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Creeping Normality
Creeping normality (also called gradualism, or landscape amnesia) is a process by which a major change can be accepted as normal and acceptable if it happens slowly through small, often unnoticeable, increments of change. The change could otherwise be regarded as remarkable and objectionable if it took place in a single step or short period. American scientist Jared Diamond used creeping normality in his 2005 book '' Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed''. Prior to releasing his book, Diamond explored this theory while attempting to explain why, in the course of long-term environmental degradation, Easter Island natives would, seemingly irrationally, chop down the last tree: See also There are a number of metaphors related to creeping normality, including: * Boiling frog * Camel's nose * Lingchi * " First they came ..." * Habituation * ''If You Give a Mouse a Cookie'' * Normalisation of deviance * Overton window * '' Principiis obsta (et respice finem)'' - 'res ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gradualism
Gradualism, from the Latin ''gradus'' ("step"), is a hypothesis, a theory or a tenet assuming that change comes about gradually or that variation is gradual in nature and happens over time as opposed to in large steps. Uniformitarianism, incrementalism, and reformism are similar concepts. Geology and biology In the natural sciences, gradualism is the theory which holds that profound change is the cumulative product of slow but continuous processes, often contrasted with catastrophism. The theory was proposed in 1795 by James Hutton, a Scottish geologist, and was later incorporated into Charles Lyell's theory of uniformitarianism. Tenets from both theories were applied to biology and formed the basis of early evolutionary theory. Charles Darwin was influenced by Lyell's ''Principles of Geology'', which explained both uniformitarian methodology and theory. Using uniformitarianism, which states that one cannot make an appeal to any force or phenomenon which cannot presently be obs ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Normalisation Of Deviance
Normalization of deviance is a term used by the American sociologist Diane Vaughan to describe the process in which deviance from correct or proper behavior or rule becomes normalized in a government or corporate culture. Vaughan defines this as a process where a clearly unsafe practice comes to be considered normal if it does not immediately cause a catastrophe: "a long incubation period efore a final disasterwith early warning signs that were either misinterpreted, ignored or missed completely". The original example cited by Vaughan was the events leading to the Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' disaster in 1986, but the concept has also been applied to aviation safety, clinical practice in medicine, and the public's deviance from health measures aimed to stop the COVID-19 pandemic. Normalization of deviance exhibits itself in train control safety legislation. Normalization of deviance can exist in conjunction with corporate omerta where deviation from rules is held up by a code ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Perception
Perception () is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the presented information or environment. All perception involves signals that go through the nervous system, which in turn result from physical or chemical stimulation of the sensory system.Goldstein (2009) pp. 5–7 Vision involves light striking the retina of the eye; smell is mediated by odor molecules; and hearing involves pressure waves. Perception is not only the passive receipt of these signals, but it is also shaped by the recipient's learning, memory, expectation, and attention. Gregory, Richard. "Perception" in Gregory, Zangwill (1987) pp. 598–601. Sensory input is a process that transforms this low-level information to higher-level information (e.g., extracts shapes for object recognition). The process that follows connects a person's concepts and expectations (or knowledge), restorative and selective mechanisms (such as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tyranny Of Small Decisions
The tyranny of small decisions is a phenomenon explored in an essay of the same name, published in 1966 by the American economist Alfred E. Kahn. The article describes a situation in which a number of decisions, individually small and insignificant in size and time perspective, cumulatively result in a larger and significant outcome which is neither optimal nor desired. It is a situation where a series of small, individually rational decisions can negatively change the context of subsequent choices, even to the point where desired alternatives are irreversibly destroyed. Kahn described the problem as a common issue in market economics which can lead to market failure. The concept has since been extended to areas other than economic ones, such as environmental degradation, political elections and health outcomes. A classic example of the tyranny of small decisions is the tragedy of the commons, described by Garrett Hardin in 1968 Also availablherean/ref> as a situation where a numb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Technological Change
Technological change (TC) or technological development is the overall process of invention, innovation and diffusion of technology or processes.From ''The New Palgrave Dictionary otechnical change by S. Metcalfe. •biased and biased technological change by Peter L. Rousseau. •skill-biased technical change by Giovanni L. Violante. In essence, technological change covers the invention of technologies (including processes) and their commercialization or release as open source via research and development (producing emerging technologies), the continual improvement process, continual improvement of technologies (in which they often become less expensive), and the diffusion of technologies throughout industry or society (which sometimes involves disruption and convergence). In short, technological change is based on both better and more technology. Modeling technological change In its earlier days, technological change was illustrated with the 'Linear Model of Inn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Slippery Slope
