Melting pots or patchworks

Cruelty can be described as well used (if it is permissible to say good words about something evil in itself) when it is performed all at once, for reasons of self-preservation; and when the acts are not repeated after that, but rather are turned as much as possible to the advantage of the subjects. Cruelty is badly used, when it is infrequent at first, but increases with time instead of diminishing.

The Prince
Niccolò MACHIAVELLI

Diversity
Epistemology
Phenocopy
Acentered systems and hierarchies
Presocratics
Royaumont

Order, disorder, cruelty

The unconventional structure called Fondation Transcultura, created by Alain Le Pichon on the basis of a concept proposed by Anne Retel-Laurentin (1925-1983) and chaired by Umberto Eco (1932-2016), and supported for a time by the Fondation Charles Léopold Mayer, organised a meeting in Beijing (march 3-6, 2007) with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences to discuss the epistemological and ethical consequences of the concept of order, including in the field of human rights.

Cruelty is invented by the weak to fend off the strong [analogous to poison], among closely related members of a particular population. The long-term benefit is the creation of barriers that lead to speciation. This is reflected in civil wars, such as that in Greece between 1944 and 1949 , or more recently in the Balkans. In biological terms, it prevents pan-mixing, leading to the formation of recombinants of different types, which, although closely related to their origins, can easily differentiate themselves, creating sub-populations. In terms of cultures, this is creates groups that invent a history that they do not want to share with others, thus creating effective barriers to intercultural marriages. The closer the groups are, the more cruel they have to be to separate from each other.

The text of the presentation Order, Disorder, Cruelty is in French, and the slides of the presentation are in English.

MELTING POTS OR PATCHWORKS