Bloody men, and dolphins

[jonb]

Again another story of animal invention. But something is eating into me: In all the cases of animal invention I know there is no case where the invention is made by high status males, and yet I have not seen any scientific comment on it? Have we become as cultures so enraptured by the ideas of the strong man solving all the problems, that all evidence to the contrary is being swept under the carpet?


http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beat...the-tools/

[Tino]

Again another story of animal invention. But something is eating into me: In all the cases of animal invention I know there is no case where the invention is made by high status males, and yet I have not seen any scientific comment on it? Have we become as cultures so enraptured by the ideas of the strong man solving all the problems, that all evidence to the contrary is being swept under the carpet?

I don't know about the high-status males question, but I've been reading a book on the brain (in response to the free will debate thread) and learned that while many animals use tools, they don't generalize from one tool to tools for other purposes.

[jonb]

I don't know about the high-status males question, but I've been reading a book on the brain (in response to the free will debate thread) and learned that while many animals use tools, they don't generalize from one tool to tools for other purposes.

The ability of animals other than human to make connections is very limited. My problem is that creativity is not being analysed correctly. In fact the current thinking seems to be that a group of creatives compete with each other to come up with a solution. I worked for twenty years in a very competitive environment, but when we got together to come up with creative ideas there was no competition, it was about playing with ideas, status meant nothing. The most creative minds I met never sought status. Yet companies, select for goal driven people who desire status, and there is a questioning why large conglomerates do not come up with ground breaking ideas.
I feel the problem with thinking now is that the thought is that some big cleaver man will come an sort out all our problems, and to do that people with creative minds are being removed from the loop.

[Tino]

The ability of animals other than human to make connections is very limited. My problem is that creativity is not being analysed correctly. In fact the current thinking seems to be that a group of creatives compete with each other to come up with a solution. I worked for twenty years in a very competitive environment, but when we got together to come up with creative ideas there was no competition, it was about playing with ideas, status meant nothing. The most creative minds I met never sought status. Yet companies, select for goal driven people who desire status, and there is a questioning why large conglomerates do not come up with ground breaking ideas.
I feel the problem with thinking now is that the thought is that some big cleaver man will come an sort out all our problems, and to do that people with creative minds are being removed from the loop.

I think the error here might be in thinking that the person with the best idea should be selected for the highest status jobs (which is what I think you are referring to). Corporate environments are often looking for the best leader, who is often the person with the best ability to get people to move together to accomplish something. Those people need the creative idea people to be successful, and smart companies find ways to compensate the idea-creators to keep them, even if the higher-status job goes to the less creative leader-type.

[jonb]

I know I am putting this in all over the place but it is important-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U
It is not just companies, but it is also how education works, all the way along the line there is one system of selection that is selecting for one type of thinking. When the banks went down although it was known the system was unsustainable, there was nobody with a voice that could alter the course that had been set.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/96161468/Paul-...-Economics

Steve Keen Australian economist points out there are problems with the current economic model and I have heard him say about 15% of economists also see this problem, but the hierarchy use effortless superiority to hold their positions in control of institutions, because position is more important to them than correct analysis.

Large companies, are no longer using size as a more efficient means of manufacture, but are gaining advantage by a combination of lobbying and tax loop holes.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/stw
As mentioned in this programme R4 start the week.
It is also mentioned in that programme how Google pays no Tax but a company with a profit of about $1,000,000 might have to pay three times that in paperwork to fit government requirements.

As such those at the top are using their power to select for themselves, and those with a similar way of thinking, this system is also trapping out those that could compete with a different value system.

If you want to see a vibrant economy, it is not about how big its largest companies are, but how many small ones it encourages.

With 3d printing the age of the dinosaurs could be coming to an end, but if they continue to use their power to skew the market to trap out smaller responsive thinkers it could poison the entire thing.

The belief in The great leader, the right man at the top, more control from above, is not curing the illness it is the illness.