Culture shock is the psychological disorientation we feel when we encounter a culture that is different from our own. From this simple description, thCulture shock is the psychological disorientation we feel when we encounter a culture that is different from our own. From this simple description, the author of this book derives a useful description of the time we are living in.
The person experiencing culture shock at least knows that a return to the home culture is possible. But there is no return for future shock. This is what makes this book very important.
Future shock is the feeling of disorientation when the world around us changes a lot and very fast. In induces a sense of existential vertigo as the normal expectations we have about the permanence of things, people, and ideas are slowly dissolved. It is, he argues, leading to all sorts of physical, psychological, and societal diseases.
But, one might argue, is this really a big deal? After all this book has existed for about half a century and we are still here. Proof that we can adapt, right?
Well, not so fast. The author argues that as inventive and adaptable as human beings are, there is a biological limit to our adaptation. The same way we send astronauts into space wrapped in a bulky home environment we call space suits, so it would be necessary to understand the psychological limits of the accelerating transience of all things in order to prevent breakdown.
The dizzying effects of our technological change is having not just environmental effects; it is also affecting us psychologically. How? Because there are certain unspoken expectations we have in our interactions with our environment and with our fellow human beings, expectations that are constantly being rewritten with technological advancements. These expectations, such as the assumption of duration in different relationships and interactions we have, underpin our psychological well-being.
The book is dense and well-written. There are things he got wrong, but overall the book demonstrates his understanding of the logic of our time. Solid 5 stars...more
I have always wondered why the stereotypical Silicon Valley Tech bro speaks about computers and AI in near mystical terms. Think of Ray Kurzweil, Sam I have always wondered why the stereotypical Silicon Valley Tech bro speaks about computers and AI in near mystical terms. Think of Ray Kurzweil, Sam Altman, SBF, etc.
I now realize that they are just modern manifestations of a millennium long tendency: that of Western technological development to be viewed and described with a deeply religious language. This has been shaped by age long yearnings for redemption by technology and the quest for perfection. In other words, at some point more than a thousand years ago, according to David Noble, we began to conceive of technology as a balm to repair the harms of Adam's fall and as a GPS of sorts to guide us back into paradise.
He does not just stop at chronicling these expressions of religio-technological aspiration. He also argues that our deep-seated belief in technological salvation can make us unable to think and act rightly about technology. By viewing it as a kind of existential manifest destiny, we risk handing an unwarranted level of social and political influence to some people. After all, what won't we be ready to sacrifice if it would really usher in technological utopia?
But the more these new technological priests wax religious about their new startups, the more we need be on guard lest they prioritize their disdainful disregard for, and impatience with, the imperfect life we have here on this planet, thereby tricking us into focusing on grand, almost divine, future possibilities rather than dealing with the immediate problems and consequences here and now.
Whenever you read a book criticizing the actions (or even the existence) of the Federal Reserve, you almost always assume it's coming from a LibertariWhenever you read a book criticizing the actions (or even the existence) of the Federal Reserve, you almost always assume it's coming from a Libertarian angle.
But this is different. This is a simple and decent analysis of how the Fed's action advantages Wall Street and hurts Main Street, and the possible ways to fix this....more
Imagine you are given the responsibility to build a brand new interstate highway. You have a map and you trace out the desired path of this proposed hImagine you are given the responsibility to build a brand new interstate highway. You have a map and you trace out the desired path of this proposed highway. On the map, it seems very easy. But the hard work is putting away the map and trying to carry out the project in the real world. In the real world there are different terrains with different engineering challenges. In addition, there are existing homes, schools, roads, hospitals that are on the path of the track you just traced out. lines are easy to draw on maps; but the real world is something different.
That's the metaphor you should have in mind when reading this book. It does a very good job of pointing out what is wrong with the current conception of freedom and rights, etc. It even gives us a bird's eye view of how things are supposed to be different.
But there is nothing concrete about how it can be actualized in the real world. There are passages that soar very high with lofty aspiration, but never make contact with the real world.
