Commenter 'riskviews' recently suggested: I would guess that Grid-Group Theory would predict that it would not itself be widely accepted. In fact, I belive that if it WERE widely accepted, then that would prove it false. There are a few possible responses to this interesting proposition. First, riskviews could be right. Cultural theory has been explored in … Continue reading Does Cultural Theory predict its own rejection?
Tag: Michael Thompson
The Google Dilemma, Part 2
More on the Google-China argument and the concept of national differences, engaging with Cross-Cultural Theory and with Grid-Group Cultural Theory as two alternative ways of understanding cultural disagreement.
Why do we disagree about Climate Change?
In his foreword to a recent collection on the social construction of climate change, Nicholas Onuf writes: 'As a social constructon, climate change is no one thing. Instead it is an ensemble of constitutive processes, yielding an ever changing panoply of agents and insitutions, fixed in place only for the moment.' Mary E Pettenger (ed) … Continue reading Why do we disagree about Climate Change?
How do we know what we think we know? (part 2)
How do we know the tide won't wash the beach away? A couple of years ago a local newspaper reported a certain beach-front resident claiming "It's ridiculous to think this beach would ever get washed away by a king tide. I've lived here four months and it's just never happened." This is an example of … Continue reading How do we know what we think we know? (part 2)
Four Faces of Global Culture revisited
Sociologist Peter Berger wrote an article in 1997 called Four Faces of Global Culture, claiming globalization has four dominant cultures. These are: Davos culture Faculty Club culture McWorld culture Evangelical Protestantism These cultures seem to have been chosen for the purposes of illustration rather than serious analysis. Furthermore, they overlap rather conspicuously. For instance, at … Continue reading Four Faces of Global Culture revisited
How do we know what we think we know? What the Density Classification Problem tells us
How can we know what the world is really like? We often hear fairly frank opinions about how things 'really' are. We probably make these kinds of claims ourselves from time to time: 'the fact is...', 'that's just the way it is...'; 'you know what it's like...' But how do we know what we think … Continue reading How do we know what we think we know? What the Density Classification Problem tells us
The Four Cultures – No Way! Oh go on then…
Most of the dominant analyses of society allow for a straight choice between one of only two conditions. A clear example is political preference, the dichotomy between 'liberal' and 'conservative' or between left and right. But the Four cultures approach explored on this website proposes that there are four, not two basic ways of organising … Continue reading The Four Cultures – No Way! Oh go on then…
Fatalism in America today
I'm still thinking about fatalism as one of the four cultures of Grid-group cultural theory. Even in the United States, whose mascot is Lady Liberty, not Lady Luck, and don't we all know it, there is clear evidence of fatalist activism. Nassim Taleb and the 'epistemic arrogance' of anti-fatalists Nassim Taleb is certainly a man … Continue reading Fatalism in America today
How to be a Fatalist
Of the four worldviews of grid-group cultural theory, the one cultural theorists themselves most often exclude from the discussion is fatalism. They do this by claiming it is ‘passive’ (Michael Thompson), or ‘isolate’ (Mary Douglas), and by claiming fatalism opts out of policy debates, or is excluded by the others by definition. This betrays a … Continue reading How to be a Fatalist
Grid-group cultural theory and hierarchical churches
It came to my attention recently that there are still churches which don't let women preach or lead worship. Choosing the leaders because they are men is a hierarchical approach to social organisation and needs to be set in a context. The other ways of choosing leaders should be noted: Egalitarian - 'priesthood of all … Continue reading Grid-group cultural theory and hierarchical churches
Four Cultures 