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Perspective chauvinism: Difference between revisions
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''The [[JC]]’s very own coinages {{tm}}''</br>}}{{d|Perspective chauvinism|/pəˈspɛktɪv ˈʃəʊvɪnɪzm/|n|}}Our own coinage for the fallacy of judging obsolete tricks, technologies or ideologies by contemporary standards — evaluation criteria that, [[Q.E.D.]], weren’t relevant when the old technologies or ideas were in fashion. | ''The [[JC]]’s very own coinages {{tm}}''</br>}}{{d|Perspective chauvinism|/pəˈspɛktɪv ˈʃəʊvɪnɪzm/|n|}}Our own coinage for the fallacy of judging obsolete tricks, technologies or ideologies by contemporary standards — evaluation criteria that, [[Q.E.D.]], weren’t relevant when the old technologies or ideas were in fashion. | ||
You know how, when you are being dumped, the dump''er'' tells you (accurately, but disingenuously all the same), “it’s not you; it’s me”? Perspective chauvinism is the opposite of that. A perspective chauvinist says,“you know what? It ''is'' you.” | |||
Judged by such | Judged by such our own arbitrary standards, outmoded technologies will, the older they get, necessarily seem more and more primitive and useless: the history of design will seem to lead inexorably to ''right here, right now''. This in turn will create the impression, not easily dispelled, that human progress has been slow, steady, relentless march towards a perfect Platonic ideal, and any imperfection in our current locale is simply a reflection that, however far we have come, we are not there yet. We are but hobbits, on the way to Mt. Doom. | ||
This does prompt questions, though. And doesn’t it seem a bit ''goal oriented''? What are we going to to when we get there? | This does prompt questions, though. And doesn’t it seem a bit ''goal oriented''? What are we going to to when we get there? | ||
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But this is not the lesson of [[evolution]]. The environment changes dynamically and capriciously, and by survival of the fittest, the prevailing community adapts to it. We are part of the environment, and as we change, so does the environment, and fitness criteria shift. But not in any particular direction. [[Evolution]] develops ''away'' from an unfit present state, not ''towards'' an ideal future one. | But this is not the lesson of [[evolution]]. The environment changes dynamically and capriciously, and by survival of the fittest, the prevailing community adapts to it. We are part of the environment, and as we change, so does the environment, and fitness criteria shift. But not in any particular direction. [[Evolution]] develops ''away'' from an unfit present state, not ''towards'' an ideal future one. | ||
So it isn’t that we are progressing ever more quickly | So it isn’t that we are progressing ever more quickly ''towards'' something, but the place whence we have come falls exponentially ''further away''. We, and our technology, meander like a perpetually deflating balloon through design-space. Our rate of progress doesn’t change; our discarded technologies simply seem more and more irrelevant through time. | ||
The [[singularity]] is based on perspective chauvinism. {{singularity and perspective chauvinism}} | |||
Come to think of it, the current vogue for grandiose political apology, today, for the cultural transgressions of 17th century explorers is a form of perspective chauvinism, too. | |||
{{sa}} | {{sa}} | ||
*[[Evolution]] | *[[Evolution]] | ||
*{{author|Ray Kurzweil}} | *{{author|Ray Kurzweil}} | ||
*{{br|The Singularity is Near}} | *{{br|The Singularity is Near}} | ||
{{Ref}} | |||