Notes for lecture 14 - May 13

  

 

  1. Norton - Chapter 3 - How we learn - Five major ideas
  2. Intellectual tools for decision making/cultural learning
  3. Theme - small actions add up

 

1. Norton Chapter 3: Epistemology and Adaptive Management

Norton

Five major ideas:

  1. 3 tenets of adaptive management really describe this
  2. intergenerational responsibility to maintain options even in the face of uncertainty
  3. Pragmatic truth is forward looking
  4. two types of science - curiosity and mission based
  5. culture is Lamarkian and individual selection is Darwinian

 

a. 3 tenets of adaptive management

link

example from my work:

direct observation

smell

haze + picture

multiscalar

place specific - compare to find unique characteristics

lakes of interest

lake database

 

b. Intergenerational responsibility

pg 97 - "Choices made by members of an earlier generation can change the mix of opportunities and constraints faced by subsequent generations, limiting the later's choices in their attempt to adapt."

one generation will not decrease the ratio of opportunities to constraints for a subsequent generation

judgement of morality is based on whether the earlier generation could have known

we need ways to highlight and address uncertainty so this isn't a shroud to hide behind

uncertainty - types and dealing with it van Asselt and Rotmans 2002

 

c. Pragmatic truth is foward looking

pg 103 - pragmatism breaks with Western tradition, "in that it seeks the truth within everyday, constantly changing reality

truth prevails in the long run

take some aspects of your world to be true (or working truths) and probe the others

metaphor of fixing a ship, plank by plank, while at sea

this approach is seems relative weak compared to big ideas of truth

pragmatic method can be messy, involving many little changes

"clumsy" approaches deal with multiple world views - sort of stumble through proceseds

Verwiej, M., Mary Douglas, Richard Ellis, Christopher Engel, Frank Hendriks, Susanne Lohmann, Steven Ney, Steve Rayner and and Michael Thompson (2006). The Case for clumsiness. Clumsy Solutions for a Complex World. M. and. M. Thompson. Verwiej, Palgrave Mcmillan: 1 - 30.

 

d. Two types of science

link

problem based science may be thought of as being at a bigger scale

value in the traditional scientific method

scientists need to support managers who allow the time for true adaptive management

 

e. Adaptive management as a method for society to learn

assumed goal is for a culture/society to survive (maybe even improve)

need to adapt to changing situations (opportunities and constraints)

learning and improvement of the culture is Lamarkian

builds on inherited characteristics and progress of previous generations

can be more rapid than biological adapation through natural, genetic selection

live on an evolutionary landscape

need to improve conditions (maybe even to stay static)

go up hills or mountains - higher is better, may get trapped on the top of a low hill

may not be fixed

changing because of their own actions

need a multi-scalar approach for finding the tallest mountain in the landscape

adaptive management is a method for societies to learn how to inhabit their location

 

2. Example of intellectual tools that help us understand and act

understand the problem from multiple perspectives, maybe one gives a hint

different representations or transformations of the problem

example

 

 

3. Small actions

individual actions

structure for those

similar to improv - act, see what happens and learn from that, be prepared to take another action

your ability to perceive and act

cultural/social set up - ship operation, navigation, tools, and roles (Hutchins 1995)

mental constructs - invisible islands (Hutchins 1995)

discuss other examples -