On Tue, 3 Feb 2004, Malcolm wrote:
>
> "Dan Bolser" <
[email protected]> wrote in message
> >
> > Ever met someone and known how they would think in general given a > few
> specific examples of their thoughts?
> >
> I know what you mean here. Of course you can't predict exact actions, but you can have a good idea
> what sort of guy you are dealing with.
> >
> > Given the massive number of variables underlying 'psychology', do a few stable psychotypes
> > emerge out of the chaos?
> >
> This is a good question. Everyman and his dog from astrologers to Jesuits (nonagrams) tries to
> define some sort of psychological system.
you mean 'so there must be some types out there' ?
> >
> > Can we look at these attractors as self reproducing, self reinforcing, co-evolving entities in a
> > psycological ecosystem?
> >
> Only if they show Mendelian inheritance, which isn't likely.
Hmmm.... I warn my young child about the dangers of the world - he grows up conservative... does
that count?
> > Does the 'systematic metaphor' make sense in this case? For example > can
> we look at a well armoured beatle - and see its analogue in certain
> > human psycotypes?
> >
> The first question is, can you define the psycotype? Eg, can you and your assistant assign unseen
> subjects to the same categories with any degree of reliability?
> >
> > Are cultures ecosystems?
> >
> Not for organisms, but maybe for memes.
I am not really talking about memes, but rather memetic organisms - whole sets of self reinforcing
stable ideas - like, for example, (*fingers crossed*) religion.
In this sense taking one memetic organism and transplanting it into a different culture could be
disasterous.
> > Does it make any sense to ask these questions? > It makes sense.
> However you should be aware that hundreds of attempts have been made to classify psychological
> types. Unless your particular scheme has some merit that makes it stand out from the crowd, you
> will just be adding to the heap of speculation.
Yup, and I am sure psychology is a much faster moving target than 'species'. You tell me I have a
mother fixation - I learn this and change
- I become neurotic, and use pop-freud to diagnose myself... Tons of changing categories.
However, the very first taxonomists (morphologists?) were cluless... perhaps we can develope a
system in time.
Interesting concept, but perhaps ultimatly usless.
Cheers, Dan.
>