QUERY UN Development Goal Dynamics

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Luis Gutierrez <LTG214B@veriz
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Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Mar 29, 2002 3:39 am

QUERY UN Development Goal Dynamics

Post by Luis Gutierrez <LTG214B@veriz »

Posted by Luis Gutierrez <LTG214B@verizon.net>

Greetings,

Is anyone working on the implementation dynamics for the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), specifically MDG 3 (the promotion of gender equality)?

Even though I am a religious person myself, my working hypothesis is that the human propensity to violence is rooted in pre-historical religious violence. This propensity to violence persists today in both secular and religious institutions, and is manifested as various kinds of patriarchal domination which transcend geography, culture, ethnicity, etc. Gender inequalities everywhere are the most pervasive form of violence and is (I think) the greatest obstacle to human and social development, nationally and internationally.

I self-publish a free monthly newsletter that takes the MDGs as point of reference. Please take a look when time permits -- the link to the home page is under my signature below. In connection with MDG3, I am seeking causal loop insights and trend data on the dynamics of gender violence ( in either secular or religious institutions) as a significant roadblock to human and sustainable development.

I would be grateful for any suggestions or pointers.

Sincerely,
Luis
Posted by Luis Gutierrez <LTG214B@verizon.net> posting date Sun, 04 Mar 2007 01:29:49 -0500 _______________________________________________
""Alan Graham"" <Alan.Graham@
Junior Member
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri Mar 29, 2002 3:39 am

QUERY UN Development Goal Dynamics

Post by ""Alan Graham"" <Alan.Graham@ »

Posted by ""Alan Graham"" <Alan.Graham@paconsulting.com>

Hi Luis,

About religious roots of prehistoric warfare:

Have a look at John Keegan's A History of Warfare. My reading is that he pretty well captures the dynamics of prehistoric warfare as an institutionalized extension of handling conflicts among groups, possibly involving religious institutions, but often not. That is, religion may be a convenient tag-line, but hardly a root cause. And European history from the ""fall"" of Rome to the Reformation demonstrates that one can have numerous major wars, among parties all acknowledging the same religion and religious leaders.

The dynamics of conflict (and for that matter, probably enduring gender biases, too) lie somewhere between system dynamics and dynamic game theory, in terms of evidence supporting beliefs about social norms and appropriate means for obtaining them, between different contiguous groups, a variability in intensity of beliefs, and expecially perceptions of what kind of means are appropriate to effectively further the beliefs. Certainly there are many conflicts and issues today that fall into something like that framework.

My PhD Thesis (MIT 1977) shows a goal-seeking structure with floating goals where the actual time constant of change is far larger than any of the explicit and apparent time constants in the system. I would expect that similar dynamics lie at the core of the persistence of statistical stereotyping, be it on the basis of gender, race, or whatever.
Everybody believes that something is so, acts on that basis, it continues to be so, and so people factually believe it. This despite everybody's true general willingness to change. ""Complex systems are counterintuitive.""

Cheers,

Alan


Alan K. Graham, PhD
Federal and Defense Services
PA Consulting Group
Posted by ""Alan Graham"" <Alan.Graham@paconsulting.com> posting date Wed, 7 Mar 2007 22:16:02 -0500 _______________________________________________
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