http://csmres.jmu.edu/geollab/Fichter/Fichter/Fichterls.html

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GGEOL 200
Evolutionary Systems
William Perrys Scheme of Ethical and
Intellectual Development In the College Years
Fall 2006 Version
Lynn S. Fichter Department of Geology/Environmenta
l Science James Madison University
http//csmres.jmu.edu/geollab/Fichter/Fichter/Fich
terls.html
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The Perry Scheme of Ethical and Intellectual
Development
Perry said, while teaching at Williams College he
developed
"a fateful curiosity about the ways in which so
many of my students succeeded in not learning
that which I was teaching them so well."
William Graves Perry 1913-1998
"like the rest of us I was born at an
impressionable age."
http//www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/1999/05.27/mm.
perry.html
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The most difficult, disturbing, destabilizing and
dangerous stage for an individual
Temporizing
"Wait a minute, this is going too fast."
Escape
"I prefer the simple world I grew up in."
Retreat
"I cant play this game.. Feels the pull of
relativism but does not want to be there.
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Gone is the safe and understandable world of
dualism. We can no longer rely on our authorities
to give us the answers, yet nothing before this
has prepared us for the full weight of the
choices that are laid out before us. Some common
reactions to this transition are fear, anger,
betrayal, depression, and grief. This is a very
difficult shift, and virtually no one makes it
out unscathed. People who get hurt or
overstressed while trying to reason at Position 4
or higher often regress to Position 2 and hold it
even more vehemently than they did before.
"I prefer the simple world I grew up in."
Retreat
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In reaction to the terrifying uncertainty of
relativism, the student regresses to Position 2,
but with an added moralistic righteousness and a
hatred of otherness. Not only are others wrong,
but they are so wrong that they deserve no rights
at all. An immense amount of prejudice, bigotry,
and closedmindedness emerges as the student
attempts to regain the certainty he once
understood.
"I prefer the simple world I grew up in."
Retreat
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Fundamentalisms
1. A movement in North American Protestantism
that arose in the early part of the 20th century
in reaction to modernism and that stresses the
infallibility of the Bible not only in matters of
faith and morals but also as a literal historical
record, holding as essential to Christian faith
belief in such doctrines as the creation of the
world, the virgin birth, physical resurrection,
atonement by the sacrificial death of Christ, and
the Second Coming.
2. Strict adherence to any set of basic ideas or
principles the fundamentalism of the extreme
conservatives.
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Fundamentalisms Beliefs
Reverend Davidson Loehr
Fundamentalism is too fearful, too restrictive,
too lacking in faith to provide a home for the
human spirit to soar or for human societies to
blossom.
http//www.uuworld.org/2004/01/feature2.html
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Fundamentalisms Beliefs
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The Fundamentalism Project
More than 100 scholars from all over the world
took part, reporting on every imaginable kind of
fundamentalism. And what they discovered was
that the agenda of all fundamentalist movements
in the world is virtually identical, regardless
of religion or culture.
http//www.uuworld.org/2004/01/feature2.html
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Fundamentalist Beliefs
Religion's Role in the Terrorist Attack of
September 11, 2001 by Michael E. Nielsen,
PhD Georgia Southern University
The overarching theme to the fundamentalist,
whether Muslim or Christian, is that God is to be
worshipped, respected, feared obeyed above all
else. All other considerations take a back seat
to God. This intense and abiding devotion means
that there are some things that are completely,
utterly non-negotiable. In this way, it is like
viewing the world as being black and white, with
little if any gray between that which is good and
that which is evil. Accompanying this is a
tendency toward literalism. If scripture says
that Noah built an ark, put two of each type of
animal throughout the world on it, and that they
sailed on that boat while the entire earth was
flooded, then it happened. No questions need be
asked it happened, regardless of whether it is
logically consistent with what we know about
animals, floods, ancient ships or the geological
record.
http//www.newreformation.org/fundamentalism.htm
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Fundamentalist Beliefs
Dr. Walter B. Shurden, founding Executive
Director of The Center for Baptist Studies.
Fundamentalism is "not so much an ideology as it
is an attitude, an attitude of intolerance,
incivility and narrowness. It is an attitude
that says, 'We have the truth, the whole truth
and nothing but the truth, and we are going to
impose it on you and control the system so that
you will have to knuckle under to it.' It is an
attitude that cuts off microphones, rudely
terminates debate, stacks committees and
centralizes power in order to control. It is not
restricted to the right or the left."
http//www.baptiststandard.com/2001/7_23/pages/lef
t_fundies.html
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Fundamentalist Beliefs
Richard Dawkins (left) and Daniel Dennett (right)
When I thought about which features of the book I
would talk about tonight, knowing who the others
were who were going to be speaking about it, I
realized that I should perhaps stick to some of
the grander, larger, more philosophical themes
and leave some of the wonderful details to people
who are more expert in those. And I also thought,
on rereading the book, that the late Steve Gould
was really right when he called Richard and me
Darwinian fundamentalists.
http//www.albertmohler.com/blog_read.php?id575
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Fundamentalist Beliefs
Richard Dawkins (left) and Daniel Dennett (right)
And I want to say what a Darwinian fundamentalist
is. A Darwinian fundamentalist is one who
recognizes that either you shun Darwinian
evolution altogether, or you turn the traditional
universe upside down and you accept that mind,
meaning, and purpose are not the cause but the
fairly recent effects of the mechanistic mill of
Darwinian algorithms. It is the unexceptioned
view that mind, meaning, and purpose are not the
original driving engines, but recent effects that
marks, I think, the true Darwinian
fundamentalist.
http//www.albertmohler.com/blog_read.php?id575
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Fundamentalist Beliefs
Richard Dawkins (left) and Daniel Dennett (right)
And Dawkins insists, and I agree wholeheartedly,
that there aren't any good compromise positions.
Many have tried to find a compromise position,
which salvages something of the traditional
right-side-up view, where meaning and purpose
rain down from on high. It cannot be done. And
the recognition that it cannot be done is I would
say, the mark of sane Darwinian fundamentalism.
http//www.albertmohler.com/blog_read.php?id575
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Fundamentalist Beliefs
In Institutions
"Underneath the civilizing fantasies of any
institution lie the archaic issues of anxiety
management and self interest. When these two
threats are activated, institutions, like
individuals, tend to regress and abandon their
founding vision. Such regression leads to our
multiform fundamentalisms, because all
fundamentalisms are driven by fear, and each is
captive to some ideology that is worshiped
without doubt, for it promises to deliver them
from what they fear."
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Fundamentalisms Beliefs
A Psychological Analysis of Fundamentalism
Anitra Lenore Freeman

