sociometry and sociatry thoughts

[Allan Parker]

Ed,

You may like to look at the following.  I am highlighting it because  
it is relevant to the current discussion and an illustration of how I  
see the sociodynamic effect in society today.

Regards

Allan Parker
Very occasional contributor

Finding My Identity
Keith Farnish, Culture Change
I have found an identity. Is that really such a big deal? The thing  
is, I didn’t realize I was missing one. There are so many things I  
could call myself: a human, male, a father, a husband, a writer, a  
thinker, a gardener, a campaigner... so many things that I feel pretty  
comfortable with, yet until a couple of weeks ago I didn’t realize  
there was something missing; something that yawned inside me, empty  
and lacking substance.  http://www.culturechange.org/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=529&Itemid=1
On 13/10/2009, at 3:33 PM, Edward Schreiber wrote:

> Thinking about Moreno's understanding of the sociodynamic effect as  
> global, impacting all groups both formal and informal has given a  
> lens with which to see the social reality of the world in which we  
> are living.  Michael Moore's movie about the United States, this  
> time in our lives, is in my experience a great demonstration of the  
> sociodynamic effect.  Underneath it, the organic unity has to do  
> with the Godhead, that we are manifestations of one presence and the  
> returning to that is evolutionary.  E
>
>
> On Oct 11, 2009, at 11:56 PM, Adam Blatner wrote:
>
>> Dear Ed, Responding to your recent email: ES: I just returned from  
>> seeing Michael Moore's movie: Capitalism, A Love Affair.  (AB: I'll  
>> try to get it when it comes out in DVD at Blockbuster or somewhere.  
>> I rarely go to the movies.)
>>   ES   I kept thinking jeez, this is a great presentation about the  
>> sociodynamic effect, that which sociometry reveals, and the social- 
>> organic unity that Moreno realized to be underneath the SDE. (AB:  
>> this sentence may be true, but I confess that I don't understand  
>> it, and explain why a little further on.)   ES  If you have the  
>> time and inclination, it's a great movie about the underlying  
>> elements of our method.  -- ES.
>>
>> AB: I'm trying to make the bridge between the movie and "underlying  
>> elements of our method," and I just fail to see it.
>>
>>      Perhaps what you mean is the fact that society contains  
>> hundreds of overlapping systems. (I would like to see more of an  
>> argument that there is a social-organic unity of any kind, other  
>> than the fact that certain social and psychological dynamics are  
>> common. I don't know that I'm ready to concede that any are  
>> universal. Jung more than Moreno spoke about some background themes.
>>          That all groups have dynamics of rapport I certainly would  
>> concede, just as I would concede that all groups have, say, sexual  
>> mores or food and feces management customs...
>>
>>        I would also say that there are systems in which there are  
>> more and less privileged persons in certain role areas, and that  
>> these have evolved over time; but very often the more privileged in  
>> certain ways also have more demands or obligations in other ways.  
>> So how does the sociodynamic effect deal with this?
>>
>>   Third, I am playing with the idea that oppression arises as  
>> complex systems arise. Oppression may be defined as the combination  
>> of a gradient of privilege mixed with a sense by most of the  
>> parties in the system that this is just the way reality is and must  
>> be. The idea has not yet become widespread that the system can be  
>> organized differently.
>>
>>     Another point of agreement in spirit with Ed is that no clear  
>> boundary can be drawn between social, sociological, interpersonal,  
>> psychological, economic, political, and even to some significant  
>> degree artistic, academic, and scientific institutions. (This  
>> harkens back to the concept of world-view.).  But I hesitate to say  
>> that all this is significantly addressed by Moreno; only that some  
>> of Moreno's insights do add more depth or texture to our  
>> understanding.
>>
>>    What I also question is whether there is any value to the  
>> concept of the sociodynamic effect: Under what circumstances is it  
>> useful to consider any organization that doesn't have this  
>> dynamic?  Or what we should do about it?
>>     Socially, perhaps it implies that more popular people might  
>> give a bit of their energy and time to including less popular people?
>>           Or should people with more money give any extra money to  
>> people with less money so that everyone has the same amount of money?
>>     I get confused and am willing to be instructed.
>>
>>               Warmly, Adam
>>
>
>
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