That conclusion seems pretty horrifying. While obviously knowledge may be localized, the severity of some consequences seems pretty understandable. It is certainly predictable that adults in a city famous for the crime would know kids may face things like stabbings or less savory incidents. When talking to military personnel, they were perfectly happy to insert caveats and point out that isolation often meant death. While gang members were less inclined to insert caveats, they likewise pointed out death was anticipated and the arson incident and stabbing was suggestive of the sincerity. Both of those fields try to accomplish something.
What would vague wording accomplish? There are classic ways to be ambiguous that do... (read more)
I grew up in a range of environments including a high-crime and poor neighborhood. It was the sort of place with a lots of impulsive crime such as fights and a stabbing (and arson incident) driven by personal animosity. Suffice to say, I consider the reality of crime to be obvious and not inherently tied to wealth (for I have seen much poorer people behave better) and tragic in its consequences.
Rather than describe what I witnessed and my factual assessments, it is clear I tend to focus on the wording of a directive, not some unknowable imputation. When trying to find out what the lethally enforced social norms are, I don't just... (read 313 more words →)
One old technique for training one's mind to see various issues has been to try to argue for the opposing view by yourself. Debate teams also force people to switch sides.
However traditions are cultivated efforts to inculcate ideas and habits, not merely patterns of similarity.
You've made your point that life is full of fluctuations but what is that in reference to? Is it that in reference to the title and claiming that the hypothetical state of "normal" is the equilibrium of well-regarded states or variables and then reminding us of variability?
Is this written against some hypothetical "static world" assumption as if the hedonic treadmill was not well known?
Maybe I don't understand what is going on since I struggle to understand references to "normality" not expressed narrowly (such as "normal range" in hormones is clear but "normal" in violence is not).
I suspect some of this is tied into the increasing sense of interdependence and the reality that there are different trust systems that people use. Being bombarded with reminders that you are defendant on people who use very different trust systems is inherently anxiety producing and the increasing pace of information flow is certain to exacerbate that.
Another facet may be that big projects, while rarely economically efficient, may have a psychological grandeur that people crave. Note William James search for a "moral equivalent to war" in that the psychological yearning for achievement, sacrifice, and victory is inherently human and being awash in reminders of how others achieve and of how pampered one's one life is likely to sap any sense of achievement.
I lived in a bad neighborhood in DC in the 1990s but went to school in a safer neighborhood and then into a school in the suburbs.
The block I lived on rarely had grass because of the mess of broken alcohol bottles, needles, and dime bags (and very occasionally a shell casing). Several of my neighbors argued sincerely that Malcom X was a race traitor whose murder was justifiable. While most of what I witnessed were scuffles, there was mention of serious crimes and of strong aversion to talking to the police. That was not a universal attitude but it was enough that several adults there seemed frustrated at their neighbors. Having... (read 520 more words →)