• A strictly hierarchical and authoritarian
  worldview. Everything has to have a First, a
  Somebody in Charge. In any partnership, one
  partner has to have the deciding vote. Groups and
  societies work best with rigidly defined roles
  and stratifications. (There are people who
  believe this way who are not fundamentalists at
  least, not religious fundamentalists.)

• Ethical development at the "reward and
  punishment" stage morality must be defined and
  enforced by an external authority.

• A lot of guilt and fear about sex.

http//anitra.net/activism/fundamentalism/psycholo
gy.html
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Fundamentalisms Beliefs
A Psychological Analysis of Fundamentalism
Anitra Lenore Freeman

• Basic distrust of human beings certainty that
  "uncontrolled" human beings will be bad and
  vicious, particularly in sexual ways.

• Low tolerance for ambiguity. Everything must be
  clear cut, black and white. Nothing can be
  "possibly true but unproven at this time, we're
  still studying it." Fundamentalists regard
  science as flawed precisely because science
  changes. (A striking characteristic of
  fundamentalists is that their response to any
  setback which may instill doubt is to step up
  evangelizing for converts.)

http//anitra.net/activism/fundamentalism/psycholo
gy.html
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Fundamentalisms Beliefs
A Psychological Analysis of Fundamentalism
Anitra Lenore Freeman

• Literalism, usually including a limited sense of
  humor.

