3 ms·

Could you spell out more what you mean?

torstenvl 4y ago
Presumably https://www.tesd.net/cms/lib/PA01001259/Centricity/Domain/1114/BowlingAlone.pdf https://www.tesd.net/cms/lib/PA01001259/Centricity/Domain/11...
- zeroonetwothree 4y ago
  Ironic given it’s from 1995. I assume the WaPo article imagines that was a golden age
  - rossdavidh 4y ago
    Well Putnam's book suggested that it was a longstanding trend that just kept getting worse, so each decade would be a golden age compared to what came later.
    - lumb63 4y ago
      I’ve been reading Jacques Ellul’s The Technological Society lately (1960s), and it was absolutely an issue back then, according to him.
- tarboreus 4y ago
  Would still like to hear the precis.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
- FooBarBizBazz 4y ago
  Bowling Alone was very well received when it came out, but there has been another thread of articles that have been more controversial. I believe a relevant title is: E Pluribus Unum: Diversity and Community in the Twenty-first Century The punchline has been that, if you are not careful, increasing diversity can lead to decreased trust in society, and with it, decreased social capital. The idea is that nobody feels really safe (in a social sense), and so you see a pattern of withdrawal. I think this is a challenge that he wants liberal societies to successfully address. It's a warning when he says it, not a call for homogeneity.
  - dangus 4y ago
    The key to avoiding distrust is by systemically avoiding segregation. There's nothing wrong with diversity itself.
    - FooBarBizBazz 4y ago
      I believe this is in line with "contact theory", the naive version of which Putnam's statistics seem to refute. Unsegregated areas usually have lower trust, at least in the short term. But. Categorizations change over time, and many lines that used to be important no longer are. So he holds out hope that the same blurring can occur to the lines that matter today. He suggests that the formation of higher identity -- perhaps a civic nationalism like we see in Ukraine -- is the way forward. The main positive example he can point to that spans current lines, and not obsolete ones, is the Army, which arguably does just that. To a lesser extent, he also mentions the Catholic Church, which -- like Islam, I will add -- provides a higher identity that spans ethnicities. I've heard some other authors make similar calls, e.g. Francis Fukuyama.
      - dangus 4y ago
        As a generality, I'm wary of leaning too heavily on a single author's philosophy, especially in social sciences. In that regard, I don't agree with everything Putnam puts forward.
- scythe 4y ago
  It's a bit odd seeing that in the context of 'Mountain_Skies's claims. Putnam is very noncommittal about his suggested possible causes, with the notable exception of blaming television — but blaming technology for social isolation is neither new nor reasonably possible to ignore in 2022 — although the included response to Putnam (which frankly mischaracterizes his argument) does show that he created quite a stir when he originally published the article.

Presumably https://www.tesd.net/cms/lib/PA01001259/Centricity/Domain/1114/BowlingAlone.pdf https://www.tesd.net/cms/lib/PA01001259/Centricity/Domain/11...

zeroonetwothree 4y ago
Ironic given it’s from 1995. I assume the WaPo article imagines that was a golden age
- rossdavidh 4y ago
  Well Putnam's book suggested that it was a longstanding trend that just kept getting worse, so each decade would be a golden age compared to what came later.
  - lumb63 4y ago
    I’ve been reading Jacques Ellul’s The Technological Society lately (1960s), and it was absolutely an issue back then, according to him.
tarboreus 4y ago
Would still like to hear the precis.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
FooBarBizBazz 4y ago
Bowling Alone was very well received when it came out, but there has been another thread of articles that have been more controversial. I believe a relevant title is: E Pluribus Unum: Diversity and Community in the Twenty-first Century The punchline has been that, if you are not careful, increasing diversity can lead to decreased trust in society, and with it, decreased social capital. The idea is that nobody feels really safe (in a social sense), and so you see a pattern of withdrawal. I think this is a challenge that he wants liberal societies to successfully address. It's a warning when he says it, not a call for homogeneity.
- dangus 4y ago
  The key to avoiding distrust is by systemically avoiding segregation. There's nothing wrong with diversity itself.
  - FooBarBizBazz 4y ago
    I believe this is in line with "contact theory", the naive version of which Putnam's statistics seem to refute. Unsegregated areas usually have lower trust, at least in the short term. But. Categorizations change over time, and many lines that used to be important no longer are. So he holds out hope that the same blurring can occur to the lines that matter today. He suggests that the formation of higher identity -- perhaps a civic nationalism like we see in Ukraine -- is the way forward. The main positive example he can point to that spans current lines, and not obsolete ones, is the Army, which arguably does just that. To a lesser extent, he also mentions the Catholic Church, which -- like Islam, I will add -- provides a higher identity that spans ethnicities. I've heard some other authors make similar calls, e.g. Francis Fukuyama.
    - dangus 4y ago
      As a generality, I'm wary of leaning too heavily on a single author's philosophy, especially in social sciences. In that regard, I don't agree with everything Putnam puts forward.
scythe 4y ago
It's a bit odd seeing that in the context of 'Mountain_Skies's claims. Putnam is very noncommittal about his suggested possible causes, with the notable exception of blaming television — but blaming technology for social isolation is neither new nor reasonably possible to ignore in 2022 — although the included response to Putnam (which frankly mischaracterizes his argument) does show that he created quite a stir when he originally published the article.