[47422] in Cypherpunks
Re: A Modest Proposal: Fattening up the Proles
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Johnathan Corgan)
Wed Jan 17 17:38:32 1996
Date: Wed, 17 Jan 1996 14:14:54 -0800 (GMT-0800)
From: Johnathan Corgan <jcorgan@aeinet.com>
To: Duncan Frissell <frissell@panix.com>
Cc: "Timothy C. May" <tcmay@got.net>, cypherpunks@toad.com
In-Reply-To: <2.2.32.19960117165226.006b21e4@panix.com>
On Wed, 17 Jan 1996, Duncan Frissell wrote:
> The book suggests that small differences in perceived quality (or even
> 'luck') result in a big difference in marketplace results (whether for
> product or labor). The title is a bit misleading. It should be "The
> Winner-Take-Lots Society" since it does not say that non-winners are left
> with nothing (that thesis is promoted in other recent works of fiction.)
While I've not read the book, what you describe fits with the concept of
"sensitivity to initial conditions" that chaos theory discusses.
In this context, what Tim describes is a "sharpening" effect--i.e., the
differences in initial conditions necessary to distinguish between the two
eventual outcomes described is becoming smaller.
A neat way to visualize this is to picture what happens when you crank up
the contrast on a black and white TV.
Eric Hughes made an interesting comment, something to the effect that
this process only seems to be occurring in occupations that have
something in common, like easy transfer of job skill from one
worker to another, I don't quite remember. Anyone remember specifically?
--
Johnathan M. Corgan
jcorgan@aeinet.com
http://www.aeinet.com/jcorgan.htm
