Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Recipe for Low Class Unity
1) Each Individual must really prefer hanging out with certain people than the rest.
This results in unequal strength of bonding in the class. There are people operating on pd-d interactions, people operating on hydrogen bonding, people operating on strong ion-dipole interactions, people operating on td-id. Like dissolves like, and we have got clumps of people (aka cliques) that are that stay clumped. Nobody really hates any other person in class, but just have preferences. Good enough to form clumps.
Innocent rule, but devastating consequences.
2) Cliques must mix rarely with one another.
This follows from above. If one clique operates on pd-d, and another operates on td-id then obviously the 2 cliques do not mix. Like oil, petrol, glycerine, and water all thrown together, you get bubbles of each liquid that just dont mix with one another no matter how you shake them together.
This is worse than oil and water.
3) If 3 people do not really agree with each other, and 10 people rarely agree with one another, then 5 cliques of total 25 people must never agree with anyone else.
Obviously, in a group of people, they seldom agree on each other even on the most minor of details. Even if the group of people are friends. And if that is so, what can possibly be worse is the presence of strong 'labour unions' within that lobby for varying interests.
Cant we compromise for once?
4) As an individual, do not make a decision unless 5 or more people makes a decision. When asked about one's opinion, say 'suibian' or say 'I dunno'.
This the major stoning principle. If everyone waits for everyone else to make a decision, obviously no one will make a decision. Then the whole group of people can just stand in the middle of nowhere and 'observe 10 min of silence'. This principle works hand in hand with RULE 3 above. When someone finally do make a decision, the rest just shoots it down, because they do not agree. And the group goes back to stone another 5 min. And another person finally makes a decision, only to be shot down, and the group resumes stoning..ad infinituum.
No one isdumb, why act like dumb people who cannot speak?
5) Every individual must be rational.
Why rational? See, to have class unity, everyone must participate, or else where is the unity? But the above rules have created this clumping in the class. So, lets just take any individual and look and if the person has ANY incentive at all to participate. The answer is obviously no. Lets hear what the rational being would say, " Oh man, the class unity is so damn low. Should I participate? Hmm..no, because nothing I do would really affect the net result. No matter how hard I try, I wont make any difference, because no one else is going to try." See the argument? He is arguing that the marginal cost is too high and marginal benefit too low. We call this phenomenon, the diffused self interest. Because the marginal benefit is split over a large group of people, so PRIVATE marginal benefit is low. If every individual participates, then total cost is low, but PRIVATE marginal cost is high.
So no one tries. Obviously, everyone is thinking the same way, being all rational and smart people. Then of course you get zero unity trap that is very difficult to get out of.
If each do not want try, no one will EVER try.
Aspice, officio fungeris sine spe honoris amplioris.
Face it, you are stuck in a dead-end job.
Still I must march on, I will not give up until its August.
Reading between the lines. Try harder. Uphill task indeed.




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