Exam 1. Week 1 Notes PDF

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Professor Joshua Kane...

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THE IMPORTANCE OF PARADOX IN SOCIAL LIFE Professor Joshua Kane, Ph.D. In this lecture we are going to explore the profoundly important role that paradox plays in understanding and analyzing social life and the human condition. What is a paradox? Paradox – When two contradictory processes exist in the same reality. - Most important concept in all social life. - Complex. Can be hard to notice. For example, the word bittersweet is paradoxical – how can taste be bitter and sweet at the same time? Well, we all know that taste can be bittersweet. As Can Life. Indeed, many social theorists, such as Friedrich Hegel, have argued that all of social life is paradoxical. The paradox that sits at the base of the human condition is this: We are all born wanting everything for ourselves; and yet none of us will have anything unless we cooperate with others. Paradox as such appears throughout human affairs, and there are at least three main paradoxes that we are all experiencing together today. They are: 1) Will Information Technologies be utilized to empower and free individuals; or will Information Technologies lead to an increasingly surveilled and authoritarian society? 2) Humans are becoming increasingly connected; and yet, at the same time, many of us feel increasingly socially isolated. 3) Is global society as a whole headed towards some kind of Technological Paradise; or is society on the brink of Civilizational Collapse?? - Sometimes more difficulties than pleasure. We will be returning to each of these themes and explaining them in some depth throughout the semester. For now, consider for a moment number 3. Paradox’s prevents ideologies from really working. Ideology

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A simple set way of thinking. Complex society into simplistic ideas. Rely because the world is complex and uncomfortable (feels uncomfortable to say that “I don’t know or understand”.

Paradox tells us that ideologies cannot work because the world is full of contradictions. All paradoxes resolve, but bring forth another paradox. Hegelian philosophy. All the zombie and end of the world shows us what happens if we don’t find the technological paradise. TECHNOLOGICAL PARADISE – THE SINGULARITY APPROACHES: Ray Kurzweil – the Prophet of the Singularity and currently Head Engineer at Google – brings one of the first Artificial Intelligence Machines ever made to an early – 1960s Game-Show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4Neivqp2K4

Ray Kurzweil – the Prophet of the Singularity and Head Engineer at Google – in 2010: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hY-M300XzlE The Singularity, related to the black hole. There is a black hole and around the black hole is the event horizon. On our side is the universe, on the other side is the singularity where normal rules no longer apply. Believes by 2048 AI will be cognizant, making its own AI. We either merge with machines and becomes cybergs or machines will make us extinct.

CIVILIZATIONAL COLLAPSE – THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT: Committed Suicide. It is very disorienting because of the rapid changes of technology. Can create depression, insanity, wishing for a different life or time. Michael Ruppert in Collapse: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXIRwd1LNVY Michael Ruppert in Apocalypse Man: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNVHbzlzUS8 POWER CORRUPTS: A WORKING DEFINITION OF POWER: First off, do not use the simple straightforward definitions of power and/ or corruption on the concepts assignment – that’s too easy; but you can use the concept ‘power corrupts’

(which this lecture notes file and the accompanying videos are based around) on the concepts assignment. How do we define power? - Power is the capacity or ability to control, direct, or greatly influence the behavior and actions of people and groups, along with the course that events take. How do we define corruption? - The action of making someone (or something) morally and ethically depraved or the state of being so; many times used in the context of those with power and authority behaving dishonestly and/or fraudulently. NO PERSON IS IMMUNE TO THE CORRUPTING NATURE OF POWER: In the 19th century Lord Acton, an English Noble, said ‘Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.’ As we have discussed, society is quite complex, and increasingly so. Thus, very few maxims hold across the entirety of the human experience. However, if there is one social law that is immutable it is that power is corrupting. This particular social law can be broken down a bit further into 2 main components: 1) Corrupt people are drawn to power and positions of authority. This enables them to control peoples and events in order to satisfy their opaque moral character. 2) Power will corrupt even the most honest of people. How do we know? Well, to begin with, there are infinite historical examples that prove the point – in class I often play a game – you name me a historical figure who was supposedly a paragon of virtue, and I will find you evidence of their questionable moral character. Many students often pick Mother Theresa. They have then fallen into my trap… Investigative Journalist Christopher Hitchens mad a career off debunking the myth of the virtue of Mother Theresa: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/fighting_words/2003/10/mommie_deare st.html The point is this – even those heroes who we all collectively consider paragons of virtue, each and every one of them were corrupted by power in some way – MLK used his position to seduce young women, Gandhi di the same and worse and used his position to discriminate against Africans, Abraham Lincoln subverted the Constitution innumerable times and also was clearly racist, Ben Franklin was known to be incredibly ribald and sometimes plotted nefarious political schemes to get his way – look it up. Recently, an incredibly interesting study testing whether corrupt people are drawn to power and whether power will also corrupt honest people was conducted and appeared in Leadership Quarterly. The answer to both questions was unequivocally yes:

