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When I graduated highschool in 1970, I decided to take on the biggest (most difficult, and most important!) intellectual challenge on the planet-- trying to make psychology truly scientific. Over the next ten years I evolved the philosophy/methodology of 'robot wisdom' which seeks ultimately to create computer simulations of human behavior, as authoritative demonstrations of its theoretical models.(The closest popular approach to this sort of thinking is Vernor Vinge's 'Singularity' and the spiritual-robotics philosophizing of Kurzweil, Hofstadter et al. But it's not really very close at all.)
Everywhere in the world human lives are degraded by uselessly neurotic conflicts-- between parents and children, between schools and students, between employees and bosses, between citizens and governments, between spouses, between roommates, between neighbors, between nations...
Parents spoil their children, and/or punish them too harshly. Teachers drive students mad with boredom, and students react by disrupting class and ignoring homework. Bosses indulge in petty tyranny, employees goof off and steal office supplies. Politicians lie to get elected, and sell out the common good to corporate irresponsibility. Spouses and roommates drive each other crazy with neurotic demands. Flamers spoil newsgroups. Governments compete violently to dominate natural resources. Money has displaced every other traditional value.
If a psychological consensus could be achieved about how best to deal with each of these challenges-- a consensus so clear and demonstrable that only the most willful could resist it-- the world might truly, finally, enter a golden age of peaceful maturity...
Both amateur and professional psychologists (among many other disciplines) offer endless volumes of advice on resolving such conflicts, but nothing like a scientific consensus has yet emerged. One minimalist compromise might be the playground ethic of fair play-- no special treatment, everyone gets an equal shot, do unto others, no cheating, tell the whole truth. On the playground, this can be enforced by simple ostracism-- if you won't play fair, you don't get to play at all.
In the 'real' world, it again seems to be ego that causes most of the problems, with many (most?) individuals consciously or unconsciously demanding the biggest share of the pie. (Cf Courtney Love: "I want to be the girl with the most cake...")
But especially in the decades since Reagan, play-fair ostracism has been systematically ground into the dirt as a viable basis for Western community. Via a snowballing campaign set rolling in the early 70s by Richard Mellon Scaife [history], conservative thinktanks have re-framed every basic human instinct in ethically inverted terms, and shifted the world's political discourse relentlessly towards the right.
Greed and dishonesty are now lionised as productive 'rights', while honor and compassion are vilified as effete. It's become a defeatist axiom that you can't change others unless they want to change. The US school system seems dedicated to crushing individual spirit. [history] The Judeo-Christian religion has insisted for 2000 years that human desires are poisoned by 'original sin'.
Injustice is normally enforced by physical and psychological intimidation.
how it's doneowner toward pet: rewards and punishments, obedience school (pet psychologists)
owner toward slave: rewards and punishments, beating, isolation
parent toward child: reasoning, rules, rewards and punishments, spanking, grounding, enforced therapy, reform school (child psychologists, Dr Spock)
parent toward adult child: nagging, guilt trips, calling cops, disinheriting
child toward parent: tantrums, disobedience, reporting abuse
adult child toward parent: arguing, avoiding, having committed
child toward child: arguing, bullying, ostracism, telling-on
school toward student: rules, rewards and punishments, extra homework, detention, suspension, expulsion (education theorists)
student toward school: rebellious acts, playing hooky
boss toward employee: management skills, rewards and threats, rules, raises, suspensions, termination
employee toward boss: argument, appeal via union, insubordination, sabotage
government toward citizen: propaganda, promises, laws, rules, taxes, warnings, arrests, jail; social workers; the draft (Machiavelli)
citizen toward government: voting, protests, public debate, letters to newspapers, public education (activism theory)
media toward citizen: propaganda, inculcating values
spouse toward spouse: arguing, rewards and punishments, psychological and physical abuse, threatening to leave or throw out or divorce, call cops, third party intervention (clergy, counseling, therapy), assertiveness training
roommate toward roommate: arguing, house meeting, rewards and punishments, psychological and physical abuse, threatening to leave or throw out
newsgroup poster toward poster: argument, insult, killfile
neighbor toward neighbor: complain, call cops, shun
government toward government: diplomacy, rewards and punishments, loans, trade deals, defense pacts, threats, covert ops, destabilisation, military attacks (Chris Crawford's Balance of Power)
individual toward self: counseling, therapy, twelve-step, self-help books, meditation, self-analysis, prayer, psychedelics, travel, seeking life experiences, studying history
Some excellent additions, contributed anonymously:
College student toward teacher: complaining to administrators; exaggerations/falsehoods in evaluations; displaying "lack of interest" body language in class; non- attendance.Teacher toward college students: nonverbally indicating non-receptiveness to questions and requests for one-on-one interactions; tougher critical scrutiny of term papers; lack of critical scrutiny of papers (A or B "for effort"); not providing references ("I don't feel I know you."); warning other instructors about students.
Patron to cashier: demanding to see the manager; complaining about prices (though cashiers are hardly ever able to do anything about prices); not making verbal amenities; not making eye-contact; non-verbal intolerance/annoyance; tossing payment toward cashier.
Cashier to patron: Slowing/stopping transaction to interact with others (without apology); not making eye- contact; not making verbal amenities; non-verbal intolerance/annoyance--especially viewing patrons with suspicion; refusing sales; calling police/security; searches of bags.
changingHow many people have you known who've changed profoundly-- grown up-- during the time you've known them? How many have devolved from decent people into creeps or jerks?
The cliche is sometimes true that a major crisis or near-death experience will touch a person so deeply they decide to take their life more seriously. (But to what extent can an outsider try to induce such a crisis?)
Going into hyper-competitive business or law can turn a decent person into an ambitious asshole. Going into the army can toughen someone up, for better or worse. Joining a spiritual group can go either way. Getting into drugs is usually negative, except creatively.
Coming into conflict with a heavyweight gameplayer/bully can be traumatic, forcing sink-or-swim personality changes. (Some PhD-programs are clearly designed to work this way.)
but at last, a few years ago, Will Wright's game "The Sims" supplied a stable theoretical platform for thought-experiments about the mind...
So last week on some comp.ai newsgroups, I posted a simple outline
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