Demokrati og sosiale medier

Does social media contribute to democracy? Just posted this on forskning.no:

La oss si det er to forlokkende og en luguber side ved dette fenomenet. Som du påpeker er det fint å tenke seg at en type demokratisk praksis man kan utøve i sos medier er overførbart til skolesamfunnet eller samfunnet tout court. Dette støtter seg på et syn på demokrati som prosesser av en bestemt kvalitet, sk prosedyredemokrati. Videre, og det var dette som lå til grunn for spørsmålet tidligere, kan vi tenke oss at FB eksisterer i et mellomrom mellom det muntlige og det strengt skriftlige (skolestilen, rapporten, det offentlige skjemae,t etc.) og at skriveren har et løsere forhold til kontrollinstansen. Det er ting som kan tyde på at dette er tilfellet: Mange lærere synes elever er _for_ flittige på FB, men grunnen til dette kan jo være at elevene føler seg friere der enn i den regulerte språkbruken i klasserommet. Dermed åpnes også FB-språket for sånne ting som engelske vendinger, smileys, nyord, etc. I tillegg syns jeg det bør nevnes at for oss som har undervist en stund er det ikke umulig å huske ei tid hvor norsklæreren drømte o m et verktøy som ville gi elever _lyst_ til å skrive. Sosiale medier virker som å kunne fylle den funksjoenen.
SÅ til det lugubre: Denne tilsynelatende friheten skjer under markedets herredømme. Prisen vi må betale for å slippe unna statlig regulering av språket synes å være at vi underlegger kommunikasjonen kommersielle rammebetingelser. Dette har konsekvenser bl.a. for tilgang til verktøyet, rammer for hva som kan uttrykkes, og kanskje også en økonomisering av selve den språklige uttrykksmåten.
Det ville være interessant å vite om det finnes noe forskning som kan hjelpe oss videre her.

Hardt kroppsarbeid, pugging skaper ikke gode ferdigheter

Talentutvikling [er] til tider preget av overambisiøse voksne og harde trenere, slik at utviklingen blir mer hard enn morsom.

Hvis barnet derimot får plass til å leke og utfolde seg, kan det antagelig øke motivasjonen og viljen til å lære mer senere.

Resultatene er tydelige innenfor individuelle idrettsgrener som friidrett, tennis eller seilsport.

Det hersker en illusjon om hva som kan kontrolleres og dokumenteres i skolen

Fra I skolen 9 • 2010 nr 5

"Jeg frykter at det som «slankes» i skolen ikke er unødige byråkratiske prosesser, men snarere lærelyst og rom for formidling. Modellene bidrar til å gjøre problemene i skolen større." Sjekk dette intervjuet med LOs Ståle Dokken om NPM og skoleledelse:

– Lærerfrafall gir grunn til bekymring, sier Ståle Dokken i LO. Lederen av LOs organisasjonsavdeling Ståle Dokken snakker med tyngde når han retter sitt organisasjonsanalytiske blikk mot skoleverket. Han har en mastergrad i organisasjonsendring fra University of Herfordshire, og i fjor ga han ut boken «Å få folk med. En fagfortelling om organisasjonsendring» på Gyldendal Norsk Forlag.

Unødige krav
Han er uroet over hvordan lærere beskriver sin skolehverdag:

– Skolen kan ikke akseptere større frafall verken av lærere eller elever. Jeg tror de store rapporteringskravene har ført til feil fokus. Det hersker en illusjon om hva som kan kontrolleres og dokumenteres. Vi trenger ikke verken nasjonale prøver eller internasjonale elevundersøkelser. Jeg sier ikke at vi skal ha evalueringsfrie skoler, men at vi kan klare oss med mindre av det. Vi trenger gode, trygge og dynamiske lærere, som har tid til å jobbe med fagene, sier han.

Innenfor organisasjonsteori har Ståle Dokken kompleksitetsforskning som spesialfelt.

– Det er en tenkning som har oppstått med utgangspunkt i London de siste 15–20 årene, som omhandler andre forestillinger og et annet språk om hva ledelse er enn det som råder nå, og som springer ut av en annen verdensanskuelse. Utgangspunktet er en oppfatning om at organisasjoner ikke er systemer, men prosesser mellom mennesker, forteller han.

Ståle Dokken bruker begrepene New Public Management og Lean Management («toyotaisme») for å beskrive det han kaller en bransjeuavhengig internasjonal ensretting av forståelsen av hva ledelse er, som har oppstått de siste 20–30 årene.