A slippery slope argument (SSA), in logic, critical thinking, political rhetoric, and caselaw, is an argument in which a party asserts that a relatively small first step leads to a chain of related events culminating in some significant (usually negative) effect. The core of the slippery slope argument is that a specific decision under debate is likely to result in unintended consequences. The strength of such an argument depends on whether the small step really is likely to lead to the effect. This is quantified in terms of what is known as the warrant (in this case, a demonstration of the process that leads to the significant effect). This type of argument is sometimes used as a form of fearmongering in which the probable consequences of a given action are exaggerated in an attempt to scare the audience. However, differentiation is necessary, since, in other cases, it might be demonstrable that the small step is likely to lead to an effect. The fallacious sense of "slippery ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shifting Baseline
A shifting baseline (also known as a sliding baseline) is a type of change to how a system is measured, usually against previous reference points (baselines), which themselves may represent significant changes from an even earlier state of the system. The concept arose in landscape architect Ian McHarg's 1969 manifesto ''Design With Nature'' in which the modern landscape is compared to that on which ancient people once lived. The concept was then considered by the fisheries scientist Daniel Pauly in his paper "Anecdotes and the shifting baseline syndrome of fisheries". Pauly developed the concept in reference to fisheries management where fisheries scientists sometimes fail to identify the correct " baseline" population size (e.g. how abundant a fish species population was ''before'' human exploitation) and thus work with a ''shifted baseline''. He describes the way that radically depleted fisheries were evaluated by experts who used the state of the fishery at the start of their ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Salami Tactics
Salami slicing tactics, also known as salami slicing, salami tactics, the salami-slice strategy, or salami attacks, is the practice of using a series of many small actions to produce a much larger action or result that would be difficult or unlawful to perform all at once. Politically, the term is used to describe a divide and conquer process of threats and alliances used to overcome opposition. With it, an aggressor can influence and eventually dominate a landscape, typically political, in piecemeal fashion. Opposition is eliminated "slice by slice" until its members realize, usually too late, that it has been virtually neutralized in its entirety. In some cases, the tactics include the creation of several factions within an opposing political party, followed by its dismantling from the inside, without giving the affected parties the opportunity to protest or react. Salami tactics are most likely to succeed when its perpetrators keep their true long-term motives hidden and main ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Overton Window
The Overton window is the range of policies politically acceptable to the mainstream population at a given time. It is also known as the window of discourse. Background The term is named after American policy analyst Joseph Overton, who stated that an idea's political viability depends mainly on whether it falls within this range, rather than on politicians' individual preferences. According to Overton, the window frames the range of policies that a politician can recommend without appearing too extreme to gain or keep public office given the climate of public opinion at that time. Summary Overton described a spectrum from "more free" to "less free" with regard to government intervention, oriented vertically on an axis, to avoid comparison with the left/right political spectrum. As the spectrum moves or expands, an idea at a given location may become more or less politically acceptable. After Overton's death, his Mackinac Center for Public Policy colleague Joseph Lehman furth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
If You Give A Mouse A Cookie
''If You Give a Mouse a Cookie'' is a children's book written by Laura Numeroff and illustrated by Felicia Bond, first published in 1985 by Harper and Row. Described as a "circular tale", illustrating a slippery slope, it is Numeroff and Bond's first collaboration in what came to be the ''If You Give...'' series. Plot The entire story is told in second person. A boy named Oliver gives a cookie to a mouse named Quinley . The mouse asks for a glass of milk. He then requests a straw (to drink the milk), a mirror (to avoid a milk mustache), nail scissors (to trim his hair in the mirror), and a broom (to sweep up his hair trimmings). Next, he wants to take a nap, have a story read to him, draw a picture, and hang the drawing on the refrigerator. Looking at the refrigerator makes him thirsty, so the mouse asks for a glass of milk. The circle is complete when he wants a cookie to go with it. Art The text was interpreted by illustrator Felicia Bond to show the increasing energy of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jared Diamond
Jared Mason Diamond (born September 10, 1937) is an American geographer, historian, ornithologist, and author best known for his popular science books ''The Third Chimpanzee'' (1991); ''Guns, Germs, and Steel'' (1997, awarded a Pulitzer Prize); ''Collapse'' (2005), ''The World Until Yesterday'' (2012), and '' Upheaval'' (2019). Originally trained in biochemistry and physiology,Jared Diamond, ''Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Survive'', Penguin Books, 2005 and 2011 () Diamond is known for drawing from a variety of fields, including anthropology, ecology, geography, and evolutionary biology. He is a professor of geography at UCLA. In 2005, Diamond was ranked ninth on a poll by '' Prospect'' and ''Foreign Policy'' of the world's top 100 public intellectuals. Early life and education Diamond was born on September 10, 1937, in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Both of his parents were from Ashkenazi Jewish families who had emigrated to the United States. His father, L ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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