Comments on: Individualism and the Loss of Moorings http://lisahistory.edublogs.org/2008/10/01/individualism-and-the-loss-of-moorings/ A blog for the Connectivism Course 2008 Wed, 23 Sep 2009 23:11:06 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.2 hourly 1 By: Lisa http://lisahistory.edublogs.org/2008/10/01/individualism-and-the-loss-of-moorings/comment-page-1/#comment-74 Lisa Thu, 02 Oct 2008 02:32:04 +0000 http://lisahistory.edublogs.org/?p=32#comment-74 Barry, I found your paper at http://www.amd.com/us-en/assets/content_type/DownloadableAssets/The_Rise_of_Personalized_Networking.pdf . Thank you for suggesting it. Unfortunately, it only confirmed my concerns (both here and in my earlier post) about the amoral nature of declaring such individualism as on the rise without judging it to be inadequate to human needs. You write near the end, "This is a time for individuals and their networks, not for groups. The all-embracing collectivity (Parsons 1951; Braga and Menosky 1999) has become a fragmented, personalized network." I do not see any "all-embracing collectivity" historically, but there have been ideals of social community. In continually demonstrating the ways in which networked individualism is becoming supreme, your major points not only seem to avoid the moral implications of such a selfish world, but also support it. I am deeply disturbed by the moral implications (or lack thereof) in those items of your work I've read so far. And the PowerPoint was no big deal -- it was a clear outline; I got the points. They were not stand-alone to me, since I had read your Little Boxes article in Week 1. Barry, I found your paper at http://www.amd.com/us-en/assets/content_type/DownloadableAssets/The_Rise_of_Personalized_Networking.pdf . Thank you for suggesting it.

Unfortunately, it only confirmed my concerns (both here and in my earlier post) about the amoral nature of declaring such individualism as on the rise without judging it to be inadequate to human needs.

You write near the end, “This is a time for individuals and their networks, not for groups. The all-embracing collectivity (Parsons 1951; Braga and Menosky 1999) has become a fragmented, personalized network.”

I do not see any “all-embracing collectivity” historically, but there have been ideals of social community. In continually demonstrating the ways in which networked individualism is becoming supreme, your major points not only seem to avoid the moral implications of such a selfish world, but also support it. I am deeply disturbed by the moral implications (or lack thereof) in those items of your work I’ve read so far.

And the PowerPoint was no big deal — it was a clear outline; I got the points. They were not stand-alone to me, since I had read your Little Boxes article in Week 1.

]]> By: Barry Wellman http://lisahistory.edublogs.org/2008/10/01/individualism-and-the-loss-of-moorings/comment-page-1/#comment-73 Barry Wellman Wed, 01 Oct 2008 20:50:31 +0000 http://lisahistory.edublogs.org/?p=32#comment-73 Lisa, I agreed that PowerPoints are too terse to be assigned in class, as a stand alone. This was done as a service to those who had taken my Networks for Newbies workshop, and wanted something to refresh their memories. You might want to look at my Barry Wellman, "Physical Place and Cyber Place: The Rise of Networked Individualism.” International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 25,2 (June, 2001): 227-52. Among other things, this agrees with you that the ideal types are well, ideal types, and there was a lot of boundary crossing in other periods. It also discusses GloCalization. Lisa, I agreed that PowerPoints are too terse to be assigned in class, as a stand alone. This was done as a service to those who had taken my Networks for Newbies workshop, and wanted something to refresh their memories. You might want to look at my Barry Wellman, “Physical Place and Cyber Place: The Rise of Networked Individualism.” International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 25,2 (June, 2001): 227-52. Among other things, this agrees with you that the ideal types are well, ideal types, and there was a lot of boundary crossing in other periods. It also discusses GloCalization.

]]> By: Jason Green http://lisahistory.edublogs.org/2008/10/01/individualism-and-the-loss-of-moorings/comment-page-1/#comment-71 Jason Green Wed, 01 Oct 2008 18:27:58 +0000 http://lisahistory.edublogs.org/?p=32#comment-71 Your last paragraph could have been in the CCK08 introductory materials. I wonder whether this is another iteration, or whether our current individualism is just an extension of the Florentine Renaissance. What was (if anything) the community center that replaced Renaissance individualism as the Roman Church replaced Hellenistic individualism? Your last paragraph could have been in the CCK08 introductory materials. I wonder whether this is another iteration, or whether our current individualism is just an extension of the Florentine Renaissance. What was (if anything) the community center that replaced Renaissance individualism as the Roman Church replaced Hellenistic individualism?

]]>