Speculation was historically viewed as both a civilizing force and an untamed natural force.
Evidence
Preda (2009) demonstrates how the pervasiveness of speculation in the social realm works to challenge but also to cement “order.” He analyses a wealth of sources from that era, from political and financial speeches to Zola’s L’Argent (1891) to unpack links between speculation and social mobility, foresight and progress, and peace–but also wild adventure. Speculation, he argues, was seen as a “civilising factor and untamed natural force at the same time” (179). — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities, 423
Categorization
- DEFINE: Useful for building the definition of homo speculans against the historical dual framing of speculation.
- XREF: connects to: Speculation was historically regarded as both a civilizing influence and a wild force simultaneously — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities: Living with…, 622
- yield-rescued: below the book’s yield-target cutoff, included anyway for connecting to: Speculation was historically regarded as both a civilizing influence and a wild force simultaneously — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities: Living with…, 622
Broader Connections
- Speculation was historically regarded as both a civilizing influence and a wild force simultaneously
#corroborates(1.00) — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities, 622