<story><title>The Tyranny of Structurelessness (1970)</title><url>https://www.jofreeman.com/joreen/tyranny.htm</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>metacritic12</author><text>I appreciate the thought experiment of considering whether we would truly act differently in difficult circumstances, as most never engage in that level of self-reflection. However, this article seems to beg the question.&lt;p&gt;Specifically, it starts by assuming that in the face of challenges like being born in poverty, the average person would not overcome them through will or effort alone. As a result, it cultivates empathy for those who fail to transcend their circumstances. It then implies that the solution is changing the environment, not the individual.&lt;p&gt;But this is circular reasoning.  It assumes that it&amp;#x27;s all the environment, and concludes with it being all the environment.</text></item><item><author>cortesoft</author><text>The one that really changed how I think about the world was &amp;quot;A Muscular Empathy&amp;quot; by Ta-Nehisi Coates&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.theatlantic.com&amp;#x2F;national&amp;#x2F;archive&amp;#x2F;2011&amp;#x2F;12&amp;#x2F;a-muscular-empathy&amp;#x2F;249984&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.theatlantic.com&amp;#x2F;national&amp;#x2F;archive&amp;#x2F;2011&amp;#x2F;12&amp;#x2F;a-muscu...&lt;/a&gt;</text></item><item><author>mjb</author><text>There are relatively few things I&amp;#x27;ve read that I can definitively point to as having almost instantly changed my mind on something. This is one of them. Reading often offers a broader understanding or different perspective, but seldom a sudden flash on insight.&lt;p&gt;Others short reads that have changed my mind in that way include:&lt;p&gt;- &amp;quot;The Inner Ring&amp;quot; by CS Lewis (&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.lewissociety.org&amp;#x2F;innerring&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.lewissociety.org&amp;#x2F;innerring&amp;#x2F;&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;p&gt;- &amp;quot;On Photography&amp;quot; by Susan Sontag (&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.amazon.com&amp;#x2F;Photography-Susan-Sontag&amp;#x2F;dp&amp;#x2F;0312420099&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.amazon.com&amp;#x2F;Photography-Susan-Sontag&amp;#x2F;dp&amp;#x2F;031242009...&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;p&gt;- &amp;quot;Black Souls in White Skins?&amp;quot; by Steve Biko (as far as I can see only widely available as part of the Collection &amp;quot;I write what I like&amp;quot;)&lt;p&gt;- &amp;quot;The Two Cultures&amp;quot; by CP Snow (&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;sciencepolicy.colorado.edu&amp;#x2F;students&amp;#x2F;envs_5110&amp;#x2F;snow_1959.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;sciencepolicy.colorado.edu&amp;#x2F;students&amp;#x2F;envs_5110&amp;#x2F;snow_1...&lt;/a&gt;) (This one is a lot like Freeman&amp;#x27;s in that many summaries seem to completely misunderstand the argument it is making, and many people assume it says something it doesn&amp;#x27;t).&lt;p&gt;- &amp;quot;Ironies of Automation&amp;quot; by Lisanne Bainbridge (&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;ckrybus.com&amp;#x2F;static&amp;#x2F;papers&amp;#x2F;Bainbridge_1983_Automatica.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;ckrybus.com&amp;#x2F;static&amp;#x2F;papers&amp;#x2F;Bainbridge_1983_Automatica...&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;p&gt;- &amp;quot;Risk Management in a Dynamic Society&amp;quot; by Jens Rasmussen (&lt;a href=&quot;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;sunnyday.mit.edu&amp;#x2F;16.863&amp;#x2F;rasmussen-safetyscience.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;sunnyday.mit.edu&amp;#x2F;16.863&amp;#x2F;rasmussen-safetyscience.pdf&lt;/a&gt;). If you read nothing else, check out Figure 3.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>dwallin</author><text>That article is decidedly not about considering whether you would act differently.&lt;p&gt;What the authors is doing is pointing out is that assuming you would act different is unhelpful. It is far more helpful and interesting to look at a situation, and examine what are all the things that would cause you to to end up in those circumstances despite your best effort. What this does is forces you to overcome the human minds tendencies towards lazy evaluation, to really break down all the forces acting upon the situation these individuals encounter.&lt;p&gt;This is actually very similar to a technique useful for startups. Assume you have failed some number of years from now. What are some of the reasons you might have failed?</text></comment>
