B=MXD/I

Behavior Equals Motivation, Times Direction, Divided By Inertia.

I think they supplied a title in hopes that WE would come up with our own definition. Like leaving an unidentifiable object in a room full of children, to see what they do with it. Then again, I have been accused of being paranoid so what do I know?

Years ago. When I was in cop school, they taught us a little about it. How a given personality in a given situation reacts to given stimuli. It was interesting stuff.

But if it really worked, I’d be getting more.

Reaction formation is the fixation in consciousness of an idea, affect, or desire that is opposite to a feared unconscious impulse. A mother who bears an unwanted child, for example, may react to her feelings of guilt for not wanting the child by becoming extremely solicitous and overprotective to convince both the child and herself that she is a good mother.

to veer metaphors, i think it’s a little like “casting sociological spells”. it sort of has to begin with a will to have society do something. like i want society to take more notes, so i create note taking type tools and that is sort of my peoplemath.

but it’s more than that, or maybe less. it’s also like a “fluid dynamics” for sociological interactions. like imagine, just close your eyes, and see all the buzzing activity of the entire internet, users swarming this way and that among the happy hive. well what makes them swarm this way and not that way? what are the eddies and swirls in these currents and how do they give you an idea of where you should place your efforts?

there are also measurements involved in sociology that “the Man” has had access to that “we the People” barely know. Basically, I want to overturn that monopoly – those in control of our society know more about us (to ten decimal places) than we know about them. That would be a nice differential to reverse :)

think of physics as a pure science.

think of ballistics as an applied science. you’re applying physics to a specific usage, the propulsion of a projectile.

so in analogy:

sociology is a pure science.

peoplemath is an applied science.

good definition. how are we to apply this peoplemath?

Over the years, my memory of it is a little muddled. The term I used was incorrect. It was more along the lines of Social Interactions and Affect display. Anyway, I did a bit of a search and can’t find much, so it’s probably out of favor. (We are talking about the late 70s here. It was the golden age of `Pop-Phsyc`). (Does anyone remember Arthur Janov and `Primal Scream?)

She mentioned the tools that `The Man` has. I know that Big Brother and 1984 have become a cliche’ over the years but the concept is no less frightening and even more of a threat than it has ever been.

The problem I have with trying to decide how much TPTB (The Powers That Be) can control is that the first thing they try to control is your knowledge of their control (This is a paranoid’s delight).

This is my theory. (I would welcome some feedback here.) When the military wants a shiny-new jet to blow up the bad guys, they go to industry. Boeing and Grumman and so forth come up with their ideas and The Air Force buys the one they like the most. It is private industry that actually defines the technology.

So if they want to measure or shape public opinion they have to rely on the industry that knows the most about it… The marketing industry. They’re capabilities are the ones that the government uses.

Another way to look at it. Bush did his level best, relying on prejudice, patriotism and even lies and threats to get us (The Public) the support the war in Iraq. He was temporarily successful.

The Man’s tools are there. They are not that good, but they are getting better.

He’s on to us.

i don’t know she just kind of emailed me out of the blue, i think she sort of assumed i would be a mean person and then when i replied back nicely she became super sweet…

Maybe I’m special, But what is peoplemath?

I really want to know to.

Wait a minute! How do you know Gerelee?

B = M x D

behavior equals motivation times direction.

PeopleMath is the study of group behavior.

kind of like sociology?

it is an intriguing concept that i hope we can define here

I can’t help thinking of Isaac Asimov And his great novels The Foundation Series It is a great read and well-worth the trouble.