "right" thing to do is
what they always thought it was. Socialists, for example, want to be told
the socialism is the right way to run an economy; capitalists want to be
told that capitalism is the right way to run it.
PCT shows that there is no "right" way to get what you want; the
actions required to produce what you want depend not only on the
want iself (reference signal) but also on prevailing environmental
conditions (disturbances and the nature of the environmental
connection between action and result). A "right" action (one that
produces the goal result) in one context is wrong in another. People
who are committed to a particular idea about the "right" way to behave
(and who isn't?) are bound to find PCT extremely annoying because it
doesn't come out and say "you were right all along; yours is the right
way for everyone to live".
These, I think, are very difficult issues to overcome. I think they can be
overcome. But I think it is less a matter of figuring out how to clarify
these issues for people than of finding people who want to have these
issues clarified for them.
Best
Rick