Key Study on Power Corrupting: http://www.researchgate.net/publication/264418541_Leader_corruption_depends_on_p ower_and_testosterone HOW AUTHORITY EFFECTS GROUPS AND INDIVIDUALS: Let’s go a little bit deeper. We now know power corrupts. Knowing this is particularly important in the study of societies and social interaction, because… Authority is a Social Force That Can Alter Behavior In Extreme Ways. -Here’s the classic example of social forces pushing individual behavior beyond the realm of common sense: The Milgram experiment – originally done in the early 1960s – participants were told they’re participating in a study analyzing effects of punishment on learning; really, Milgram was testing the effects of authority (a social force) on individual behavior. Subjects in the study were told to shock a person if they answered test questions incorrectly. To their knowledge, they were hurting the person who answered incorrectly. Each wrong answer resulted in a stronger shock. When subjects would balk at hurting the answerer, an authority figure in a lab coat would state forcefully – please continue. The shocks went up to 350 volts, more than enough to kill any human being. The results were astounding…. Recently, Chris Hanson did a version of the Milgram Experiment for Dateline. Watch clips 5 & 6: Power is best when it is decentralized and checked.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36787261/ns/dateline_nbcthe_hansen_files_with_chris_hansen/ NOTE – The video in the link above is sometimes corrupted, sometimes not, but the text of the script under the video remains. For a general overview of Milgram Experiments see here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCVlI-_4GZQ Now, Milgram himself, and countless other researchers since, have repeated the experiment with a variety of subjects and even in different countries and across different times, and consistently researchers find that about 2/3 of the subjects in a Milgram Experiment will follow orders to ‘shock to the limit’ – providing a lethal dose of electricity to the innocent answerer, simply because an authority figure told them to do so. Twothirds!! This suggests that in any large group of people 2/3 of the people in the group are hard-wired to follow what authority says pretty much no matter what. 2/3 of people in almost any group, are conventionally what I like to call, sheeple. Listening to authority changes our behavior. Why? Authority can rationalize and legitimate questionable individual behavior because larger societal forces (authority in

this case) are assuring us that this behavior is acceptable. We are hardwired to follow societal pressure, because human beings are pack animals. We need to coordinate and get along at the societal level, the better we do so, the more powerful our societies become. So our brains have developed strong impulse mechanisms forcing us to follow the crowd. The impulses themselves are in a sense evolutionary, they allow groups to better coordinate and organize rapidly. But the effects at the individual level can be perverse. ALSO NOTE THAT DURING CRISES OF ANY SORT OUR WILLINGNESS TO BLINDLY FOLLOW AUTHORITY TENDS TO RISE. Now combine this knowledge with the knowledge that power corrupts, and you get a toxic brew, a brew that exists in every society, including our own: Corrupt and morally abject people holding positions of authority… and sheeple more than willing to unwittingly follow their dark designs. With that said, watch this eye opening video by Mark Dice of Infowars: http://www.infowars.com/video-americans-mindlessly-follow-orders-hand-over-personaldetails-to-a-complete-stranger/ NOTE – Infowars is not typically a reliable source, but this video speaks for itself. Throughout this course we will be looking at the ways in which technology, innovation, and culture interact with power in the context of power being corrupting.