Toyotaisme i skolen
– Bånnplanken er at det settes likhetstegn mellom organisasjon og system. «Toyotaisme» er en bilindustrimodell med sterk vekt på automatisering, som ukritisk er overført til helsevesenet og skoleverket, uten at virkningen av det er undersøkt. Det er en farlig måte å jobbe på. Jeg frykter at det som «slankes» i skolen ikke er unødige byråkratiske prosesser, men snarere lærelyst og rom for formidling. Modellene bidrar til å gjøre problemene i skolen større, sier Ståle Dokken.

– Det hersker en tradisjonell ledelsestenkning som stammer fra industrien og som ukritisk er overført til skoleverket, med tvilsomme effekter. Lærere og skoleledelse har mer enn nok arbeidsoppgaver og utfordringer, og trenger ikke bli dytta på unødvendige krav til testing, evaluering og rapportering, legger han til.

– Hvilke negative utslag mener du det har ført til?

– Mange lærere førtidspensjonerer seg. Lærere som skulle gløde til de var 70 år! Lærerne er slitne av å fotfølges og av sterk detaljregulering, sier Ståle Dokken.

Endringskynisme
Han mener lærerfrafallet i skolen er et faresignal som ikke har fått stor nok oppmerksomhet.

– Det som skjer nå er en endringskynisme. Lærerne bøyer seg ned og håper at uværet går over. Lederen av LOs organisasjonsavdeling mener også at det er urovekkende at lærerne de siste tiårene har fått mindre anseelse som yrkesgruppe i samfunnet.

– Har LO bidratt til å rive ned respekten for lærerne?

– Over tid kan det ha vært en bivirkning av LOs lønnspolitikk at lærerne har tapt status, sier Ståle Dokken. Han understreker at det i såfall har vært utilsiktet, og at LO ikke har hatt noen ønsker om å trekke noen grupper ned.

New Public Management (NPM)
Ledelsesfilosofi brukt av regjeringer siden 1980-tallet for å modernisere offentlig sektor gjennom økt markedsorientering. (Wikipedia)

Lean Management
Ledelsefilosofi som i stor grad bygger på produksjonssystemet til Toyota (Toyota Production System (TPS)) og som derfor ofte kalles «toyotaisme». Den japanske bilfabrikken Toyota vokste fra å være et lite firma til å bli verdens største bilprodusent. (Wikipedia)

Ståle Dokken (51)
Leder organisasjonsavdelingen i LO, som har ansvar for LOs egen organisasjon, medlemsutvikling, organisasjonsutvikling, medlemsfordeler, student- og elevmedlemskapet, LO Ungdom, utdanningspolitikk og skolepolitikk.

Re-Tooling Education

Ok, so heres some thoughts on educational discourse. A few contradictions:
Pupils/students should be motivated when they arrive in class. Then what is the purpose of the teacher as motivator?
How come theres an increase in limits for attendance in schools? Should we not trust that we are able to measure competence regardless of student interest/participation/attendance?
It is as if the ghosts for our educational past are returning -- but this time more forcefully and more in need of challenge.

Policy of phatic files

This blog practices a patient view to comments from readers, including disgruntled European emissaries venting their frustrations with experiences of resentment on foreign soil. This is why comments with essentially abusive language is allowed to remain on this site. Views expressed by readers are subsequently not necessarily shared by phatic.

---

On a different (but related) note:

They're almost 1/5 of the US electorate -- an "anxious response" to a changing economy. But do they have a case? Kate Zernike discusses the Tea Party movement with Sam Tanenhaus on the NYT Book Review podcast.
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/08/book-review-podcast-making-sense-of-the-tea-party/?src=twt&twt=nytimesbooks

A conversation with phatic

"I don't understand what 'identity' means," phatic said.
"OK," said I.
"One thing is when they stop you at the border and ask what is your identity. You answer your name, nationality and so forth."
"Yes, " I responded.
"I also understand what they say when they speak of two things being identical. If that's possible. But I understand the meaning of, say, 'this nail is identical to that nail'."
"Uhm," I nodded.
"Same with the verb identify. That's an easy one. John identifies with blue folks, say."
I was getting bored.
"Yes. Now what's the bottom line here?" I asked.
"Well, I'll tell you what the bottom line is. What do you get out of statements like, 'I have lost my identity' -- unless you're Jason Bourne, of course, and have literally lost your papers and registraton in public records. Or, 'We don't really feel like blue folks used to sometime in the past.' That's what I don't get."
"I see," said I.
"Or what about this quest to 'find one's identify'. Well, maybe you find the answer when you locate your passport, right?"
"Right," said I.