• Distrust of their own judgment, or any other
  human being's judgment.

• Fear of the future. The driving motivation of
  fundamentalism appears to outsiders to be fear
  that oneself or the group one identifies with is
  losing power and prerequisites and is in danger
  from others who are gaining power. This is not
  how fundamentalists put it.

• A low self-esteem that finds satisfaction in
  being one of the Elect, superior to all others.
  It seems to be particularly rewarding to know
  that rich people have a real hard time getting
  into Heaven.

http//anitra.net/activism/fundamentalism/psycholo
gy.html
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The bodies of the men and boys over age 16 of
Lidice, Czechoslovakia, murdered by the Nazis on
June 10, 1942, in reprisal for the assassination
of SS Leader Reinhard Heydrich.
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Surviving the walk through the valley of the
shadow of death, and fearing no evil . . .
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Characteristics of Commitment Positions 7-9
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Commitment Does Not Assure Being Right
Commitment is just finding something in your life
to dedicate your life too.
Commitment could be to . . .

• A profession

• A person

• A religious conviction

• A way of life

• Or anything else you choose to believe in.

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Commitment Does Not Assure Being Right
What you commit to depends on . . .

• Parental predilections

• Genetic predisposition

• Sibling influences

• Peer pressure

• Educational experience

• Life impressions how confident, or how
  threatened you feel. How vulnerable or how
  adventurous you feel.

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Commitment Does Not Assure Being Right
What your commit to is not based on your
intelligence.
High intelligence
Shermer argues that the intellingence scale . . .
Weird Beliefs
Normal Beliefs
. . . is orthogonal to (at right angles to) the
belief scale.
Low intelligence
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Why People Believe Weird Things
Commitment Does Not Assure Being Right
Smart people believe weird things because they
are skilled at defending beliefs they arrive at
for non-smart (read emotional) reasons.
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Fundamentalisms in Historical Context
Why the sway of fundamentalism varies
historically, and is well developed in our times
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David Hackett Fisher
The Great Wave Price Revolutions and the Rhythm
of History
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The Great Wave Price Revolutions and the Rhythm
of History
Are we living in normal times, or unusual times?
Are fundamentalisms today normal, high, or low?
We found evidence of four price-revolutions since
the twelfth century four very long waves of
rising prices, punctuated by long periods of
comparative price-equilibrium. This is not a
cyclical pattern. Price revolutions have no fixed
and regular periodicity. Some were as short as
eighty years others as long as 180 years. They
differed in duration, velocity, magnitude, and
momentum.
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The Great Wave Price Revolutions and the Rhythm
of History
The first stage of every price-revolution was
marked by material progress, cultural confidence,
and optimism for the future an equilibrium
condition.
The second stage was very different. It began
when prices broke through the boundaries of the
previous equilibrium. This tended to happen when
other events intervened-commonly wars of ambition
that arose from the hubris of the preceding
period. These events sent prices surging up and
down again, in a pattern that was both a symptom
and a cause of instability. The consequences
included political disorder, social disruption,
and a growing mood of cultural anxiety.
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The Great Wave Price Revolutions and the Rhythm
of History
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The Great Wave Price Revolutions and the Rhythm
of History
The third stage began when people discovered the
fact of price-inflation as a long-term trend, and
began to think of it as an inexorable condition.
They responded to this discovery by making
choices that drove prices still higher.

• hoarding, price gouging, cheating, price
  fixing, etc.