COGNITIVE DISSONANCE: A key theme that will likely recur as we move through the semester is – Cognitive Dissonance – the uncomfortable, stressful, anxious feelings one naturally experiences when their ideologies, long-held philosophies, and/or world views are challenged by unchallengeable facts. You may very well experience some cognitive dissonance as we discuss 21st century social problems throughout the semester, some more than others; my guess is that everybody at some point experiences cognitive dissonance during this class. I too have experienced much cognitive dissonance in my life, and still do today – you don’t become the sort of thinker I am without

experiencing a hefty dose of cognitive dissonance, trust me. Maybe one day I’ll relate to you some episodes of cognitive dissonance that I have experienced, and how they, in turn, profoundly changed me. But for now let me say this – my goal in being a Professor is not to change your mind or change student’s minds. If that was my goal I would have given up long ago… because, no one has their mind changed; it is up to any individual themselves to change their mind. It is also not at all my goal to change the world – if the world were going to be saved it would have been saved long ago. From my perspective – God – and yes I do personally believe in God, wants the world to be exactly how it is. Why? Well I can only answer that for me, not you, and for me, the answer is because life is for learning. Our trials and tribulations bring us closer to enlightenment, closer to God, closer to pure consciousness. Here is Kurzweil waxing philosophic on God, and I tend to agree: http://www.transients.info/2016/09/7384/

So if not to change your mind, and not to change the world, why do I do what I do? Because I like it, and I am good at it, and someone will pay me to do it. Plain and simple. So if you do experience cognitive dissonance during this semester, do not blame me, and do not think it is my intention. I am just doing what I do. The point of life is learning. Cognitive dissonance can be a powerful tool for enlightening.

TEST QUESTION: This will be on the exam!!!! Now, when people experience cognitive dissonance, there are 4 basic reactions: 1) Denial – the unchallengeable facts you are presenting cannot be true. I don’t need to look them up, I don’t need to consider them. I know the way things work; I am not going to entertain those facts as even a possibility. 2) Anger – how dare you say these things?!? I should not have to be subjected to this kind of talk. I am taking this matter to the authorities. I am getting my money back. I am going to get you in trouble. And if all that fails, look out buddy, because you are going to pay for saying such things. (Read book 1984, it is now)

3) I Don’t Know (Less Often, but would be nice) – when experiencing cognitive dissonance, a rational response is to say… I don’t know about all that. I’m going to have to do some research and think on this for a while, but for right now, I just don’t know. Many people are afraid to say I don’t know. But personally, I think I don’t know is one of the most powerful things a person can say. 4) Change Your Mind – people, it is ok to change your mind. Changing one’s mind is a sign of intelligence, a sign of openness, and a sign of wisdom. It is more than ok to change your mind. What did John Maynard Keynes say to the Politician. - He was in a debate with a powerful politician, the politician said “Keynes, you are a flipflopper, how could anyone trust the likes of you?” - To which he responded. TEST QUESTION: “When the facts change I change my mind. What sir do you do?” This brings to mind a famous quote by John Maynard Keynes – one of the best and most brilliant economists to ever have lived. While in a debate with a powerful politician, the politician said – Keynes, you are flip flopper, how can anyone trust the likes of you?? To which Keynes responded – When the facts change, I change my mind. What, sir, do you do??

COUNTER-INTUITIVE: Most great social science is counter-intuitive. Counterintuitive – when new evidence and analysis reveals that something that people take for granted as ‘so’, actually is not ‘so’ at all. To a trained sociologist, there is no way things ‘should be’, sociologists seek to reveal the way things are and why they’re that way, and that’s it. This class will not be about flowers and lollipops. The world is often an ugly place. Civilized society can often be absolutely brutal and horrid. So I am not here to please you. I am not here to bring you flowers and lollipops. I am here to be real, and to analyze society realistically, and effectively. There is no certain way that the world should be. Realistic, keep it “100”. Make it about the world. Freakonomics Example – What caused crime rates to unexpectedly fall in the 1990s? Declined in the 1990s until 2015, only crime rate that had gone up was rape (people more likely to report now than before) Million dollar question. Thought it was maybe because there was more cops now that before. Places with most cops didn’t have less crime. Why not? Places with more cops capture more crime, and so it appears that there is a higher crime rate. Economists decided to take a look at it, and Stephen Levitt found that crime is a demographic phenomenon. There’s always a cohert that does the most crime, it’s about age and testosterone. Men between 18 and 40 do the most crime. Theorized that if something happened that caused

