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May 09

The Answer to Organizational Failure: Complexity Science

by Chris Billows in Business Beller 0 comments tags: Comprehensive Analysis, Corporations Don't Think, Defining Life, Foolishness, Institutional Learning, Summarizing a Business Organization
I can’t recall how I stumbled onto this concept and websites, but a while ago I found this riveting theory which I believe explains why most modern organizations are so inadequate at times and spend far too much time chasing the wrong priorities. I have touched on parts of this in previous blogs such as Driven to Distraction and Even the Best Systems Fall Victim and A List of Guidance. The reason why this happens is they fail to embrace Complexity Science. Basically, it is because our social institutions continue to operate like machines, believing that events can be tracked in a linear fashion and have measurable inputs that neatly match known outputs. While there is no denying that some institutions do operate like machines (take most factories), the fact that humans end up doing most of the work leaves the model sorely lacking. What is more accurate is to realize that all human based organizations are non-linear and complex. It is common for these systems to exhibit the following characteristics: Small inputs can lead to dramatically large consequences. Very slight differences in initial conditions produce very different outcomes. Global properties flow from aggregate behavior of individuals. Emergence (of order) […]

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Mar 26

Book Review: Nature via Nurture by Matt Ridley

by Chris Billows in Spirit Speculations 0 comments tags: Comprehensive Analysis, Defining Life, Foolishness, Human Condition, Human History
Being intrigued by the title, I picked up this book to learn finally once and for all which side was right – Are humans a product of biology of genes or social environment? Spoiler Alert: Its both. As a society we have witnessed a longstanding feud between two camps – one set of people believes that genes and nature determines our destiny while their opponents insist that socialization and nurture is our sole determinant. Like the title suggests and as Ridley states almost immediately, it is both nature and nurture that affects human development. The two sides may have valid contributions to understanding human development, but neither side gets it completely right because of sectarian/institutional thinking. The problem is that we are all victim of a media that thrives on reporting the controversial and extremist positions of the Naturists and Nurturist camps. That debate has been an ivory tower battle that has spilled over into Pop-psychology books that teach parents how to parent, how to find a partner, etc. This book proves the level of inanity that academics can resort to. Ridley demonstrate how neither side got it right and how humans are both genes and social mores wrapped together […]

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Jan 17

Ultima Storyline FAQ

by Chris Billows in Hobby Heedings 0 comments tags: Comprehensive Analysis, Games Analysis
I have decided to resurrect an old document for the sake of posterity. It is the Ultima Storyline FAQ, which is an old computer game series that ran in at least thirteen installments, helped launch the CRPG niche, and was the basis of the first Mass Multiplayer Online Game, Ultima Online which is currently running. I started the FAQ by posting it to the rpg newsgroup. It was my first attempt at Retroactive Continuity and was one of those points that gave me some excitement relating to world construction which has influenced me in my work with Promaginy. Ultima Storyline FAQ by Chris Paul Billows Final Version 1.5 10/30/95 This FAQ is in no way affiliated with Origin. All information within this FAQ is from the author, contributors or from books. Since this is the final version of the FAQ I will no longer be accepting any comments pertaining to it. Thank you. The purpose of this FAQ is to ask and answer some the questions that come up when one plays any of the Ultima game. These questions do not pertain so much to how to solve the game in particular but is more to try to make sense […]

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Dec 09

Psychology Cagematch – Maslow vs Frankl

by Chris Billows in Mental Mischief 1 comments tags: Comprehensive Analysis, Human Condition
I was talking with a colleague who is a trained psychologist about different views concerning the human condition. The two views we contrasted were Abaraham Maslow and Victor Frankl, both Jewish, both European, and both having similar philosophies about human purpose, yet really having fundamentally different conclusions about what drives that purpose. Abaraham Maslow believed that humans are only ready to act upon their growth needs if and only if the deficiency needs are met. Once met, the person then moves onto the next stage of need to be met. The theory has eight stages where we progressively move from physical, bodily needs to more metaphysical and spiritual needs. There were 8 stages: 1 ) Physiological: hunger, thirst, bodily comforts, etc.; 2 ) Safety/security: out of danger; 3 ) Belonginess and Love: affiliate with others, be accepted; and 4 ) Esteem: to achieve, be competent, gain approval and recognition. 5 ) Cognitive: to know, to understand, and exlore; 6 ) Aesthetic: symmetry, order, and beauty; 7 ) Self-actualization: to find self-fulfillment and realize one’s potential; and 8 ) Self-transcendence: to connect to something beyond the ego or to help others find self-fulfillment and realize their potential. Courtesy of https://chiron.valdosta.edu/whuitt/col/regsys/maslow.html The […]

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Nov 27

A Continuum of Human Nature

by Chris Billows in Mental Mischief 0 comments tags: Comprehensive Analysis, Defining Life, Human Condition, Religion, Self Determination
I have been musing the importance about Jerry Pournelle’s political matrix and believe that his one index concerning the ability to improve on human nature is probably one of the most critical questions that divides people. Think about it. Everything we do or stand for is related to one’s understanding of what makes ourselves and others human. How we define what a human being is is how we define our morals, ethics, economics, and politics. I think there is a simple continuum that can be teased out from Pournelle’s political matrix. It would be: 1) Human Nature is corrupt. Everyone else is out to make a buck, is dishonest, etc. The person who believes this will also believe they need to act the same to keep up. Some religious and social conservatives would subscribe that there are lots of people who are corrupt and will never change. Scott Adams humors us with his view that all people are idiots in his Dilbert books. 2) Human Nature is corrupt but is improvable. Most religions would be based on this philosophy. It would be the view that we have Original Sin and need to find salvation to correct it. 3) Human Nature […]

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Aug 25

An Ecology of Taxpayers

by Chris Billows in Spirit Speculations 0 comments tags: Comprehensive Analysis, Human Condition, Political Opinion
In Canada and other western nations, government provides allot of services to its citizens. All of this is funded by taxpayers. The biggest problem is that governments and its agencies spend the taxpayers’ money in ways that ends up creating further obligations on the taxpayer. The Canadian Taxpayers Association tirelessly works to make government more accountable and while they can be too ideological and short sighted in their criticism of all taxes, I do agree with their general view that governments are bigger than they should be. Taxpayers are the source for all government income yet not all taxpayers are created equal and like any ecological system, some species are more critical than others. I see there being four different kinds of taxpayers, each distinguished by their importance to the healthy functioning of the tax and government systems. Essential Taxpayers – Individuals and corporations that work in private industry. In addition to consumption taxes, they also pay high personal income taxes. These guys are the main funders of the tax system and without them no system is sustainable. Productivity Taxpayers – Individuals and corporations that work in the private industry but do not earn much money or profit. Instead their […]
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