Symbol Status and Personality: When We Should See Beyond Cultural Symbolism? (Human Development)

Here is something you may find of interest. There is a book I just finished reading called 'Symbol, Status, and Personality' by S.I. Hayakawa. The researcher does a lot of discussion on language and thought. Granted its a 1953 book but it is still beneficial in understanding underlining symbols of language (I like the era. We were actively building and discovering then. It led to great things for Baby Boomers and then a little bit in my generation and mostly just the possibility to the younger generation. We have a great platform but need to use it to maximize opportunities. Its hard to get everyone thinking beyond the symbols in which they have come to define themselves to those things that are rudimentary to societal development.). 

In the chapter on the Fully Functioning Personality it talks about culture and symbolism. The fully functioning personality is not a conformist. He or she can take from their culture what is practical and beneficial but is not emersed in that culture without awareness. I think of it like fish in a fish bowl. They have no idea what is outside of their fish bowl because they can't see past the mirror (Little cultural awareness and little self awareness.). 

The mirror is where we mix what we understand on a deep neural level with what we see in our environment (Seeing in terms of understanding information through all of our senses.). That is often encoded through symbolism that are culturally laden with basic assumptions of our childhood (A type of cultural imprinting and programming). 

Because these symbols are deeply rooted they are hard for the average person to differentiate the stimuli, the symbol, competing symbols, what is theirs, what is someone else's, etc. In other words, what we understand in the world is based in these deeply encoded symbols and how we interpret happenings of our environment from a personal and social negotiation level.

We do this all the time. For example, we assume that if we drive a Porsche (which I had one and I miss the car because it was a classic. It was very old and didn't cost me much.) that we are worth more or that we drive an old junky pick up (next on list) we are worthless. The same for clothing, wealth, friends, etc. (They have value in maintaining our social status in turn our survivability dating back to the beginning of social life but they are highly symbolic. This means that different cultures have different symbols manifesting basic social needs of each society. They are similar in orientation even though they look different in each society.) 

As we become wiser (i.e. developed in personality and perspective) we begin to gain experience with various scenarios. If you mix development traits, exposure, education/experience, self-reflection, etc. you will find there are a few that can step above their culture to some more essential cross cultural life "truths". You can find more information about this topic of self-actualization at 'Maslow’s Unacknowledged Contributions to Developmental Psychology' and 'Dabrowski’s Theory of Positive Disintegration and Giftedness:  Overexcitability Research Findings'

Rural Firefighting: USDA Resources, Stats, and Recruitment-Retention Research

Sometimes I firefight and try and help my community when I can (I'm not as active as some but I do my best with my digital nomad life. I contribute more in some areas than others.). In my life I have many other responsibilities but I think this is an important one. Considering I like physical activity and have had a life of adventure firefighting appeals to me. From what I have read, the young are not as interested in firefighting, and other first responder positions, when compared to the past. I'm sort of exploring that concept now. 

USDA has a pretty solid page Rural Fire Department Resources for Local Officials. A fairly helpful Firefighter Stats Page.  21 firefighter deaths in 2023 thus far. As recruitment and firefighter availability in rural areas struggle along with increased global warming demand we will need to think about safety more. Thus, rural fire departments, and the people that stay engaged, will have a more prominent role in combating these environmental risks. 

An interesting study on firefighting retention. While our department is doing well most fire departments and other first responder services are suffering in recruitment. These are complex issues and we don't really like talking about them; likely why they haven't been resolved. There are solutions I think and ways to create win-win.

Here is the study Volunteer Retention Research Report Prepared for National Volunteer Fire Council. (Always keeping in mind ways to improve on recruitment in general for similar type institutions.)

IMF and World Bank Projections: How the U.S. Can Beat Market Growth Numbers?

If you notice the numbers for U.S. growth you will see we are positive but not as fast as China or India. In order for us to achieve these levels of growth rates we have to be more innovative and be a central place for people to invest. That requires us to think about how our current infrastructure investment mixed with good policy and better human capital management can lead to higher foreign direct investment but also organic growth (In theory).  

-Global growth 2.8% 2023 bottom out and rise to 3% 2024. 

-Inflation will move from 8.7% to 7%

-Emerging economies are pushing forward in growth.

-Corporate profits are high from high prices while labor costs are expected to rise higher. 