A fourth stage began as this new
institutionalized inflation took hold. Prices
went higher, and became highly unstable. They
began to surge and decline in movements of
increasing volatility. Severe price shocks were
felt in commodity movements. The money supply was
alternately expanded and contracted. Financial
markets became unstable. Government spending grew
faster than revenue, and public debt increased at
a rapid rate. In every price-revolution, the
strongest nation-states suffered severely from
fiscal stresses.
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The Great Wave Price Revolutions and the Rhythm
of History
Finally, the great wave crested and broke with
shattering force, in a cultural crisis that
included demographic contraction, economic
collapse, political revolution, international war
and social violence. These events relieved the
pressures that had set the price-revolution in
motion. The first result was a rapid fall of
prices, rents and interest. This short but very
sharp deflation was followed by an era of
equilibrium that persisted for seventy or eighty
years. Long-term inflation ceased. Prices
stabilized, then declined further, and stabilized
once more. Real wages began to rise, but returns
to capital and land fell.
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The Great Wave Price Revolutions and the Rhythm
of History
These material events had cultural consequences.
In literature and the arts, the penultimate stage
of every price-revolution was an era of dark
visions and restless dreams. This was a time of
lost faith in institutions. It was also a period
of desperate search for spiritual values. Sects
and cults, often very angry and irrational,
multiplied rapidly. Intellectuals turned
furiously against their environing societies.
Young people, uncertain of both the future and
the past, gave way to alienation and cultural
anomie.
Fishers argues that looking at the long term
historical trends, world culture today
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The Great Wave Price Revolutions and the Rhythm
of History
Fishers argues that looking at the long term
historical trends, the world economic system
today is near the top of the 20th century wave
crest. The system is about as critical as it can
get.
Cultural stresses are near the maximum, with
great imbalances in just about every segment of
society.
There is a general feeling of ennui and
alientation among the worlds citizens.
People are looking for stability and security
absolutes - in an unstable and insecure world.
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David Hackett Fisher
The Troubles of Our Times
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David Hackett Fisher
The Troubles of Our Times
Crime and Consumer Prices
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David Hackett Fisher
The Troubles of Our Times
(In the United States) economic instability in
general, and inflation in particular, took a
heavy toll in human suffering. Crime increased
rapidly around the world during the period from
1965 to 1993. In the U.S. homicide rates rose in
a series of surges that peaked in 1974, 1980, and
1991. These movements correlated very closely
with rates of inflation. Similar patterns also
appeared in theft and robbery. Similar patterns
appeared in the use of drugs and drink. It
should be understood that the primary cause was
not inflation, but the stress that inflation
caused. (P 225)
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David Hackett Fisher
The Troubles of Our Times
In the 1980's and 1990's, material tensions
approached the breaking point. Everywhere in the
world, established orders came under heavy
strain. Entire systems began to collapse, in a
sequence of events that was similar to the climax
of every other price-revolution since the Middle
Ages. (P 229)
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David Hackett Fisher
The Troubles of Our Times
In another part of the world, the crisis took a
different form. From Afghanistan to Algeria, the
many nations of Islam were in turmoil during the
1980's and 1990's. . . . With the exception of
oil-rich Arab sheikdoms, Islam experience the
same economic stresses that were felt around the
world. The price revolution took its toll. The
cost of living surged. Real wages fell.
Inequalities increased. The teeming urban slums
of this vast region were among the worst in the
world. Many in Islam blamed their troubles on
western values. Fundamentalist movements began
to sweep the Islamic world. One by one, the
secular regimes were attacked, and some were
destroyed. (P 230-231)
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David Hackett Fisher
The Troubles of Our Times
Even the strongest national economies showed
signs of severe stress in the 1990s. A case in
point was Japan. Labor costs were high
productivity gains lagged behind those of other
nations. By 1994-1995, Japan had negative rates
of economic growth. The Japanese stock market
fell sharply, and individual investors suffered
huge losses. A growing spirit of cultural
alienation began to develop in Japan, similar to
that in other nations throughout the world.
Religious cults grew rapidly. A militant
buddhist cult that called itself Aum Shinrikyo,
who believed that the universe would end in 1997,
began in their madness to manufacture a deadly
nerve gas. (P 232)
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David Hackett Fisher
The Troubles of Our Times
In time of crisis, when so many possibilities
were hanging in the narrow balance, much depended
on the wisdom of our choices. Wise choices in
turn required intelligent leaders and informed
electorates. But intelligence and wisdom and
even the information that we needed most were not
much in evidence in national capitals throughout
the world.
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David Hackett Fisher
The Troubles of Our Times
As the great wave of the twentieth century
approached its climax, the condition of many
nations called to mind a Melville novel, or
perhaps a Masefield poem. The ship of state
raced onward, through high seas and heavy
weather. All sails were set, and her helm was
lashed to the course that she had long been
steering. On the quarterdeck, several parties of
myopic navigators squinted dimly at the dark
clouds behind them. Somewhere below was their
amiable captain, who wanted mainly to be loved by
his sullen crew. The first-class passengers
amused themselves in their opulent cabins,
knowing little of the suffering in steerage, and
nothing of the dangers that surrounded them. On
deck amidships, a lone bookish traveler turned
his collar against the wind, leaned precariously
across the lee rail, and tried to read the signs
in the sky. (P 234)
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Positions 7-9
One of William Perrys great strengths was the
ability to listen to people with compassion. In
his book he lets people speak for themselves.
The following quotes represent people at
positions 7, 8, and 9.
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Positions 7, 8, and 9
Commitment
Stage 7
There are so many values you cant possibly line
up all of them. Maybe what you do is pick out
one, or two, or three, after a while. Its not a
fast thing. Its slow. But you pick out
something that you kind of like after a while,
rather than trying to do what you see is being
liked. I mean, you come here, and you get a
total view of everything, and you see a whole lot
of values. I mean youre confronted with them.
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Alternative to Fundamentalism
A Psychological Analysis of Fundamentalism
After exploring the characteristics of
fundamentalist belief, Freeman lists the beliefs
and practices that emerge when one grows beyond
fundamentalisms (into Perry stages 7, 8, and 9).
She says it is not necessary to abandon all
personal faith and beliefs in order to be
tolerant of others. The majority of the followers
in any of the world's religions are able to hold
a strong personal belief and not feel threatened
that others hold different beliefs.
Anitra Lenore Freeman

