Re: query: Marx "quote"

[Jim Devine <jdevine03@xxxxxxxxx>]

raghu wrote:
> In particular, the emergence of Statistics led Adolph Quetelet and
> others to formulate "a generalized notion of the normal as an
> imperative"(Davis 11).  Through his construct of l'homme moyen
> physique and l'homme moyen morale, a physical and moral average man,
> Quetelet creates a range of deviance from this average which positions
> all people either to the left or right of center and punishes those
> who find themselves occupying the extreme left or right of the
> statistical bell curve.  Contributing to an additive effect, Marx also
> cites Quetelet regarding this concept of an average / normal man in
> the context of labor theory of value, that within an enforcement of
> normalcy, societal deviations "in terms of the distribution of wealth
> for example, must be minimized"(13).

the fits with what I read: Marx sees market forces in the labor-power
market (and capitalist-managerial efforts) as encouraging the
reduction of diverse, concrete labor to "average" or "abstract" labor.
The quote at the end is what Taleb quotes, but it's still unclear
where it comes from, since it's a quote from Marx quoted by Davis.  It
might also be seen in terms of markets minimizing deviations.

BTW, it looks almost as if Taleb plagiarized this passage.

--
Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own
way and let people talk.) --  Karl, paraphrasing Dante.