The speech on the "Dogma of Otherness" brings to light four dominant states of mind that have been observed throughout human history. Paranoia, Machismo, the East, and the Dogma of Otherness are all highlighted. Though they all differ in ideology, they share a similar trait; the ability to be infectiously spread. This makes them all "memes." Just like a popular internet meme these trains of thought don't stay with just one person, they radiate on a massive scale and gain huge followings. The Dogma of Otherness meme is the of the thought patterns and it consists of tolerance for all points of view.
Towards the end of the speech the author brings up an interesting paradox about tolerance and the Dogma of Otherness. He says that those following this dogma are "intolerant of intolerance." Here is where it gets interesting. Intolerance, over time, has greatly shaped history. What would happen if intolerance became obsolete? Some may say this is a good thing, a thing we should all aim for. But there are deeper repercussions to a world without intolerance. If everyone was so open-minded, cultures would begin to blend much more freely. Cultural diversity could actually be lost rather than nurtured. Maybe, in order for unique cultures to persist, there needs to be just a bit of intolerance present.
The Dogma of Otherness is presented as a very hopeful, almost fail-safe entity. The speech did not really delve into the possible problems that could arise with it. One problem that seems to stick out to me resembles the agency problem in business. Agency problems occur in a company when employees' interests do not not align with one another so they all pursue their own paths and the business itself becomes inefficient. Under the Dogma of Otherness people may be allowed to pursue so many diverse ends causing them to eventually clash over mutual resources. Overall, this new dogma seems to be a real turning point in thought. But we need to consider the idea that the consequences of such a world may not be what we expected.
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Good job posting our first blog, Roman! Keep up the good job!
ReplyDeleteI agree with your last paragraph. I think that every argument deserves to have the "pros" and "cons" laid out. Brin never really thought about the bad that could come from the "Dogma of otherness.
ReplyDeleteOne thing to consider in the second paragraph is that just because people are tolerant of other people's ideas does not mean they will necessarily adopt those ideas or beliefs. People can still maintain their own identities by adopting ideas they agree with and being tolerant, but not following the ideas in which they don't. This is just one thing to consider, that not all culture may be lost.
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