Kill the Culture and Burn the Pulpit Part 2: Cultural Change

[Captain Utopia]

A group of people is a unit.  An individual is a unit.  Saying "a group of individuals" vs. "a group" vs. "an individual" seems to be mixing domains, and it's confusing the hell out of me 

[Adios]

A group of people is a unit.  An individual is a unit.  Saying "a group of individuals" vs. "a group" vs. "an individual" seems to be mixing domains, and it's confusing the hell out of me 

I give up. Simply trying to put my opinion across I seem to have pissed off a friend. This isn't worth that.

[Captain Utopia]

Aw c'mon, don't take it personally, this is PD.com - every time we try to have a fight a discussion breaks out.

[The Wizard]

Aw c'mon, don't take it personally, this is PD.com - every time we try to have a fight a discussion breaks out.

It's just annoying when the fight causes the conversation to go around in circles.

[Captain Utopia]

We can't change culture - it's true. And to do so would be somewhat orwellian. But we can change individuals, and that's where culture comes from.

I'm going to look at this through the lens of broadcast vs. peer-to-peer communication, because it seems that in a broadcast communication environment, it's easier to change a culture to effect change on individuals.  It's a simple matter of putting out a few public service commercials and commissioning runs of "I Love Lucy", and "Leave it to Beaver" because those archetypes will seep into the consciousness of millions, and few of them will have any way to contradict it.  The majority will feel happier and compliant without knowing why.

But in a p2p communication environment, when anybody can easily see what everybody else is getting up to then you have much less lee-way in your myth-building.  You have less control over the direction a culture takes, but can more easily target individuals.  Instead of actors, there are real people as leaders in sub-cultures.  Even if some of those are plants or otherwise controlled    then I still don't see how anyone could control a culture whether you're just some kid or a shadowy sinister organisation of elite mindbenders.

I think that's awesome.

[Captain Utopia]

I want to go back to the idea of increasing the ability of culture-jamming and art to affect a culture.  Because what if we found a way to use these tools much more effectively towards our individual goals, and were able to distribute both the concept and the knowledge to a massive audience - problem solved?

I don't think so - it seems to me that there would be a directionless cacophony of creativity and energy.  Without collaboration between those individuals for the goals they share, how would anything bigger get accomplished.  I guess I'll stop there because I seem to be heading towards ground I've trodden before, but I'd be curious to see someone elses take on that problem.

[The Wizard]

I want to go back to the idea of increasing the ability of culture-jamming and art to affect a culture.

Awesome.

I've been planning to try and organize a massive, focused strike on a major city using culture jamming groups. Just to see if they can work together, and whether the movement is capable of having an effect.

[Captain Utopia]

I think the answer is "yes", but the questions are "to what end" and "how".  Perhaps the latter will follow from the former?

[The Wizard]

I think the answer is "yes", but the questions are "to what end" and "how".  Perhaps the latter will follow from the former?

Pretty much. Once I'm sure I can make use of the culture jamming movement, then I'll start making plans on how to use it.

[President Television]

I don't think so - it seems to me that there would be a directionless cacophony of creativity and energy.

This sounds desirable enough to me. I'd love to be in a city when that went off.
Not that it would really change anything, but it would be fun.

[The Wizard]

This sounds desirable enough to me. I'd love to be in a city when that went off.
Not that it would really change anything, but it would be fun.

Good point. So even if they prove to not be effective, it'll still be fun as hell. 

[President Television]

This sounds desirable enough to me. I'd love to be in a city when that went off.
Not that it would really change anything, but it would be fun.

Good point. So even if they prove to not be effective, it'll still be fun as hell. 

It's all about having a good time. If you can still have a good time, that proves that the world hasn't gone completely to shit. The mere existence of such an event would be a demonstration of free will, like the FUCKING ORANGE EATING CONTEST. There's no reason for it to happen, therefore it is necessary.

[The Wizard]

It's all about having a good time. If you can still have a good time, that proves that the world hasn't gone completely to shit. The mere existence of such an event would be a demonstration of free will, like the FUCKING ORANGE EATING CONTEST. There's no reason for it to happen, therefore it is necessary.

Damn right. Also, I liked that last sentence. Mind if I use it for something?

[President Television]

It's all about having a good time. If you can still have a good time, that proves that the world hasn't gone completely to shit. The mere existence of such an event would be a demonstration of free will, like the FUCKING ORANGE EATING CONTEST. There's no reason for it to happen, therefore it is necessary.

Damn right. Also, I liked that last sentence. Mind if I use it for something?

Go ahead.

[Cramulus]

I had to think more on the culture jammer thing.

The situationists were the predecessors to the culture jammers,  and they definitely understood that you can't just tell people to quit participating in their culture. You have to provide an alternative, a new culture for them to participate in instead. They had a few techniques they used to start building a new france on top of the old france.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychogeography - the idea that you can influence the city's culture by playing with its geography. Project POSTERGASM is a part of this. I thought, let's take the stuff you expect to see and replace it with a joke you didn't expect to see. The people walking around in this area will be influenced by humor and fun, playfully inserted where you'd expect an ad or a missing cat poster.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dérive - the Derive is the act of wandering around, drifting from place to place, getting into adventures. In order to do it, you can't be in the mindset of "I'm on an errand" or "I'm on my way to the local coffee shop to read for 30 minutes." If you embrace the unexpected, and are willing to take chances, you'll end up in some really cool situations.