• A trust that one can "figure things out," along
  with a willingness to learn from others and to
  change one's mind.

• A faith that whatever the fluctuations in life
  and society, things can and will get better. A
  feeling of personal responsibility and resolve to
  make it so.

http//anitra.net/activism/fundamentalism/psycholo
gy.html
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Positions 7, 8, and 9
Commitment
Stage 8 - Student experiences implications of
commitment, and explores issues of responsibility.
What you have to do is set up a set of rules for
yourself that youre going to live by, . . . You
cant lose your self respect. . . . You have to
operate within a certain set or rules, a certain
set of principles, or, or youre going to lose
you self respect.
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Alternative to Fundamentalism
A Psychological Analysis of Fundamentalism

• A spiritual epiphany, with a new faith that one's
  relationship with God is not conditional on
  "perfect" faith or behavior, that it can grow and
  change.

• Free social and intellectual interaction with
  others, beyond -- or even without -- evangelism.

Anitra Lenore Freeman

• Relationships with "non-believers" who become
  emotionally valued.

http//anitra.net/activism/fundamentalism/psycholo
gy.html
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Positions 7, 8, and 9
Commitment
Stage 9 Student realizes commitment is an
ongoing, unfolding, evolving activity
You cant let go of your own standards, but you
cant really afford to look down on anyone who
has a different I wont say lower anymore a
different set of standards. Perhaps it isnt
tolerance, perhaps its just awareness of the
fact that thats the way it should be, if it
isnt.
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Alternative to Fundamentalism
A Psychological Analysis of Fundamentalism

• A tolerance -- even enjoyment -- of ambiguity and
  diverse beliefs. One can cheerfully live with the
  fact that one's neighbor on one side believes
  that his little blue pickup truck is God and
  one's neighbor on the other side doesn't believe
  in God at all, and feel no compulsion to convert
  either of them. One is not frightened to question
  one's faith or explore alternatives.

Anitra Lenore Freeman

• A strengthened self-esteem, with the loss of the
  need for others to be Wrong.

• An unconditional self-esteem and (usually in
  consequence) an unconditional love of others.

http//anitra.net/activism/fundamentalism/psycholo
gy.html
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Positions 7, 8, and 9
Commitment
Tolerance
Humility
Compassion
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Some Feature of Perrys Scheme

• We can be in different positions in different
  parts of our life academic, social, religious,
  sports, etc.

