Difference between revisions of "Hierarchy of agreement"

Revision as of 19:14, 20 June 2015

About

The hierarchy of trust (or hierarchy of negotiation) is a way of ordering different levels of rationality in negotiations or discussions between two or more different entities.

As one entity loses trust in the other(s), the discussion moves down the hierarchy; as entities come to trust each other more, the discussion can move up the hierarchy. Higher levels are more likely to result in generally favorable (positive-sum) outcomes than lower levels.

The most basic levels are:

agreement: no real dispute; maybe some haggling over details, but nobody feels strongly that someone else is wrong
reasonable disagreement: A and B have reached different conclusions, but neither A nor B believes that the other's conclusion is unreasonable.
- That is, A and B are reaching different conclusions via intuition, but both A and B agree that the other's conclusions are consistent with the evidence.
- This presumes that A and B also have a body of mutually-agreed upon evidence.
unreasonable disagreement: A believes that B's conclusions make no sense, and vice-versa – but neither party feels it necessary to force their opinion on the other.
- This can mean either of the following:
  - A and B are working from a very different set of presumptions – but if both parties are reasoning from evidence, this can eventually be resolved.
  - Either A or B is not using rational analysis at all, but some other form of epistemology (e.g. received truth)
hostility: either A or B (or both) feels threatened by the other's position, and is prepared to use coercion (whether defensive or offensive) in order to ensure that their own position prevails within a given arena.
- Hostility can be either overt (a declaration of war) or covert (behind-the-scenes maneuvering to favor one's own position) to various degrees.
  - Propaganda, cold war, dog-whistles, and trade sanctions all fall somewhere along this spectrum.

(An older attempt at enumerating these levels is here.)

