Gregg, I enjoyed reading that blog post, and I felt that the comment section of your blog post has examples of the challenge of seeing Trump with a clear consensus along the lines of intellectual integrity. Fortunately, it seems that most people are quite aware of, and disapprove of, his lying. Tea-party type conservatives want the federal government weakened, and so Trump has been given license to be destructive so long as his base feels like they are part of the "inside joke." If Bernie Sanders had won and chaos resulted, I can easily imagine his followers rationalizing the instability as a necessary reorganization that would lead to longer-term stability. Jamie, your reference to the Dunning-Kruger effect seems to be important, and may be an obstacle in arriving at a unified vision of intellectual integrity. Uncertainty is a painful experience for many, if not most of us, and so the deliberate path of uncertainty is challenging, and I imagine, not pragamatically useful to many individuals with needs and interests prioritized above a search for truth. Mark, thank you for the history regarding radio and television's influence on the collapse of the print world, and how that collapse influenced current trends in academia. Your commentary frequently validates and expands my understanding of what is going on around me, and encourages me to adopt an identity that is resilient and adaptive to the media effects you articulate within the context of the cultural transmissions and battles going on. Joe, thank you for sharing your personal intellectual and creative process, which I found to be encouraging of a longer-term path towards constructing durable wisdom for one's self and then others. -Chance On Wed, Aug 29, 2018 at 6:14 AM Henriques, Gregg - henriqgx < [log in to unmask]> wrote: > Thanks, Mark. > > Perhaps one way to think about the ToK/UTUA Framework as attempting a grid > that captures us on the past to present into the future axis and one that > attempts to coordinate the bottom up (physics into sensation) and top down > aspects (culture and technology) of our being in a way that is both > coherent and promoting of dignity and well-being for persons and the planet > at large. > > Best, > Gregg > > -----Original Message----- > From: tree of knowledge system discussion <[log in to unmask]> > On Behalf Of Mark Stahlman > Sent: Wednesday, August 29, 2018 8:30 AM > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Re: The value of intellectual integrity > > Gregg: > > Good blog! As we've discussed, Culture has its *causes* and "intellectual > integrity" isn't something that is an automatic effect by any means. In > particular, the human intellect doesn't come first but rather last in the > "chain" beginning with sensations (external), followed by perceptions > (internal.) If that entire "structure" -- which you have carefully > diagrammed -- is disordered at its foundations, then so will be the > resulting "values." > > In part as a product of the German emphasis on the "intellect" (giving us > our modern academia and the PhD &c) and its radical distortion in the > early-20th century -- leading to Hitler &al -- the Rockefeller Foundation > launched its "Radio Research Project" in 1935 at Columbia University, later > expanding it to Princeton and ultimately costing $30M+ (in today's money.) > Among its outcomes was the establishment of "public opinion polling" (which > is why Gallup and Roper &c are located in Princeton.) > > Following WWW II, based largely on the insights of psychological warriors > in that conflict, Social Psychology took up this task -- by denigrating > what many thought to be the "intellect" in favor of a sort of "pluralism" > that denied the possibility of any "ultimate" > integrity, the pursuit of which it considered to be "proto-Nazi." > Instead it promoted what became "deconstruction" of all "grand narratives" > and the *false* belief that reality was "socially constructed" (aka > "versions of reality.") Today's academia is the direct result of this > retreat from its 19th-century German intellectual origins. > > Trump is a product of that severely degraded "intellectual" world -- > *formally* caused by RADIO in the early part of the 20th century and then > dramatically deepened by TELEVISION in the second half, fundamentally > collapsing whatever was left of the PRINT world in which those > intellectuals previously resided. The promotion of "logical coherence" and > "consistency of thought" has been