-Banking turbulence in the U.S. caused some growth issues.

-U.S. growth 1.6%, China 5.2%, India 5.9% and Europe .8%, and Russia .7%

-60% of lower performing countries are at risk of a level of default.

 You can gain more information in 'IMF cuts GDP forecasts, says global economy heading for weakest growth since 1990'

Scientists Discover and Decipher 9 ring “meteoroscope” Instrument by Ptolemy

Derivation of the katabatikê and antiskios angles on the meteoroscope
Source Ptolemy’s treatise 

My other calling in life was archeology and the discovery of ancient text/artifacts but alas I went into research, science/theory, business/economics, and applied psych/human capital (I still do a little diving and have a museum that would consider taking what I find. Darn boat is always broke!). I like these new discoveries because they change the way we think about science and provides greater depth. Sometimes new discoveries can change the way we see the universe, create new science lenses and other types of interesting perspectives.

While this manuscript discovery may or may not be ground breaking depending on its implications we can say it is the way these master's of the mind thought. They balanced philosophy, geometry and natural learning to abstractly construct an understanding of the world around them with a level of sophistication that is difficult to match.

I also do a little sailing so I'm thinking about how that might impact sailing and calculating distances manually (I got this book I wanted to read on it.).

Who was Claudius Ptolemy?

Read

Ptolemy’s treatise on the meteoroscope recovered

What the study said the meteorscope does is....(quoted)....

1. determine the elevation of the north celestial pole for the place one is observing on an arbitrary day or night;

2. determine the direction of the meridian circle for the place of observation, and the directions of routes of travel from that place relative to the meridian in the form of the angle between the meridian and another great circle passing through the zenith point;

3. using the foregoing data, display on the meteoroscopic instrument itself the sought arc between the two localities; and

4. display the arc of the equator cut off between the meridians through the two localities.

Weaker Economy Debt Crunch Causing Pressure on Financially Vulnerable Nations (Escanaba/Delta County Model)

Source Reuters

 Apparently weaker economies are going to have a debt crunch of some type. Read this article by Reutters, 'Analysis: Debt crunch looms for weaker economies with a wall of bond maturities ahead' Their main arguments are: 

1. Higher interest rates

2. Slow global growth

3. Repayments of high yield international bonds $30 billion (major increase)

Both of these are seen as contributing to a difficult to manage the debt of many emerging economies. 

Some of the risks one can see from this are:

1.) Debt default of struggling nations and contagion effect.

2.) Russia conflict its pressures on the market. 

3.) Raising the cost of borrowing on other nations. 

I'm thinking of this from the perspective of my theory as it relates to Escanaba/Delta County Michigan and how the global market might impact it. From what I can tell the bond costs might impact refinancing. It is something to keep in mind as we discuss costs of projects, bonds, etc. Food for thought. 

The Quest for Character: Six Core Virtues

One thing that any society seeks is strong leadership through the development of character (Any people anywhere need members of society with character.). Whether one is in business, government, a non-profit or any other entity, character is going to have a big impact on how that organizational will function and overcome its challenges. Leaders should be judged on these core values beyond any other consideration including lower metrics such as social networks, wealth and political affiliation alone. 

I found this information in the book 'The Quest for Charactery' by Massimo Pigliucci. The author cites a number of different sources but through an analysis different religions such as Confucianism, Daoism, Islam, Hinduism, Christianity, Judaism, Daoism, etc. the universal principles come down to six core virtues. Different people and different studies will likely adjust a little but you get the point.

These are the main concepts of the book.  

Courage: Emotional strength to achieve goals in face of internal and external opposition.

Justice: Civic strength that makes positive community life possible. 

Humanity: Interpersonal strength and intentional acts of love and kindness.

Temperance: Strength that protects against excess. 

Wisdom: Cognitive strength that uses the acquisition of knowledge.

Transcendence: Connections to the wider universe.

DOJ to investigate leaks of apparent classified US military documents

This is very sad situation and it should be seen as somewhat shocking. We should never allow these important documents to be found, sold and sent online. Its an issue of data security and protection (Either hacking or physical removal). This is good the DOJ is going after and investigating these incidents. Its important to ensure that the people who handle these documents take care of them. I suppose it is the same with personnel and ensuring they have the best interest of the nation as stated.