@@ Line 4: / Line 4: @@
 [[category:hierarchies]]
 </hide>
-==Notes==
-This is still a preliminary hypothesis, and may need to be reconceptualized in terms of independent attributes, most notably ''honesty'', ''judgment'', and ''complexity of thinking''.
 ==About==
-The [[hierarchy of trust]] (or [[hierarchy of negotiation]]) is a way of classifying trustworthiness of other participants in any negotiation, and hence how one relates to them.
+The [[hierarchy of trust]] (or [[hierarchy of negotiation]]) is a way of ordering different levels of [[rationality]] in negotiations or discussions between two or more different entities.
-The main levels are:
+As one entity loses trust in the other(s), the discussion moves down the hierarchy; as entities come to trust each other more, the discussion can move up the hierarchy. Higher levels are more likely to result in generally favorable (positive-sum) outcomes than lower levels.
-* '''Ally''': good intentions, good judgment, willing to provide material and informational resources towards helping others
-* '''Confidant/advisor''': good intentions, good judgment, willing to provide ''informational'' resources towards helping others
-* '''Trusted''': good intentions, good judgment, but not interested in analyzing from others' positions
-* '''Honest and well-meaning''': intentions are good, even if their judgment isn't reliably so
-* '''Openly self-interested''': presumably still truthful, but prioritizes own benefit over the common good
-* '''Untrustworthy''': prioritizes own self-interest over honesty, but is not actively seeking harm to others
-* '''Covertly hostile''': actively seeking goals known to be harmful to others, but trying to pretend that they are not
-* '''Overtly hostile''': openly seeking harmful goals
-In general, the trust-level of any conversation, from the point of view of any given participant ''X'', descends to the lowest (outermost) level to which any other participant has been assigned by ''X''; the "trust level" of any given conversation (from ''X'''s point-of-view) can therefore be characterized by the outermost-level participant present.
+The most basic levels are:
+* '''agreement''': no real dispute; maybe some haggling over details, but nobody feels strongly that someone else is wrong
+* '''reasonable disagreement''': A and B have reached different conclusions, but neither A nor B believes that the other's conclusion is unreasonable.
+** That is, A and B are reaching different conclusions via intuition, but both A and B agree that the other's conclusions are consistent with the evidence.
+** This presumes that A and B also have a body of mutually-agreed upon evidence.
+* '''unreasonable disagreement''': A believes that B's conclusions make no sense, and vice-versa &ndash; but neither party feels it necessary to force their opinion on the other.
+** This can mean either of the following:
+*** A and B are working from a very different set of presumptions &ndash; but if both parties are reasoning from evidence, this can eventually be resolved.
+*** Either A or B is not using rational analysis at all, but some other form of [[epistemology]] (e.g. [[received truth]])
+* '''hostility''': either A or B (or both) feels threatened by the other's position, and is prepared to use coercion (whether defensive or offensive) in order to ensure that their own position prevails within a given arena.
+** Hostility can be either overt (a declaration of war) or covert (behind-the-scenes maneuvering to favor one's own position) to various degrees.
+*** [[Propaganda]], [[cold war]], [[dog-whistle]]s, and [[trade sanction]]s all fall somewhere along this spectrum.
-More detail on some of the levels ''(these descriptions probably need a little reworking)'':
+(An older attempt at enumerating these levels is [[/v1|here]].)
-===Honest and Well-Meaning===
-* '''Definition''': Participant is believed to be both:
-** '''honest''': neither knowingly inventing details nor leaving out important information
-** '''well-meaning''': allowing the [[common good]], in at least some areas, to take priority over self-interest
-* '''Goal''': to maximize some combination of the [[common good]] and personal gain.
-* '''Benefits''':
-** Participant's opinions may be presumed to reflect what is good for everyone, not just for them (and argued with on that basis, if there is disagreement)
-* '''Common ground''': goals, trust, negotiation
-The participant may have more ''awareness'' of any decision's possible effects on her/his special areas of interest, and hence act as a sort of advisor to the group in that area, but s/he would not choose an action which favored such interests over the interests of others ''unless'' it also seemed to produce the best results overall (for society at large).
-This level of negotiation is especially vital in [[science]], where the convention in a disagreement is not only to assume your opponent's unswerving devotion to the discovery of [[truth]] (the "common good" which science aims to serve) but also to put the ''most charitable possible interpretation'' on any ambiguous statements s/he makes
-''There is a certain kind of discussion which can only take place at this level, but I am having difficulty characterizing it. --[[User:Woozle|Woozle]] 19:35, 28 August 2010 (UTC)''
-===Openly Self-Interested===
-* '''Definition''': The participant is believed to be '''honest''' (as above), but isn't willing to sacrifice local gains (i.e. gains for her/himself or the interests s/he represents) for the greater good without some sort of compensation.
-** Such compensation may be unwritten, as in "you owe me for this one", and hence is not always obvious.
-* '''Goal''': to maximize local gain (for self or constituency).
-** In practice, there is a social cost to embracing opinions seen to be harmful to society at large, so a self-interested negotiator will generally be willing to give the greater good ''some'' priority -- but only to the extent that the social gain of doing so outweighs the loss (or increased risk of loss) of supporting a decision which is locally detrimental.
-* '''Benefits''':
-** Participant can be trusted not to hide their personal stake in any particular decision; if they make a statement, it is because that is what they believe, not because they are trying to manipulate the discussion somehow.
-* '''Common ground''': trust, negotiation
-Negotiation at this level is generally of a [[quid pro quo]] nature.
-Political policy can be discussed at this level, but the results are generally consistent with the classic one-liner "if you like sausage and respect the law, you shouldn't watch either one being made". Policy is almost always better constructed if it is consistent with an overall political philosophy (or at least a set of mutually agreed-upon goals), for which an "honest and well-intentioned" discussion is required.
-===Untrustworthy===
-* '''Definition''': The participant knowingly misrepresents facts or her/himself, but always acts for her/his own local interest
-* '''Goal''': same as "openly self-interested", but may claim to have the greater interest as a top priority
-* '''Benefits for group''': is at least a rational actor; once her/his motives are understood, meaningful negotiation can take place
-* '''Disadvantages for group''': can't be trusted to keep promises, so agreements must have reliable means of enforcement
-* '''Common ground''': negotiation, manipulation
-Note that an untrustworthy participant who ''actually'' has the common good as a priority still cannot be trusted, as there is no way to establish that this is truly their goal. Such a participant might behave deceptively with good cause until s/he determined that others in the group could be trusted at a higher level.
-An untrustworthy negotiator may or may not be a rational actor.
-Negotiation at this level is generally of a [[carrot-and-stick]] nature.
-===Covertly Hostile===
-* '''Definition''': Entity does not engage in meaningful/honest negotiation, but may go through the motions for various reasons. Takes hostile actions but generally tries to justify them in terms of the common good, often using [[rhetorical deception]].
-* '''Common ground''': manipulation
-A hostile may or may not be a rational actor.
-===Overtly Hostile===
-* '''Definition''': Entity refuses to negotiate. May deliberately take actions which prevent negotiation from occurring (e.g. insulting or harming an agent who offers negotiation). Openly takes hostile actions and justifies them solely in terms of its own interest.
-* '''Common ground''': ''none''

Difference between revisions of "Hierarchy of agreement"

Revision as of 19:14, 20 June 2015

About

Navigation menu

Search