Fukuyama: The Spread of Democracy
Previous Book (Origins of Political Order) Political Order and Political Decay Part One: The State and Clientelism Part Two: Foreign Institutions This is Part Three, notes and quotes (1) on Class-based analysis of the development of modern states, (2) about how the political franchise has expanded historically, (3) arguments against democracy, (4) the Arab Spring, more »
Fukuyama: Foreign Institutions
Notes on Fukuyama’s Origins of Political Order. Part One of Political Order and Political Decay. (This is Part Two) I’ll try to get the next part out next week. — I’ve been pretty bad about writing lately. I haven’t been traveling consistently (my preferred writing time). I also got a new cat. I discovered an allergy to her. more »
Fukuyama: The State and Clientelism
Not long ago I posted notes on Fukuyama’s Origins of Political Order. Here are some quick notes on the first third of his recent book, Political Order and Political Decay. As noted before, there are three pillars of political development: a strong central State, Accountability, and the Rule of Law. Fukuyama argues further that the more »
Social Physics V: Data-Driven Society
Quick overview: Sandy Pentland subscribes to the kind of ecological view that a lot of my recent sources have espoused- an emphasis on the relations between objects, instead of on the objects themselves. He argues for a “computational theory of behavior”, using Big Data and a system of collection/observation that he calls “reality mining”: the point is to more »
Social Physics IV: Data-Driven Cities
Quick overview: Sandy Pentland subscribes to the kind of ecological view that a lot of my recent sources have espoused- an emphasis on the relations between objects, instead of on the objects themselves. He argues for a “computational theory of behavior”, using Big Data and a system of collection/observation that he calls “reality mining”: the point is to more »
Social Physics III: Organizations
Quick overview: Sandy Pentland subscribes to the kind of ecological view that a lot of my recent sources have espoused- an emphasis on the relations between objects, instead of on the objects themselves. He argues for a “computational theory of behavior”, using Big Data and a system of collection/observation that he calls “reality mining”: the point is more »
Social Physics II
This is part two (of presumably five?) of Pentland’s Social Physics. I’m roughly following the sections that the book lays out, in order. Part 0: Some immediate personal/social context, what I’m thinking about before reading. Part 1 was on the basic premise of the book This part is about the foundations of Social Physics (Social Learning, Idea more »
Social Physics I
Pulling heavily from the introduction to Social Physics. Frankly, skimming below for emphasized words and block quotes will get you the gist, but I like to shore up with quotes directly from the source. And sometimes, I like to bloviate. — I. If I were preparing to create a PBS documentary of this book, I’d probably more »
From Counterculture to Cyberculture III
From Counterculture to Cyberculture: Stewart Brand, the Whole Earth Network, and the Rise of Digital Utopianism Part 1 here: broad overview and tracing through the changing connotation of the “Computational Metaphor” from one of dehumanization and control to one of anonymity, equality, and freedom. Part 2 here: On Stewart Brand’s education and the Whole Earth Network. This more »
From Counterculture to Cyberculture II
From Counterculture to Cyberculture: Stewart Brand, the Whole Earth Network, and the Rise of Digital Utopianism Part I here: A broad overview, tracing through the changing connotation of the “Computational Metaphor” from one of dehumanization and control to one of anonymity, equality, and radical freedom. I often get bogged down in the details because there’s so more »