Best,
-tor

American from abroad

America seen from abroad.

Here's what correspondent Eivind Trædal reports. America, is this correct?

"Obama didn't wear an American flag on his jacket sleeve during the election campaign. No American president can act that way." These are the words of Margaret Curole, co-ordinator of the World Forum for Fish Workers, feminist and environmentalist. We are speaking to a member of "the other America," liberal and well educated. Our discussion is going well until she catches us by surprise with her comment on Obama's sleeve. "Besides, we pay too much taxes. That's why I'm a member of the Tea Party movement."

A week after the conversation with Margaret, on September 11, we have the honor of commemorating the occasion with a few hundred Tea Party members at the Washington monument. Judging from plackards, pins and banners, this is an incongruous mixture of market libertarians, Christian fundamentalists and good, old-fashioned racists congregated around a handful of national markers. Wandering around us are Ben Franklin, the Statue of Liberty and the constitution. On stage a lady sings "the times they are a-changing," incomprehensibly. A few minutes of vague speeches emanate from the pulpit. They are about "taking back the country." From whom? To what? Answers seem as plentifold as there are attendees.
...
Without a common analysis and other goals than opposition to the administration and taxes the movement appears to offer nothing more than disempowered fistshaking from a populace that too long has been lacking a frame in which to understand the social changes that affect them.
...
The political climate has reached new depths in the world's most powerful nation. Political choices have apparently been replaced by a blindly swinging pendulum of discontent. The apathy is now so great that a few hundred oddballs in costume are able to decide the ground for public debate.

Best,
-tor

the social construction of idiots

is fortunately for everyone composed of one step (one only! fewer maxims
than Grice's! Speranza, take the lead nad produce a few more!)

the step is easily theorized.
we take F and look at "F". We observe that "F" was spelled in "K" in
Uzbekistan.
Hence F is subjected to change (between being spelled "F" and being
spelled as "K"). So it is not set in stone. Being not set in stone is
axiomatically equivalent to be a social construct, since society
constructs (not in stone apparently.)

Voila.

I am terrified by the amount of excrement being told to students, and
alas, with terrifying effects. This is a note.
Consider the famous argument by the neo fascist J Malema:
"in my language [seSotho for the ignorant ones] there is no word for
ermaphrodite. Hence such "things" do not exist" (they are not
"classified" "as such" as the post suggest)
This is about teh Semenja affairs for those who follow the adventures
and disadventures of gender politics.
This si then the answer.
Idiots are those who on the base of concocted excremental "arguments"
wish to persuade people of the non existence of hiv, trans-sexual, etc.
Their great progenitors are famous contructivists, Goebbels"WHAT IS A
JEW I DECIDE", character in Orwellian worlds in which he who owns the
language of the past owns the past... und so weiter

p.s. how does an argument from "change" run?

x died of a stroke

strokes change? meaning what?

On Mon, 27 Sep 2010,
Torgeir Fjeld wrote:

> Disobeying Kierkegaard's dictum that one does well to shy away from public debate, here are some responses to despondents:
> 1. Causes of death are cultural constructs.
> They change. Hence not set in stone.
> 2. We don't know why we die.
> Any legal cause remains unable to give reasons for death.
> 3. As autism are taught so is our ability to recognize deadly diagnises.
> The condition X may or may not have existed before anyone was able to label it. But does it matter?
> 4. The critters you refer to a dinasaurs only became such at the moment of classification.
> To postulate an experiencing subjet prior to the categorization of dinosaurs classifying them as such is anachronistic.
>
> -t
>
>
> "The work introduced the term social construction into the social sciences
> and was strongly influenced by the work of Alfred Schutz. The central
> concept of The Social Construction of Reality is that persons and groups
> interacting together in a social system form, over time, concepts or mental
> representations of each other's actions, and that these concepts
>
>
>
>
>
> eventually
> become habituated into reciprocal roles played by the actors in relation to
> each
> other. When these roles are made available to other members of society to
> enter into and play out, the reciprocal interactions are said to be
> institutionalised. In the process of this institutionalisation, meaning is
> embedded in society. Knowledge and people's conception (and belief) of what
> reality is becomes embedded in the institutional fabric of society. Social
> reality is therefore said to be socially constructed."
>
> A sample:
>
> "Society as Subjective Reality
> Socialization is a two-step induction of the individual to participate in
> the social institutional structure (in its objective reality).
>
> "The individualÿÿ is not born a member of society. Heÿÿ becomes a member of
> society. In the life of every individualÿÿ there is a temporal sequence, in
> the course of which he is inducted into participation in the social
> dialectic" (p. 129) ÿÿBy ÿÿsuccessful socializationÿÿ we mean the establishment
> of a
> high degree of symmetry between objective and subjective realityÿÿ (p. 163)
>
> => Primary Socialization takes place as a child. It is highly charged
> emotionally and is not questioned. Secondary Socialization includes the
> acquisition of role-specific knowledge (taking oneÿÿs place in the social
> division
> of labor). It is learned through training and specific rituals, and is not
> emotionally charged (ÿÿit is necessary to love oneÿÿs mother, but not oneÿÿs
> teacherÿÿ). Training for secondary socialization can be very complex
> (full-time teachers and expert training), and depends on the complexity of
> division
> of labor in a society (e.g. educational and university system). Primary
> socialization is much less flexible than secondary socialization (e.g. shame
> for nudity comes from primary socialization, adequate dress code depends on
> secondary: ÿÿA relatively minor shift in the subjective definition of
> reality would suffice for an individual to take for granted that one may go to
> the office without a tie. A much more drastic shift would be necessary to
> have him go, as a matter of course, without any clothes at allÿÿ).
>
> ÿÿThe child does not internalize the world of his significant others as one
> of many possible worldsÿÿ It is for this reason that the world internalized
> in primary socialization is so much more firmly entrenched in consciousness
> than worlds internalized in secondary socializationsÿÿ. Secondary
> socialization is the internalization of institutional or institution-based
> ÿÿsubworlds
> ÿÿÿÿ The roles of secondary socialization carry a high degree of anonymityÿÿ
> The same knowledge taught by one teacher could also be taught by anotherÿÿ
> The institutional distribution of tasks between primary and secondary
> socialization varies with the complexity of the social distribution of
> knowledgeÿÿ
> (p. 129-147)
>
> => Conversation/communication aims at reality-maintenance of the
> subjective reality. What seems to be a useless and unnecessary communication of
>
> redundant banalities is actually a constant mutual reconfirmation of each
> otherÿÿ
> s internal thoughts (maintains subjective reality).
>
> ÿÿOne may view the individualÿÿs everyday life in terms of the working away
> of a conversational apparatus that ongoingly maintains, modifies and
> reconstructs his subjective realityÿÿ [for example] ÿÿWell, itÿÿs time for me to
> get to the station,ÿÿ and ÿÿFine, darling, have a good day at the officeÿÿ
> implies an entire world within which these apparently simple propositions make
> senseÿÿ the exchange confirms the subjective reality of this worldÿÿ the
> great part, if not all, of everyday conversation maintains subjective realityÿÿ
> imagine the effectÿÿof an exchange like this: ÿÿWell, itÿÿs time for me to
> get to the station,ÿÿ ÿÿFine, darling, donÿÿt forget to take along your gun.ÿÿ
> (p. 147-163)
>
> Identity of an individual is subject to a struggle of affiliation to
> (sometimes conflicting) realities. For example, the reality from primary
> socialization (mother tells child not to steal) can be in contrast with second
> socialization (gang members teach teenager that stealing is cool). Our final
> social location in the institutional structure of society will ultimately
> also influence our body and organism.
>
> ÿÿÿÿlife-expectancies of lower-class and upper-class [vary] ÿÿsociety
> determines how long and in what manner the individual organism shall liveÿÿ
> Society also directly penetrates the organism in its functioning, most
> importantly in respect to sexuality and nutrition. While both sexuality and
> nutrition
> are grounded in biological drivesÿÿ biological constitution does not tell
> him where he should seek sexual release and what he should eat.ÿÿ (p.
> 163-183)"
>
> See also
> social constructionism
> Phronetic social science
>
> Speranza
> ----- The Swimming Pool Library
> ------------------------------------------------------------------
> To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,
> digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
>

|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
/begin/read__>sig.file: postal address
palma
University of KwaZulu-Natal Philosophy
3rd floor of Memorial Tower Building
Howard College Campus
Durban 4041
South Africa
Tel off: [+27] 031 2601591 (sec: Mrs. Yolanda Hordyk) [+27] 031-2602292
Fax [+27] 031-2603031
mobile 07 62 36 23 91 calling from overseas +[27] 76 2362391
EMAIL: palma@duke.edu
EMAIL: palma@ukzn.ac.za