• When we are in a new situation with new rules
  and/or new knowledge we typically return to
  earlier strategies for coping.

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The Social Environment
Epidemics of Accusations Witch Crazes, Recovered
Memories, and other Self-Organizing positive
feedback loops
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What is Weird?
There is no formal definition of a weird thing
that most people can agree upon, because it
depends so much on the particular claim being
made in the context of the knowledge base that
surrounds it, and the individual community
proclaiming it.
One persons weird belief might be anothers
normal theory, and a weird belief at one time
might subsequently become normal.
What Shermer means by a weird thing
1. A claim unaccepted by most people in that
particular field of study.
2. A claim that is either logically impossible
or highly unlikely, and/or
3. A claim for which the evidence is largely
anectodal and uncorroborated.
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Some Characteristics of Cults
Veneration of the leader Glorification of the
leader to the point of virtual sainthood or
divinity.
Inerrancy of the leader Belief that the leader
cannot be wrong.
Omniscience of the leader Acceptance of the
leaders beliefs and pronouncements on all
subjects, from the philosophical to the trivial.
Absolute truth Belief that the leader and/or
group has discovered final knowledge on any
number of subjects.
Absolute morality Belief that the leader and/or
group has developed a system of right and wrong
thought and action applicable to members and
nonmembers alike. Those who strictly follow the
moral code become and remain members those who
do not are dismissed or punished.
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Periodically in history there are convulsions of
hysteria . . .
Witch Crazes . . .
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Periodically in history there are convulsions of
hysteria . . .
Witch Crazes . . .
Satanic panics . . .
During the 1980s thousands of satanic cults were
believed to be operating in secrecy throughout
America, sacrificing and mutilating animals,
sexually abusing children, and practicing Satanic
rituals
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Periodically in history there are convulsions of
hysteria . . .
Witch Crazes . . .
Satanic panics . . .
Recovered memory movement . . .
Recovered memories are alleged memories of
childhood sexual abuse repressed by the victims
but recalled decades later through use of special
therapeutic techniques, including suggestive
questioning, hypnosis, hypnotic age-regression,
visualization, sodium amytal (truth serum)
injections, and dream interpretations . . .
Absent at the beginning of therapy, memories of
childhood sexual abuse are soon created through
weeks and months of applying the special
therapeutic techniques. Then names are named
father, mother, grandfather, uncle, brother,
friends of father, and son on. . .
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Periodically in history there are convulsions of
hysteria . . .
Witch Crazes . . .
Satanic panics . . .
Recovered memory movement . . .
French Revolution.
70
Shermer explains these in terms of
self-organizing systems where positive feedbacks
drive the system forward until it reaches a
frenzied climax, at which point it collapses.
Positive feedback
Negative feedback
Positive feedback
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The Witch Craze (and other Epidemic) Feedback
Loops
Extrinsic Feedback Loop
Intrinsic Feedback Loop
Specific ways the energy is released
Background of rising psychic/emotional energy
Social economic change
One group controls another
positive feedback loop
positive feedback loop
Religious strife
Prevalent feelings of loss of personal
control and responsibility.
Cultural political crisis
Need to place blame for misfortune elsewhere
The anxiety needs a specific focus for its
energy, a scapegoat
All increase r
Rising anxiety needing to be dissipated
Perry Levels 1, 2, or 3
There are right and wrong answers known to
authorities and our responsibility is to obey
them i.e. an abdication of personal
responsibility
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Driving the Cycles
Theological imaginations, ecclesiastical power,
scapegoating, the decline of magic the rise of
formal religion, interpersonal conflicts,
misogyny, gender politics, and possibly even
psychedelic drugs were all, to a lesser or
greater degree, components of the feedback loop.
They all either fed into or out of the system,
driving it forward.
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The Conditions Favoring Epidemics
The motive . . . is repeated historically from
century to century as a shunt for personal
responsibility fob off your problems on the
nearest enemy, the more evil the better. And who
