Whether a lack of self-confidence or just an awareness that the world is complex and we know only a little of what we could know - we are very forgiving of poor communicators. In fact, we often assume if someone rambles and uses big words that they must be very smart. Fearn points a finger at French Postmodernist Philosophers in chapter 9 of Philosophy but this is quite common in a world where we have uber-specialised. Here is one sentence from Felix Guattari:
We can clearly see that there is no bi-univocal correspondence between linear signifying links or archi-writing, depending on the author, and this multireferential, multidimensional machinic catalysis.
!!!!????? We elevate smart people. We trust them with our money, or plans, or time. We get to a situation sometimes where there are so many cooks in the kitchen, and they are each so specialised and don't 'speak the same language' that co-ordination becomes a problem. So the wheels spin. No one ends up understanding the full picture. So 'fuzzy thinking' or problems can hide.
Great story - must be smart
On the other hand, we think in stories. We like stuff that has a good narrative, where we can follow each step, and have a preference for stuff we can understand. Those who can tell good stories wield tremendous power in being able to convince people that what they are saying is true. I think we want to be believers, so if someone says something with confidence and conviction, we don't want to disbelieve them.
So what do we do? How do we trust people in areas we don't understand? In Liberal Capitalist countries with solid regulation and rule of law, theory has it that you can trust Efficient Markets. For small decisions like buying a chocolate, I think this works. In the past most of the world was simple enough that you could know a little bit about everything. You could know enough about how cars work to know if the mechanic was over-charging. You could have done the work, you just chose to focus on something else. As we specialise more and more, and as technology and modern science pushes things beyond our intellectual and practical capacity - how do we maintain a 'trust but verify' approach? A market can only be efficient if information is quickly spread and correctly understood.
I don't have an answer, but I suspect part of it lies in learning to ask good questions, not accepting jargon and unclear answers, and being aware of the risks or wary of riskless stories. Largely, it may come down to trust and institutional protection.
Exciting (but nervous) times.
With some effort... you could learn how cars worked without being a specialist
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automobile
No comments:
Post a Comment