Sunday, October 30, 2011

Practice and language shape habits of mind

From Unsettled civilizations: How the US can handle Iraq by Reuven Brenner.

On some of the critical distinctions between mobile (Enlightenment Age cultures) and immobile (those based on natural resources and agriculture) cultures. In this case he is discussing risk and probability.
Practice and language shape habits of mind. The greater the role of business and the more transactions, the more complex calculations of probability become, and the notion of probabilities change, imperceptibly, perhaps, all facets of life. To describe transactions is far from a trivial exercise, as even a casual look at any investment prospectus illustrates. Prices, which are present values of goods and services to be delivered in the future, are approximations, reflecting expectations and probabilities. Because of difficulties in fulfillment when pricing uncertain quantities, price becomes just one feature of a complex contractual agreement. It is not surprising, that in mobile societies, with developing capital markets, discussions about probability, risk and uncertainty are linked to both legal reasoning and the institutions needed to back contractual agreements.

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