fits the bill better than Satan himself, along
with his female co-conspirator, the witch.
Perhaps no other form of crime in history has
been a better index to social disruption and
change, for outbreaks of witchcraft mania have
generally taken place in societies which are
experiencing a shift of religious focus
societies, we would say, confronting a relocation
of boundaries. Kai Erickson
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The Conditions Favoring Epidemics
The principle result of the witch-hunt system
was that the poor came to believe that they were
being victimized by witches and devils instead of
princes and popes.
Did your roof leak, your cow abort, your oats
wither, your wine go sour, your head ache, your
baby die? It was the work of the witches.
Preoccupied with the fantastic activities of
these demons, the distraught, alienated,
pauperized masses blamed the rampant Devil
instead of the corrupt clergy, and the rapacious
nobility. Marvin Harris
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Historys final pathways are determined by the
functions of any given moment interacting with
the intentions that came before.
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Driving the Cycles
A few claims of ritual abuse are fed into the
system through word-of-mouth.
An individual is accused of being in league with
the devil, and denies the accusation.
The denial serves as proof of guilt, as does
silence, or confession.
The feedback loop is now in place
The witch or Satanic ritual child abuser must
name accomplices to the crime.
The system grows in complexity as gossip or the
media increase the amount and flow of information.
Witch after witch is burned and abuser after
abuser is jailed, until the system reaches
criticality and finally collapses under changing
social conditions and pressures.
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Self organizing steps
During normal conditions general stress is low,
anxiety is dispersed, no fringe groups (or not
recognized) to focus on . . .
Positive feed back loop begins rumors,
accusations, depositions. The density of
accusations drives the feedback loop.
Self organization witch trials, convictions,
burnings self fulfilling prophesies
Critical Level negative feedback begins to
intercede innocents begin to fight back through
legal or other means accusors become accused,
skeptics begin to voice doubts
Trigger
Sand dribbles randomly no chance to build sand
piles.
Sand dribbles begin to concentrate pile begins
to accumulate
Avalanches building sandpile in size, leading to
even larger avalanches
Sand pile collapses
79
P 132
"Underneath the civilizing fantasies of any
institution lie the archaic issues of anxiety
management and self interest. When these two
threats are activated, institutions, like
individuals, tend to regress and abandon their
founding vision. Such regression leads to our
multiform fundamentalisms, because all
fundamentalisms are driven by fear, and each is
captive to some ideology that is worshiped
without doubt, for it promises to deliver them
from what they fear."
80
P 132
No fundamentalism serves evil consciously, but in
its inability to critique itself, fundamentalists
create the monsters of history the pogroms, the
inquisitions, the persecutions, and the violence
that is the silent companion of faithful fervor.
81
P 133
Institutions, like the individuals who comprise
them, are subject to regression, and thence to a
fortress mentality. In the marketplace of ideas,
let the best ideas, the ones that work, win. Yet
any slippage in our moral or intellectual
certainty sets off compensatory swings toward
rigid, unswerving conviction any erosion of
assumptions and presumptions ignites a fervor for
reactionary revival. . .
82
P 133
This defensive move is in all of us, for there is
a fundamentalist in all of us. As a result, an
openness in searching for truth, and a
willingness to admit to subtlety and complexity
of all great mysteries, are finessed into a
certain hysterical bravado and the desire to
eliminate contrary voices. When this uncertainty
prevails, people will swallow anything.
83
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84
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85
Some Feature of Perrys Scheme

• We can be in different positions in different
  parts of our life academic, social, religious,
  sports, etc.

• When we are in a new situation with new rules
  and/or new knowledge we typically return to
  earlier strategies for coping.

86
Basic Duality
Full Dualism
Early Multiplicity
87
Late Multiplicity
Contextural Relativism
Pre- Commitment
Commitment Forseen
88
What Can We Do With This Knowledge of A Persons
(Our Own) Ethical and Intellectual Development ?
How does a persons position equip them to deal
with

• Ambiguity?

• Novelty?

• Complexity and subtlety?

• Ability to work collaboratively with others?

• Ability to do science?