To my mind the most interesting aspect of 'tribe' is that it also connotes
issues of identity. You (more or less) get some measure of identity from
belonging to a tribe. When I tell about my affiliations to colleagues from
different fields, I refer to myself as a card-carrying member of the Kellyan
tribe. I have noticed that other tribal members differ as to whether they
have membership in multiple tribes, extent of loyalty, extent of
acknowledging (respecting/ ignoring/ fighting) neighboring tribes etc.
As to the prime topic here - how does our tribe deal with an outsider, and
what can we learn from this - I'll return to this topic later since I happen
to know Bill Chambers quite well, having been his guest for several weeks
back in 1988.
I then made several notes especially on the coordinate grid which I will dig
forth when there is a day or two without pressing duties. Meanwhile it
could be interesting to think about =7Fpersons in other fields who to some
have been misunderstood geniuses to others enfant terribles or just
crackpots. A local example easily coming to mind is Wilhelm Reich who still
has a strong standing in Norway. A possible moral is that our
constructivistic heritage should encourage us to shun either/or thinking,
but there is also the problem of keeping the tribe intact.. And keeping
several perspectives in mind at the same time may be quite a strain. (I
could recount several illustrative, concrete episodes with Bill, but will
not burden the list with this, rather here state that persons who happen to
have a strong interest in background material can write to me directly.)
Finn Tschudi
University of Oslo
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