rat choice (was Re: election demographics)

Wojtek Sokolowski sokol at jhu.edu
Tue Nov 7 09:27:19 PST 2000


At 10:43 AM 11/7/00 -0500, Kevin wrote:
>Rational choice theorists consider it a great mystery that people engage in
>collective action. They have been hard at work for ages trying to convert
>the lead of individual self seeking into the gold of collective action:
>they are the New Alchemists.

Rat choice is the modern version of geo-centric astronomy in the middle ages - mnay observable phenomena remain a mystery for both, yet both views remain the dominant paradigm. A mystery? Not necessarily, if we consider that managerial ideologies are often disguised as "science."

Managerial ideology is a set of opinions, partially supported by empirical evidence, that legitimate the social position of the ruling class and create an impression that the rulers are in charge and know what they are doing. Examples include: geo-centric astronomy, Catholic theology, Protestantism, Social Darwinism, Marxism-Leninism, "Red Book" by Chairman Mao, Taylorism, and Rat-choice models of economy and society.

wojtek



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