that population to be smaller, than crime rates would go down. “Roe v Wade” happened 18 years prior to 1990. That generation today, now had less population, less 18 year old males. Where abortion rates were higher, crime rate came down quickest. To be a good social analyst then, you must be willing to step outside of society in order that you can fairly analyze it; you must be willing to suspend your assumptions about the way things are, the way things work, and the way that things ‘should be’ in order to be a good social critic. Sociologists therefore try to approach all societies with a ‘beginners mind’. So do me a favor - drop everything you think know about American society and culture, let’s look at our world with fresh analytical eyes. Come with me on a journey, as we explore the 21st century, in all its wonder and horror. KEY CONCEPTS LIST The following are some of the key concepts and themes that will recur throughout the semester: 1) Ideology – a fixed and ‘set in stone’ world-view, body of ideas, and/or philosophy that seeks to make sense of a complex social reality; typically simplistic in nature, people tend to fall back on ideologies when the social world confuses and/or confounds them. Liberalism and Conservatism being prime examples.

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People make decisions based on their ideologies rather than thinking at times. People fall back on liberal or conservativeess but it doesn’t explain the social world well.

Paradox

3) The Singularity – A point in the near future when AI has become so capable and intelligent that it can make its own AI. At this point innovation and technological change will explode at a rate that is incomprehensible to current human beings. Through artificial and biological means, humans will increase their physical, mental, and creative capacities, becoming functionally immortal and godlike in their ability to alter life and matter. By 2045, Ray Kurzweil, Chief Engineer at Google-Alphabet Inc, predicts that people will be more cyborg than human. Singularity science forecasts then a trans-human epoch – a post-human epoch. Here is a link to an article from 2011, detailing Kurzweil’s predictions – so far we are on track for humanity to become post-human… by the year 2045: http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2048299,00.html 4) 5) 6)

Power Corrupts Cognitive Dissonance Counter-Intuitive

7) Norms – the basic building blocks of each and every social interaction; these are small unspoken everyday rules about how to behave in any given situation. a. Raising your hand. b. Elevator behavior. c. Styles of dress – norms are many times about social exchange.

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Handshakes.

Picking your nose all of the sudden would be against a norm. Picking your seat on the first day of class. Elevator behavior. People feel insecure in a small space. Breaching norms is a “Breached experiment”. New mediums make new norms depending on the situations. Women in heels have more power over men. When times change quickly norms don’t govern behavior as much as they once did.

8) Social Structures – macro-level manmade organizations, networks, and/or rules, including norms, which guide and bind us. Social structures create order in society; they prevent chaos. Anything which brings order to society can be considered a social structure. TEST QUESTION: Social Structures are man-made. Prevents chaos. Constitution, prison, schools, internet, facebook (network) nba rules. a. The term ‘macro’ refers to groups and processes affecting a large number of people – conventionally over 100 people, but typically many millions. b. The term ‘micro’ in social science refers to groups and processes affecting a small number of people – conventionally under 100, but typically 25 or less. 9) Social Institutions – the largest, most impactful, and most enduring of social structures. Social institutions tend to be large agglomerations of organizations, rules, and networks that remain relatively stable over decades and centuries. Social Institutions can be viewed as ‘the major enduring patterns of social life.’ a. Every Modern Society has some form of these 7. The Major Social Institutions: Family, Religion, Economy, Mass Media, Education, Government, and Military. (Should add

gangsterism, and illegal racketeering) - Does’t have to be big or major. b. The Super Bowl? - Does the super bowl count? Yes. Basically a national holiday. c. The Internet? - Yes. Absolutely. 1992 when world world web hit. Should be up there in the major 7. 10) Social Order – the organization of society and the societal structures and rules that help social interaction to advance in a peaceful and efficient manner. Social Order Emerges. Social order well...