Tag: Fatalism

Fatalist development aid

The Economist evaluates a scheme to give poor people cash handouts at random, instead of through traditional aid programmes. Mixed results...http://www.economist.com/news/international/21588385-giving-money-directly-poor-people-works-surprisingly-well-it-cannot-dealFatalism, as described by Grid-Group Cultural theory, is more than merely the worldview that blind fate rules our lives. It takes this as a given and then seeks to make the world even more random. … Continue reading Fatalist development aid →

Cultural Theory and the Public Benefit Requirement

WB of Down at Third Man asked for a Cultural Theory perspective on the concept of ‘public benefit’ as it applies to the charitable working of private schools in the UK. Would you be willing and able to give me your view on how the four cultures would perceive 'public benefit' say with regard to … Continue reading Cultural Theory and the Public Benefit Requirement →

How to reach the South Pole before your rivals do

Image via Wikipedia It's 100 years since the British explorer Captain Scott reached the South Pole only to realise his rival Roald Amundsen had just beaten him to it. On the return journey he and his party died, but not before writing about it in journals, thus creating an enduring myth of 'heroic failure'. In his … Continue reading How to reach the South Pole before your rivals do →

How to beat the odds and escape your fate

We hate it when things that are supposed to be random actually turn out not to be. But on reflection it's not quite that simple. We like random events to be random in entirely predictable ways. The 'Fatalism' quadrant of Grid-Group Cultural Theory includes random activity as a key aspect of social organisation. But it … Continue reading How to beat the odds and escape your fate →

Tempting fate in schools: contrived randomness as educational policy

Australian economist Andrew Leigh has entered into public discussion with Noel Pearson about Aboriginal inequality by proposing that randomised trials should be initiated for those educational innovations supposedly aimed at improving outcomes for disadvantaged groups. He takes his cue from Harvard economist Roland Fryer, who is well known for testing the effectiveness of cash rewards … Continue reading Tempting fate in schools: contrived randomness as educational policy →

The decline and fall of declining and falling

Edward Gibbon made a famous claim in chapter 3 of The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire that “If a man were called to fix the period in the history of the world, during which the condition of the human race was most happy and prosperous, he would, without hesitation, name … Continue reading The decline and fall of declining and falling →

For my next trick I will try to understand Nicholas Taleb

The writer/trader/professor Nicholas Taleb has been puzzling a number of commentators recently and Grid-group Cultural theory also provides a clear context for his approach: he is a Fatalist activist who is looking for a political constituency that understands Fatalism. The British Conservative Party may well not be it. From the Cultural Theory perspective, Taleb has … Continue reading For my next trick I will try to understand Nicholas Taleb →

Fatalist Activism in America… and now the UK

My favourite Fatalist joke goes like this: Two farmers in conversation. 'What would you do if you won a million dollars?" "I'd just keep on farming until it ran out." Despite the fact that this joke comes from America and was once quoted in the Senate, the US is not the first place one thinks … Continue reading Fatalist Activism in America… and now the UK →