Never Saw It Coming: Cultural Challenges to Envisioning the WorstUniversity of Chicago Press, 15. sep. 2008 - 336 sider People—especially Americans—are by and large optimists. They're much better at imagining best-case scenarios (I could win the lottery!) than worst-case scenarios (A hurricane could destroy my neighborhood!). This is true not just of their approach to imagining the future, but of their memories as well: people are better able to describe the best moments of their lives than they are the worst. “In Never Saw It Coming, Karen Cerulo argues that in American society there is a ‘positive symmetry,’ a tendency to focus on and exaggerate the best, the winner, the most optimistic outcome and outlook. Thus, the conceptions of the worst are underdeveloped and elided. Naturally, as she masterfully outlines, there are dramatic consequences to this characterological inability to imagine and prepare for the worst, as the failure to heed memos leading up to both the 9/11 and NASA Challenger disasters, for instance, so painfully reminded us.”--Robin Wagner-Pacifici, Swarthmore College “Katrina, 9/11, and the War in Iraq—all demonstrate the costliness of failing to anticipate worst-case scenarios. Never Saw It Coming explains why it is so hard to do so: adaptive behavior hard-wired into human cognition is complemented and reinforced by cultural practices, which are in turn institutionalized in the rules and structures of formal organizations. But Karen Cerulo doesn’t just diagnose the problem; she uses case studies of settings in which people effectively anticipate and deal with potential disaster to describe structural solutions to the chronic dilemmas she describes so well. Never Saw It Coming is a powerful contribution to the emerging fields of cognitive and moral sociology.”--Paul DiMaggio, Princeton University |
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... tion or achievement completely ignore the worst , directing participants solely toward dimensions of excellence . Similarly , many quality gauges operate according to “ minimum standards of excellence . ” To be sure , this technique ...
... tion may enter through one's eyes or ears ; it may enter in the form of a scent or touch ; it may even present itself as an idea or a memory . Thinking begins when the brain “ takes hold ” of such information and centers it in conscious ...
... tion. For example, if the brain recognizes a neighbor's pet as a wolf rather than a dog, one can interpret the situation as dangerous and tailor one's actions accordingly. In the same way, recognizing the differences between a child and ...
... tion; it may grade the Chevrolet Corvette as a better fit than the Volkswagen Beetle when it comes to the concept of sleekness of form. The process of graded membership follows from the very structure of concepts. The most central ...
... tion of habitus.30 Different social sectors render different cultural knowl- edge , thus producing different habitus in the minds of a sector's members . Considered in this way , one might say that in acquiring a habitus , individuals ...
Indhold
1 | |
17 | |
3 Practicing Positive Asymmetry | 72 |
4 Positive Asymmetry and the Subjective Side of Scientific Measurement | 122 |
5 Being Labeled the Worst Real in Its Consequences? | 139 |
6 Exceptions to the Rule | 164 |
7 Emancipating Structures and Cognitive Styles | 193 |
8 Can Symmetrical Vision Be Achieved? | 233 |
Acknowledgments | 344 |
1 Whats the Worst That Could Happen? | 1 |
2 The Breadth and Scope of Positive Asymmetry | 17 |
3 Practicing Positive Asymmetry | 72 |
4 Positive Asymmetry and the Subjective Side of Scientific Measurement | 122 |
5 Being Labeled the Worst Real in Its Consequences? | 139 |
6 Exceptions to the Rule | 164 |
7 Emancipating Structures and Cognitive Styles | 193 |
Notes | 245 |
References | 279 |
Index | 315 |
Contents | 342 |
8 Can Symmetrical Vision Be Achieved? | 233 |
Notes | 245 |
References | 279 |
Index | 315 |
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Never Saw It Coming: Cultural Challenges to Envisioning the Worst Karen A. Cerulo Begrænset visning - 2008 |
Never Saw It Coming: Cultural Challenges to Envisioning the Worst Karen A. Cerulo Ingen forhåndsvisning - 2006 |
Never Saw It Coming: Cultural Challenges to Envisioning the Worst Karen A. Cerulo Ingen forhåndsvisning - 2006 |