I'm sure it's just because I find it so easy to do, but one of the things that I find baffling is how rarely people step back and try to take a look at the system as an abstraction. A lot can be learned by, well, ignoring all the details ;) Being able to take any system, whether it's intersecting circles of friends, a business, or an economic structure, and reduce that down to a little graph with bubbles and arrows really helps clear up a lot of things we'd be too personally involved with to notice if we left the details in.
If I had to guess, I'd say the problem is that people get too used to the system (whatever system) and move beyond thinking it's unalterable to not even thinking about altering it. It's easier to focus on the details that are easy to change, there aren't a lot of big wigs with political investments in the details (says the academic).
no subject
I'm sure it's just because I find it so easy to do, but one of the things that I find baffling is how rarely people step back and try to take a look at the system as an abstraction. A lot can be learned by, well, ignoring all the details ;) Being able to take any system, whether it's intersecting circles of friends, a business, or an economic structure, and reduce that down to a little graph with bubbles and arrows really helps clear up a lot of things we'd be too personally involved with to notice if we left the details in.
If I had to guess, I'd say the problem is that people get too used to the system (whatever system) and move beyond thinking it's unalterable to not even thinking about altering it. It's easier to focus on the details that are easy to change, there aren't a lot of big wigs with political investments in the details (says the academic).