MY OFFICE IS A290@Mtb

*only when in Europe*: inst. J. Nicod
29 rue d'Ulm
f-75005 paris france
________
This e-mail message (and attachments) is confidential, and/or privileged and is intended for the
use of the addressee only. If you are not the intended recipient of this e-mail you must not copy,
distribute, take any action in reliance on it or disclose it to anyone. Any confidentiality or
privilege is not waived or lost by reason of mistaken delivery to you.
This entity is not responsible for any information not related to the business of this entity. If you
received this e-mail in error please destroy the original and notify the sender.

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Ratio, enim, nisi judex universalis esse deberet, frustra singulis datur.

[ _Quaestiones Naturales_, Adelard of Bath ]

Signora granda, testa che massa
massa ne passa, che quasi schissa,
Dia dei sostegni de cese e palassi
Dia de le taje che su ne tien fissi
Dia de le onde che le ne fa grassi,
ne ingrassa de ogni grassia, Dia Venessia -

aàh Venessia aàh Venàssia aàh Venùsia

Andrea Zanzotto, Filò, (Sezione: Recitativo Veneziano)

Re: The Social Construction of Reality

Disobeying Kierkegaard's dictum that one does well to shy away from public debate, here are some responses to despondents:
1. Causes of death are cultural constructs.
They change. Hence not set in stone.
2. We don't know why we die.
Any legal cause remains unable to give reasons for death.
3. As autism are taught so is our ability to recognize deadly diagnises.
The condition X may or may not have existed before anyone was able to label it. But does it matter?
4. The critters you refer to a dinasaurs only became such at the moment of classification.
To postulate an experiencing subjet prior to the categorization of dinosaurs classifying them as such is anachronistic.

-t

"The work introduced the term social construction into the social sciences
and was strongly influenced by the work of Alfred Schutz. The central
concept of The Social Construction of Reality is that persons and groups
interacting together in a social system form, over time, concepts or mental
representations of each other's actions, and that these concepts

eventually
become habituated into reciprocal roles played by the actors in relation to
each
other. When these roles are made available to other members of society to
enter into and play out, the reciprocal interactions are said to be
institutionalised. In the process of this institutionalisation, meaning is
embedded in society. Knowledge and people's conception (and belief) of what
reality is becomes embedded in the institutional fabric of society. Social
reality is therefore said to be socially constructed."

A sample:

"Society as Subjective Reality
Socialization is a two-step induction of the individual to participate in
the social institutional structure (in its objective reality).

"The individual… is not born a member of society. He… becomes a member of
society. In the life of every individual… there is a temporal sequence, in
the course of which he is inducted into participation in the social
dialectic" (p. 129) "By 'successful socialization' we mean the establishment
of a
high degree of symmetry between objective and subjective reality" (p. 163)

=> Primary Socialization takes place as a child. It is highly charged
emotionally and is not questioned. Secondary Socialization includes the
acquisition of role-specific knowledge (taking one's place in the social
division
of labor). It is learned through training and specific rituals, and is not
emotionally charged ("it is necessary to love one's mother, but not one's
teacher"). Training for secondary socialization can be very complex
(full-time teachers and expert training), and depends on the complexity of
division
of labor in a society (e.g. educational and university system). Primary
socialization is much less flexible than secondary socialization (e.g. shame
for nudity comes from primary socialization, adequate dress code depends on
secondary: "A relatively minor shift in the subjective definition of
reality would suffice for an individual to take for granted that one may go to
the office without a tie. A much more drastic shift would be necessary to
have him go, as a matter of course, without any clothes at all").

"The child does not internalize the world of his significant others as one
of many possible worlds… It is for this reason that the world internalized
in primary socialization is so much more firmly entrenched in consciousness
than worlds internalized in secondary socializations…. Secondary
socialization is the internalization of institutional or institution-based
'subworlds
'… The roles of secondary socialization carry a high degree of anonymity…
The same knowledge taught by one teacher could also be taught by another…
The institutional distribution of tasks between primary and secondary
socialization varies with the complexity of the social distribution of
knowledge"
(p. 129-147)

=> Conversation/communication aims at reality-maintenance of the
subjective reality. What seems to be a useless and unnecessary communication of

redundant banalities is actually a constant mutual reconfirmation of each
other'
s internal thoughts (maintains subjective reality).