<story><title>The Tyranny of Structurelessness (1970)</title><url>https://www.jofreeman.com/joreen/tyranny.htm</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>metacritic12</author><text>I appreciate the thought experiment of considering whether we would truly act differently in difficult circumstances, as most never engage in that level of self-reflection. However, this article seems to beg the question.&lt;p&gt;Specifically, it starts by assuming that in the face of challenges like being born in poverty, the average person would not overcome them through will or effort alone. As a result, it cultivates empathy for those who fail to transcend their circumstances. It then implies that the solution is changing the environment, not the individual.&lt;p&gt;But this is circular reasoning.  It assumes that it&amp;#x27;s all the environment, and concludes with it being all the environment.</text></item><item><author>cortesoft</author><text>The one that really changed how I think about the world was &amp;quot;A Muscular Empathy&amp;quot; by Ta-Nehisi Coates&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.theatlantic.com&amp;#x2F;national&amp;#x2F;archive&amp;#x2F;2011&amp;#x2F;12&amp;#x2F;a-muscular-empathy&amp;#x2F;249984&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.theatlantic.com&amp;#x2F;national&amp;#x2F;archive&amp;#x2F;2011&amp;#x2F;12&amp;#x2F;a-muscu...&lt;/a&gt;</text></item><item><author>mjb</author><text>There are relatively few things I&amp;#x27;ve read that I can definitively point to as having almost instantly changed my mind on something. This is one of them. Reading often offers a broader understanding or different perspective, but seldom a sudden flash on insight.&lt;p&gt;Others short reads that have changed my mind in that way include:&lt;p&gt;- &amp;quot;The Inner Ring&amp;quot; by CS Lewis (&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.lewissociety.org&amp;#x2F;innerring&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.lewissociety.org&amp;#x2F;innerring&amp;#x2F;&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;p&gt;- &amp;quot;On Photography&amp;quot; by Susan Sontag (&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.amazon.com&amp;#x2F;Photography-Susan-Sontag&amp;#x2F;dp&amp;#x2F;0312420099&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.amazon.com&amp;#x2F;Photography-Susan-Sontag&amp;#x2F;dp&amp;#x2F;031242009...&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;p&gt;- &amp;quot;Black Souls in White Skins?&amp;quot; by Steve Biko (as far as I can see only widely available as part of the Collection &amp;quot;I write what I like&amp;quot;)&lt;p&gt;- &amp;quot;The Two Cultures&amp;quot; by CP Snow (&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;sciencepolicy.colorado.edu&amp;#x2F;students&amp;#x2F;envs_5110&amp;#x2F;snow_1959.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;sciencepolicy.colorado.edu&amp;#x2F;students&amp;#x2F;envs_5110&amp;#x2F;snow_1...&lt;/a&gt;) (This one is a lot like Freeman&amp;#x27;s in that many summaries seem to completely misunderstand the argument it is making, and many people assume it says something it doesn&amp;#x27;t).&lt;p&gt;- &amp;quot;Ironies of Automation&amp;quot; by Lisanne Bainbridge (&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;ckrybus.com&amp;#x2F;static&amp;#x2F;papers&amp;#x2F;Bainbridge_1983_Automatica.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;ckrybus.com&amp;#x2F;static&amp;#x2F;papers&amp;#x2F;Bainbridge_1983_Automatica...&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;p&gt;- &amp;quot;Risk Management in a Dynamic Society&amp;quot; by Jens Rasmussen (&lt;a href=&quot;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;sunnyday.mit.edu&amp;#x2F;16.863&amp;#x2F;rasmussen-safetyscience.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;sunnyday.mit.edu&amp;#x2F;16.863&amp;#x2F;rasmussen-safetyscience.pdf&lt;/a&gt;). If you read nothing else, check out Figure 3.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>dv_dt</author><text>Looking at the fall of social mobility in the US, I conclude that the average person indeed does not overcome poverty.</text></comment>