Pan-Optic Podcast

#18 - Reinventing Capitalism—Really? Hayek’s Theory of Prices, Technology, and the Yelp Mafia

Today, Jason and Juan Pablo discuss political theorist Evgeny Morozov’s article, “Digital Socialism? The Calculation Debate in the Age of Big Data” (NLR, 2019, https://newleftreview.org/issues/II116/articles/evgeny-morozov-digital-socialism). In this article, Morozov critiques the idea that technology will somehow reinvent capitalism. He argues that technology-enabled capitalism (technology within the logic of markets) is STILL capitalism and thus it does not escape challenges produced or compounded by capitalism. However, what if technology enablers could be applied beyond the realm of capitalism? Morozov posits that the public sphere could apply modern technologies (e.g. social media, knowledge management platforms, advanced analytics, artificial intelligence, etc.) to efficiently coordinate and solve problems outside the markets. Fascinating! But Jason and Juan Pablo are skeptical. Maybe not for the reasons you expect... In this episode, we address: the Austrian-British economist Friedrich Hayek’s successful theory of the relationships between knowledge, prices, and human behavior; markets vs. non-markets vs. new markets; existing technology enablers and how they map across the private and public spheres; challenges associated with technology ownership and maintaining a democratic process; and the problem of turning knowledge into meaningful action. We also harken back to our ongoing debate surrounding whether massive financial incentives are required to inspire innovation or make people want to solve the world’s most pressing social challenges. For more on this, listen to our previous “listener case study” episode called, “The Protestant Ethic, Instrumentalizing Everything, and Devotion to Work.” The views expressed on this podcast are our own. If you enjoy what you're hearing, please follow/support us through any of the below media: Twitter: twitter.com/Panopticpod
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 Website: www.panopticpod.com/
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#17 - Radicalization + Ideology (P3) - Notions of the Good & Strategic Communications

Pan-Optic is pleased to present part three of our three-part series on radicalization and ideology. In today’s episode, we address: individuation and socialization; a critique of generalizable interests; existential and absurdist interpretations of the ”ideological grounding” problem; the people side of mergers and acquisitions; applications to change management and strategic communications; and more. The views expressed on this podcast are our own. If you enjoy what you're hearing, please follow/support us through any of the below media: Twitter: twitter.com/Panopticpod
 Patreon: www.patreon.com/panopticpod
 Website: www.panopticpod.com/ Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pan-…st/id1475726450 Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/0edBN0huV1GkMFxSXErZIx

The Protestant Ethic, Instrumentalizing Everything, and Devotion to Work

Today’s episode is Pan-Optic’s first ever "personal case study" response, where we react to listener Sep’s account of working in big tech and grappling with feeling intellectually and morally limited by her work requirements and the logic of the firm. In reacting to Sep’s personal case study, we explore: Max Weber on the protestant work-oriented ethic; the tendency to justify something’s existence by instrumentalizing its purpose; Jason’s aversion to divine command theory; being socialized and acculturated within neoliberal and meritocratic structures; research on what motivates high-output performers; and who should be let on the plane first. Thank you Sep for an excellent submission. We hope we did you justice. Pan-Optic is always accepting personal case study submissions. Share your story by contacting us at panopticpod@gmail.com or through any of our social media platforms. We look forward to hearing from you and reacting to your story. Addendum: we are issuing a correction after failing to do our homework... Sep, who we addressed using he/him/his pronouns, goes by she/her/hers pronouns. HUGE apology to Sep! We really feel bad about this and won’t make the same mistake again. Thank you for going easy on us and for making our first personal case study reaction possible and so much fun. The views expressed on this podcast are our own. If you enjoy what you're hearing, please follow/support us through any of the below media: Twitter: twitter.com/Panopticpod Patreon: www.patreon.com/panopticpod Website: www.panopticpod.com/ Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pan-…st/id1475726450 Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/0edBN0huV1GkMFxSXErZIx

#16 - Radicalization + Ideology (P2) - Values, Discrimination, & Reliably Identifying Ideology

Pan-Optic is pleased to present part two of our three-part series on radicalization and ideology. In today’s episode, we address: the moral and legal implications of ideological discrimination; the extent to which government can avoid values-oriented decision making; a clear functional definition of ideology vs. a general definition of ideology; canonical social theoretical literature on ideology (Emile Durkheim and George Herbert Mead); the so-called ”loan wolf” phenomenon; and categorizations of violent activity. Part two sets the stage for our further reflections on notions of the good and the need to ground ideology in some normative framework to reliably identify “extreme.” The views expressed on this podcast are our own. If you enjoy what you're hearing, please follow/support us through any of the below media: Twitter: twitter.com/Panopticpod Patreon: www.patreon.com/panopticpod Website: www.panopticpod.com/ Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pan-…st/id1475726450 Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/0edBN0huV1GkMFxSXErZIx

#15 - Radicalization + Ideology (P1) - How to Recruit Pawns & Influence Behavior

Pan-Optic is pleased to present our three-part series on radicalization and ideology. In the knowledge age and especially in the COVID world, institutions are pressured to change the way they operate and do business frequently and rapidly. We spend much time pontificating about the need to transform workforces (us included), but often without considering the psychological precursors to attitudinal and behavioral change. To help address this problem, we consult the literature on radicalization and ideology with a mind toward the following questions: how do people fundamentally ideologically change? And how can we apply this knowledge to inspire adoption of change in the real world? In part one, we address: a framework for understanding how someone adopts violent ideology; why framing and frame alignment are key to making ideology stick; the case of “Boston Bomber” Tamerlan Tsarnaev; ethnographic approaches to capturing human intelligence; and the importance of identifying notions of the good or generalizable interests to differentiate normative ideology from potentially problematic ideology. Part one sets the stage for follow-on discussions surrounding the legal implications of managing ideology and uses and applications of radicalization theory for change leaders and managers. You may read Jason’s article, “Countering Jihadism in America: A Policy Review,” here: http://www.saisreview.org/2017/03/27/jihadism-in-america/. The views expressed on this podcast are our own. If you enjoy what you're hearing, please follow/support us through any of the below media: Twitter: twitter.com/Panopticpod Patreon: www.patreon.com/panopticpod Website: www.panopticpod.com/ Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pan-…st/id1475726450 Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/0edBN0huV1GkMFxSXErZIx