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Personally I found this bit very interesting: > The narrative really took on a life of its own when a New Yorker article in 1976 referred to "a sort of sit-dow
by vijayr02 6y ago
Personally I found this bit very interesting:
> The narrative really took on a life of its own when a New Yorker article in 1976 referred to "a sort of sit-down strike one day about half-way through the mission".
> From there the Harvard Business School built a case study on the perils of micromanagement called Strike in Space, which sourced the New Yorker article.
Reminded me of the Gell-Mann amnesia effect [0] but at a societal level. I wonder how much of our received wisdom is post facto rationalisation and speculative explanation.
Recent events in the world have reminded me of a mediaeval letter from father to son - the gist of it is that the son would be shocked if he knew how poorly the high and the mighty were at taking good decisions - it is only from a distance that power appears to be well exercised.
I can't find the specific reference, but would be very grateful if someone from the HN family could chime in :)
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Crichton#GellMannAmnesiaEffect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Crichton#GellMannAmnes...
- webreac 6y agoI love it. I will add to my list of favorite quotes. I am also interested by a full reference. thanx
- vijayr02 6y agoThanks :) I think a more earthy way to express it is: politics is like a sausage factory; if you knew how the sausages were made, you wouldn't eat them!
- KineticLensman 6y agoWhich IIRC was said by Bismarck, the chancellor of Prussia
- genocidicbunny 6y agoWikiquote actually seems to indicate that this is mis-attributed to him [0] and that it was said by John Godfrey Saxe first. [0] https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Otto_von_Bismarck https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Otto_von_Bismarck
- garmaine 6y ago...which is a perfect example of the effect in question.
- cesis 6y agoAre you thinking of Machiavelli?
- vijayr02 6y agoI don't think so. I have a hazy memory that I actuallyb learnt the reference on HN - maybe I'm wrong but the woolly context I have is of a respected prime minister approaching the end of a long career, coaching his son and successor. Unlike Machiavelli, who if I remember correctly actually had a very poor relationship with the ruling family after a brief period of success.
- juhanima 6y agoPerhaps this one? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axel_Oxenstierna#Quotation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axel_Oxenstierna#Quotation Axel Oxenstjärna was the Lord High Chancellor of Sweden during king Gustavus Adolphus II, who fought in the 30-year war. Not exactly medieval, but fits the description otherwise.
- vijayr02 6y agoThis is the one! Thanks
- juhanima 6y agoWhile Gustavus was a brave soldier, he was known to be a bit foolhardy. Besided getting himself killed in the battle of Lützen 1632, the story of the Vasa ship may have been what Oxenstjärna had in mind. Against the advice of his engineers, the king ordered his new flagship to be loaded with so many guns that she capsized and sunk outside of the Stockholm harbour on her maiden voyage only having sailed a short while.
- ljlolel 6y agoFunny, is that the one they made the museum out of?
- juhanima 6y agoYes, definitely worth checking out. The ship was preserved very well in the oxygen-depleted waters of the Baltic and is almost in a pristine condition. This is very off-topic, but I cannot resist mentioning that when the ship was recovered from the bottom of the sea in 1961, one of the first things discovered from it was a miniature statue of Finnish olympic winner Paavo Nurmi. One of the best pranks by the student association of the Helsinki University of Technology. https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/62jm2z/til_in_1961_finnish_studends_placed_20th_century/ https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/62jm2z/til_i...
- rudolfwinestock 6y ago“An nescis, fili mi, quantilla prudentia mundus regatur?” “Do you not know, my son, with how little prudence the world is ruled?” Scandinavian nobility still used Latin commonly in those days.
- ljlolel 6y agoAlso look up how “Stockholm Syndrome” was made up More swedish examples coincidental
- dingaling 6y agoReferencing the alleged Gell-Mann effect is a self-referential example of itself in action. Why would you nod your head and say "oh that sounds authoritive and authentic" when it was an concept invented by a sci-fi author unilatetally using the surname of a friend for more gravitas? There were no studies or published papers about the effect, he literally invented it on his own initiative. If I read an inaccurate article in a paper and then turn the page I don't suddenly 'forget' their lack of accuracy and read the next article uncritically, and I don't know anyone who does.