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Oh, fair enough. Even so, I don't think that sort of thing (refined collective memory, among simple tasks) happens, except in select societies and subcultures.

Oh, fair enough. Even so, I don't think that sort of thing (refined collective memory, among simple tasks) happens, except in select societies and subcultures. Large retail operations in the United States do well at supply chain efficiency, but the last mile is still pretty desolate and miserable. There are still signs of life in smaller or more careful operations, but most corporate store fronts are filled with hateful misery, and I remember being a part of it and feeling all the reasons to hate it, for several years of summer jobs. I didn't even catch the taste of a vaguely desirable job until my late twenties, and I think I'd choose death over a backslide. Having to face radiation, on top of surrendering 40 hours of my waking life, all while watchng how others live across the internet and on TV, I'm sometimes baffled by the safety of anything at all.

inopinatus 9y ago
It does seem to be an emergent property of some cultures. My wife, being of Chinese origins, observes frequently on the east Asian preference for collective thought and action, usually contrasting this with her experiences as a senior manager in a western hierarchy. There are downsides to groupthink, too, though; as a perhaps extreme example, the Fukushima disaster has been partly blamed on the resulting aversion to questioning a status quo. Here in Australia, and also in the US, I think some managers are not happy until they've reduced every job to a process job. There are still companies where this is not the case, and if you cannot find one, it is also easier here to start your own.