"One may view the individual's everyday life in terms of the working away
of a conversational apparatus that ongoingly maintains, modifies and
reconstructs his subjective reality… [for example] 'Well, it's time for me to
get to the station,' and 'Fine, darling, have a good day at the office'
implies an entire world within which these apparently simple propositions make
sense… the exchange confirms the subjective reality of this world… the
great part, if not all, of everyday conversation maintains subjective reality…
imagine the effect…of an exchange like this: 'Well, it's time for me to
get to the station,' 'Fine, darling, don't forget to take along your gun.'
(p. 147-163)

Identity of an individual is subject to a struggle of affiliation to
(sometimes conflicting) realities. For example, the reality from primary
socialization (mother tells child not to steal) can be in contrast with second
socialization (gang members teach teenager that stealing is cool). Our final
social location in the institutional structure of society will ultimately
also influence our body and organism.

"…life-expectancies of lower-class and upper-class [vary] …society
determines how long and in what manner the individual organism shall live…
Society also directly penetrates the organism in its functioning, most
importantly in respect to sexuality and nutrition. While both sexuality and
nutrition
are grounded in biological drives… biological constitution does not tell
him where he should seek sexual release and what he should eat." (p.
163-183)"

See also
social constructionism
Phronetic social science

Speranza
----- The Swimming Pool Library

Re: [lit-ideas] cant tell u how it is

the suggestion is that idiots construct idiocies (viz. i hacking)

On Thu,
23 Sep 2010, Torgeir Fjeld wrote:

> no, that an event or object is socially constructed does not merely mean that we can't get at the 'an sich'-ness of the thing, it means that there are structured (and structuring) ways in which we render objects and events. whether someone is rendered freedom fighter or lewdachris isn't a function of the non-determinate character of the thing itself, but an effect of structured dispositions to 'think, percieve and act' in those who produce meaning.
>
> the suggestion that there should be objects or events outside any meaning prodcution is unbridled idealism --
>
> best,
> -t
> ------------------------------------------------------------------
> To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,
> digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
>

|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
/begin/read__>sig.file: postal address
palma
University of KwaZulu-Natal Philosophy
3rd floor of Memorial Tower Building
Howard College Campus
Durban 4041
South Africa
Tel off: [+27] 031 2601591 (sec: Mrs. Yolanda Hordyk) [+27] 031-2602292
Fax [+27] 031-2603031
mobile 07 62 36 23 91 calling from overseas +[27] 76 2362391
EMAIL: palma@duke.edu
EMAIL: palma@ukzn.ac.za

MY OFFICE IS A290@Mtb

*only when in Europe*: inst. J. Nicod
29 rue d'Ulm
f-75005 paris france
________
This e-mail message (and attachments) is confidential, and/or privileged and is intended for the
use of the addressee only. If you are not the intended recipient of this e-mail you must not copy,
distribute, take any action in reliance on it or disclose it to anyone. Any confidentiality or
privilege is not waived or lost by reason of mistaken delivery to you.
This entity is not responsible for any information not related to the business of this entity. If you
received this e-mail in error please destroy the original and notify the sender.

|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

Ratio, enim, nisi judex universalis esse deberet, frustra singulis datur.

[ _Quaestiones Naturales_, Adelard of Bath ]

Signora granda, testa che massa
massa ne passa, che quasi schissa,
Dia dei sostegni de cese e palassi
Dia de le taje che su ne tien fissi
Dia de le onde che le ne fa grassi,
ne ingrassa de ogni grassia, Dia Venessia -

aàh Venessia aàh Venàssia aàh Venùsia

Andrea Zanzotto, Filò, (Sezione: Recitativo Veneziano)

cant tell u how it is

no, that an event or object is socially constructed does not merely mean that we can't get at the 'an sich'-ness of the thing, it means that there are structured (and structuring) ways in which we render objects and events. whether someone is rendered freedom fighter or lewdachris isn't a function of the non-determinate character of the thing itself, but an effect of structured dispositions to 'think, percieve and act' in those who produce meaning.

the suggestion that there should be objects or events outside any meaning prodcution is unbridled idealism --

best,
-t

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