Centimeter or inch? Celsius or Fahrenheit? Kilogram or pound? As long as we know the conversion, we can use any scale and communicate with one another. Living in a country that uses the metric system? Living in one with the Imperial system? Doesn’t matter. Just use the formulae for conversions.
In cultural matters we also try to convert scalar units. Sometimes we get the conversion right. Often we get it wrong. What are we actually measuring when we deal with cultural matters?
Cultural scales imply values, and in values conversions often fail. That’s one of the reasons that humans have always been in a pickle, at least that’s a reason from the first division of humans on tribal or generational lines. We can’t convert the value scales very easily. And we run into the same difficulty between any two humans.
If you walk into a paint store or the paint aisle of a Home Depot or Lowe’s, you will see color charts. The hues of paint are very much like the scales of values in each of us, but it’s difficult for us to see that exact hue of value that another sees because, in fact, we do not have those handy paint color charts. Let’s call it the Principle of Scalar Failure.
That lack of a scalar conversion system makes my seeing your values in the same way that you see them. At least, the Principle of Scalar Failure indicates that I won’t be able to place the same unit of appreciation or acceptance on your values that you place on them. Your value unit might be a notch higher or lower or a hue brighter or duller than mine. Or, I might not even be able to discern your scale because I lack both a conversion formula and a series of value gradations like those in the paint store.
One wonders how we ever get along today or how we ever got along in the past. One wonders whether the Principle of Scalar Failure isn’t the source of conflict between cultures. One wonders whether we will ever have the conversion formulae that will eliminate misunderstanding, unite the value units, and bring peace to our species.
In cultural matters we also try to convert scalar units. Sometimes we get the conversion right. Often we get it wrong. What are we actually measuring when we deal with cultural matters?
Cultural scales imply values, and in values conversions often fail. That’s one of the reasons that humans have always been in a pickle, at least that’s a reason from the first division of humans on tribal or generational lines. We can’t convert the value scales very easily. And we run into the same difficulty between any two humans.
If you walk into a paint store or the paint aisle of a Home Depot or Lowe’s, you will see color charts. The hues of paint are very much like the scales of values in each of us, but it’s difficult for us to see that exact hue of value that another sees because, in fact, we do not have those handy paint color charts. Let’s call it the Principle of Scalar Failure.
That lack of a scalar conversion system makes my seeing your values in the same way that you see them. At least, the Principle of Scalar Failure indicates that I won’t be able to place the same unit of appreciation or acceptance on your values that you place on them. Your value unit might be a notch higher or lower or a hue brighter or duller than mine. Or, I might not even be able to discern your scale because I lack both a conversion formula and a series of value gradations like those in the paint store.
One wonders how we ever get along today or how we ever got along in the past. One wonders whether the Principle of Scalar Failure isn’t the source of conflict between cultures. One wonders whether we will ever have the conversion formulae that will eliminate misunderstanding, unite the value units, and bring peace to our species.
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