Detroit 2.0 – cultural transformation

Certainly cultural transformation occurs but to what degree can it be actively catalyzed?

Creative class cities bloom and their opposites become walking Detroits.

How to revitalize your city into Rochester 2.0, Detroit 2.0:

• Free houses for artist communities (the aesthetic future starts now); stimulatory homesteading initiatives
  
• The post-ecotourism fad: ghetto tours; hip hop music and dance classes
  
• Favorable tax policies and free trade zones like Paul Romer’s Charter Cities program (example: Hong Kong in Honduras)
• Singapore/Korea-like targeted industrial policy (Welcome Stem Cell Research!)
• Social policy liberalization: immigration amnesty, gay marriage, euthanasia, decriminalized marijuana use
  

Anxious uncanniness drives technological phase change

There is an interesting link between philosophy, technology innovation, and complexity theory. A claim has arisen that people may be feeling unsettled, that they no longer belong to certain normative groups like ‘Americans’ or ‘doctors.’ One reason could be the fast pace of technology innovation and adoption which has been creating a pervasive, accelerating, and possibly irreversible culture of biotechnicity. Paradoxically, technology innovation may also be the resolution.

This feeling of being unsettled is that of experiencing an anxious uncanniness of what it means to be a doctor, a Christian, a New Yorker, or whatever. This has long been identified by philosophers (e.g.; Plato, Socrates, Kierkegaard, etc., and more recently Jonathan Lear) as (a lesser-known definition of) irony; when individuals experience a sense of dissumlation (dissimulation).

A further claim is not that anxious uncanniness is harmful or undesirable, but rather that ironic uncanny experiences should be cultivated as the only way out, a key means of growth. Growing by pushing out of one’s comfort zone is parallel to dynamics in the cycles of technology innovation and complexity theory. In technology innovation, the chaotic foment at the end of a paradigm (like the vacuum tube or perhaps oil) forces innovation into a new paradigm. In complex systems, after symmetry-breaking and the development of entropy, adding energy helps to rebalance systems to attain the next node of progress.

Techies are homogeneous

There is a certain homogeneity about techy culture, both on the surface and below. On the surface, the homogeneity is visible by age, race, educational background, demeanor, posture, hair and clothing style and facial expressions. Below the surface, the homogeneity is in the type of questioning the mind does, the inquisitive questions that will be asked, the assumed knowledge base, the educational and life experience background and the comments, sense of humor, means of communication, value systems and approach to life.

How can one understand, and integrate with if desired, the techy and non-techy cultures? More than ever, tech culture does seem to be the rise and long-term persistence and domination of a class.

There seem to be shortcomings with the techy culture. What are they? Is it the homogeneity? The lack of integratability with others? Is it the predictability, for example, maybe not the details of how to get somewhere but what the general set of interesting problems is (e.g.; like better physics, faster biological solutions, nano). Is it that they seem like they are in a clueless bubble compared to the other, "normal" larger yet anachronistic world?

Some techies are oblivious either naturally or selectionally to the other or any other culture. Some techies and non-techies are in the void trying to bring or lead the wayward normal culture along. What do those who see both sides and live in between call home?

Cultural Value System Translator

Just like we need a language translator when speaking to someone from another culture, we need a values filter to really understand them. Now people may speak the same language, in the work place or other contexts, but they do not have the same value systems, and may not even perceive that the other(s) has a different value system, much less what that might be.

Take lying for example, it is completely acceptable to lie at certain times but not at other times in nearly every culture. When it is acceptable and not acceptable is completely different for Westerners, Asians and Arabs. How can inter-cultural groups build trust, a prerequisite for successful interaction, when they may not be aware that others' values are different?

Even recognizing that there are different fundamental value systems at work in today's increasingly global and integrated interaction space, the hard next step is developing models to work with differing value systems. Language translation is about a different label for the same thing, with some cultural nuances, but value systems are deeply cultural. Is a compromise between the two appropriate, both sides meeting half-way or in practice both sides perceiving they are stretching 75-100% to the other side? Would a compromise even work?

For Americans, the traditional comparison was about differences in European and American attitudes towards working and living; that Americans live to work while Europeans work to live. Expanding the scope to focus globally, it is at a higher level than different attitudes towards activities and about the cultural definition of qualities like love, trust, loyalty, honesty and compassion for others. Of course some of the cultural differences may be rooted in religion. For example, it seems that a compassion for others, even/especially strangers is assumed in Western culture and this may have come from old Judeo-Christian religious traditions. Not that it exists and is exuded by everyone at all times but that compassion for others is a cultural default. It is not clear that this is the case in other cultures. And actually, really examined in the Western sense, compassion may not extend for those that are not "like" oneself, however narrowly some may wish to define that.

Cultures may have a hierarchical sort on certain values, so they will generally sort on efficiency first, or workmanship, or honesty. In the garment industry for example, the Italian manufactures sort on quality and workmanship, while Asian manufactures sort on efficiency. Different products hit the world market, a cheaper lower quality version that is available quickly and a higher quality more expensive one that takes longer to arrive.

The next idea would be to explore how to bridge these gaps. We have recognized things are different in different cultures or products and ways of interacting with different cultures. Right now we're at the stage of increasing the granularity of our perceptions and defining and discussing the differences and challenges. We need to move into the solution space.

Brave New Simu World

What an exciting world we live in with so many new and evolving forms of entertainment, learning, experiencing, interacting and actualizing. And they are all converging, merging and bubbling into new possibilities. It's all part of the trends to seamlessness between learning and entertainment and people being more interactive and expressive with every medium.

We used to have radio, then TV, then cable, then video games, then online video games and MMOGs (massive multi-player online games).

As one great example of what is available now, SimuLearn offers the Virtual Leader simulation elearning tool to develop leadership skills for corporate and government customers. What a great tool this could be. What if everyone in a work team played themselves in the online simulation? What if everyone played others especially swapping roles up and down the power hierarchy, what could you learn by playing your supervisor? What if every role was played by others with your personality and work skill characteristics? A dream or a nightmare?

There can be at least two ways to play a role; first by being yourself doing the responsibilities of that position or second by inheriting or creating character attributes (personality, skills, etc.) that filter/direct how the player you are playing can perform their role and interact in that context. Being someone else from the constraints of their value system, background, personality, skills, mindset and outlook can be hugely educational. Identifying these aspects of yourself can be extremely educational. This would be useful in any and all contexts of human interaction: professional relationships, personal relationships, interactions between any entities, politics, international relations in particular....

Kuma War offers game simulations of real world events, mainly war strategy related. The Great Divine is a move-through-the-stages video game but ability to move up is measured via biofeedback of how calm you are. And of course The Sims were the original simulation platform, with Sims Online and Second Life now growing exponentially as users create their experiences, realize their creativity and interact with others.

How soon can we have holographic 3-D displays and simulated conversations with non-human characters representing our dream characters or real-life people!