sweepingly denounced for 50+ years now > and Trump's cynical exploitation of the situation is the result. Needless > to say, his opponents also share the same > handicaps. Yes, "democratic-socialism" is also a RADIO throwback. > They are all the product of Walter Ong's "Secondary Orality." > > By forging ahead with the ToK, you are in conflict with your own > profession and, indeed, the wider field of social science which has > collapsed under the weight of its own *deliberate* lack of "integrity." > That paints a target on your back. The conflict you have had over > plagiarism of your "Justification Hypothesis" is only the beginning of what > you are going to face. Hopefully, a suit-of-armor will be under your 2018 > Xmas tree for what you've done with the Garden (previously the topic of a > hippie anthem.) > > Also in the 1930s, a movement was begun to try to restore PRINT as a > viable *environment* for the intellect. It was called "Great Books" > and it came out of the University of Chicago (also Rockefeller funded), > which had acquired the rights to the "Encyclopedia Britannica." In 1946, > Marshall McLuhan, a newly minted PhD from Cambridge, attempted to insert > himself into that process but was rejected by then-UofC-head Robert > Hutchins. Great Books went on to form the curriculum at many schools, > perhaps most notably St. John's > (Annapolis) -- where Joe Sachs has masterfully translated Aristotole > (which then became the basis of the LADS seminar at the Center, which is > finishing its experimental run this evening.) Today, there are no viable > expressions of that ideal (and some of what remains is working with the > Center.) > > The West had many parents. Most would agree that Athens and Jerusalem > were among them -- to which Alexandria also needs to be added. The > "Decline of the West," however, has only one parent -- ELECTRICITY (or > what McLuhan described as the collapse of the "Gutenberg Galaxy.") > Now that we are DIGITAL that earlier parent-of-decline is no longer > *forming* new intellects -- through sensation (external) and perception > (internal) -- and, instead, has become the rear-view-mirror that is Trump, > Bernie &al. > > "Toto, I believe we aren't in Kansas anymore . . . " -- Dorothy (speaking > of RADIO taking over from PRINT in the 1930s) > > To grasp our future -- as the West, which is only a portion of humanity -- > we need to understand the implications of the new "City" > in which we all live. And that understanding is the purpose of the Center > for the Study of Digital Life. > > www.digitallife.center > > Mark > > Quoting "Henriques, Gregg - henriqgx" <[log in to unmask]>: > > > Hi List, > > > > I have been thinking quite a bit lately about the value of > > intellectual integrity. As I have blogged about before, (see, e.g., > > here We Need to Value Intellectual > > Integrity<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.psy > > > chologytoday.com_blog_theory-2Dknowledge_201602_we-2Dneed-2Dvalue-2Dintellectual-2Dintegrity&d=DwIBaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=AIBYKCx_OuaVu2lBxxuPVO5NjduWEQrFsoXuwCtbY7w&s=yrj5Nnexpf78IrG2owq8aydEum_n5PT3t5FQwX7HN-I&e=>) > it is one of the values that I as being in most danger, especially on the > political scene, but also more broadly. > > > > I would love to hear what others think. It seems to me that the > > desire for a Theory of Knowledge would go hand in glove with a value > > of intellectual integrity. Do we as a society deeply share this value? > > > > Best, > > Gregg > > > > ############################ > > > > To unsubscribe from the TOK-SOCIETY-L list: > > write to: mailto:[log in to unmask] > > or click the following link: > > http://listserv.jmu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=TOK-SOCIETY-L&A=1 > > ############################ > > To unsubscribe from the TOK-SOCIETY-L list: > write to: mailto:[log in to unmask] > or click the following link: > http://listserv.jmu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=TOK-SOCIETY-L&A=1 > > ############################ > > To unsubscribe from the TOK-SOCIETY-L list: > write to: mailto:[log in to unmask] > or click the following link: > http://listserv.jmu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=TOK-SOCIETY-L&A=1 > ############################ To unsubscribe from the TOK-SOCIETY-L list: write to: mailto:[log in to unmask] or click the following link: http://listserv.jmu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=TOK-SOCIETY-L&A=1