We see for example this passage in the conclusion
From the premodern perspective, freedom is not simply something we need to protect and regulate; it is something we can deepen. The proper way to deepen freedom, moreover, is not to separate and keep apart, but rather to reconnect, especially to origins, to what is authentic and real. The priority of actuality over potency, which lies at the heart of the premodern view of freedom, entails a privileging of nature, of what is given a priori, and therefore of what one receives from those who come before one. In a symbolical order, freedom is rooted in a pattern of life that has its center in the truth of reality, a truth that gets amplified through the generative diversity of analogy, through relations and activi - ties that reflect gratitude in their basic form.
and then later Privileging the natural and original does not entail the disparagement of human art, culture, and ingenuity, but demands it: because the origin is a superabundant source. The appeal we make here to tradition is therefore not 鈥渂ackward-looking,鈥� however it may appear. Our argument has been on behalf of a living tradition; the point is that a 鈥渞econnection鈥� (蟽蠀渭-尾维位位蠅) with tradition is a sine qua non, not just for a truly human order in the present, but indeed for any genuine novelty in the future. Deep creativity is always a reappropriation of roots, a reentry into the original energy that is itself, of its essence, a moving beyond.
What does it mean CONCRETELY? How does the author translate these lofty proposals into the concrete reality of life? That's where the book fails. It gives no answers.
Yoni Appelbaum's Stuck examines the historical significance of geographic and social mobility in America, its recent decline, the factors contributingYoni Appelbaum's Stuck examines the historical significance of geographic and social mobility in America, its recent decline, the factors contributing to this shift, and its societal impacts. The book contends that America's defining characteristic of frequent migration, driven by various aspirations, has been curtailed. This evolution included the progression from the philosophical "freedom to leave" to the legal right to move and belong to a chosen community.
Appelbaum argues that the perceived "affordable housing crisis" is fundamentally a "mobility crisis," limiting the ability to relocate for opportunity, especially for those with lower incomes. Over the past half-century, this mobility has drastically decreased both interstate and intrastate
Key factors identified in this decline include the rise of zoning (initially for segregation, later for public welfare and single-family homes), restrictive covenants (evolving into tools for exclusion), and federal programs like the FHA (reinforcing segregation). More recently, environmental reviews and historic preservation efforts are also cited as hindering new development and access to desirable areas.
The consequences of this reduced mobility are significant, contributing to diminished economic and social opportunity, particularly for marginalized groups, increased political polarization due to less interaction between diverse populations, and a profound loss of personal agency, fostering feelings of being "stuck."
The book advocates for policy shifts based on tolerance, consistency, and abundance to restore American mobility. This includes embracing organic growth, simplifying land-use rules across wider areas, and increasing the supply of affordable housing in opportunity-rich locations. The ultimate goal is to empower individuals to pursue opportunities and choose their communities, thereby revitalizing the American ideal.
One significant area for potential critique concerns the emphasis placed on land-use regulation as the primary driver of declining mobility and increased inequality. Although the sources meticulously detail the history of zoning and its exclusionary effects, attributing the complex phenomenon of mobility decline predominantly to this single factor may be perceived as a form of reductionism.
The text not give sufficient weight to other potential contributing factors, such as
changes in the labor market, the decline of manufacturing jobs, changes in family structure, other macro-economic shifts.
There is also the general decline in America鈥檚 migratory character, stemming from the disappearance of unexplored places and the disappearance of overt discrimination.The main internal migrations in American history have been the Westward migration in the 19th and early 20th century and the northward migration of African Americans during the Jim Crow era. The conditions fueling such large scale migrations no longer exist. the rise of suburbanization, which, though unintended, turned out to be an engine of homogenization. The effect is the erasure of the need to move in search of a distinct flavor. With few exceptions, most suburbs in America are just like other suburbs in other cities in America. This erases the need to move in search of a particular flavor. If I blindfold you and drop you into a suburb in any part of America, unless you are an expert in architectural styles you will not be able to tell where you are. the increase in the costs of moving, not just from the cost of moving into a new place but the costs of leaving the current place. The difficulty of finding jobs, the difficulty of finding schools, and the increase in the properties of the average family. All these show that other factors such as the existence of school districts and periods of low labor mobility also play a role in the dampening of high mobility. The fact that America has lost its early vibrancy because it is no longer a young nation.
Another critique is that this tendency to exclude newcomers and marginalized people is not exactly new. Americans have always excluded the outsiders. What this book documents is the indirect and legal exclusions used when the principle of non-discrimination was enshrined constitutionally.
I recommend the book ONLY as an analysis of the rise of the indirect use of the law to enforce discrimination, this book is excellent.
The attempt to make the claims of the book fundamental to the problem of housing or even to make such exclusionary tendencies recent (relative to American history), doesn't really work. ...more
Loading...
