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Foxes vs. Hedgehogs

“The fox knows many things,

but the hedgehog knows one big thing.”

Archilochus

During my Being Data training course, one of the most fun parts is when participants try to figure out if they are foxes or hedgehogs.

I am a hedgehog by nature, but I fight –bravely– to become a fox. This is not easy, since hedgehogs have a structure that is as definitive to them as that of DNA. The central view is where the branches of the trunk make total sense and organize their universes. On the other hand, foxes follow several directions, including opposites; they cast questions, look for answers; are not afraid to experiment.

Hedgehogs are intellectuals, experts, headstrong, stubborn, ideological, confident, and analytical.

Foxes are artistic, generalist, adaptable, agreeable, cautious, empirical, and contextual.

What makes a bar, a store, or a bakery have a queue, while an identical business, in the same region, stays on the fly?

The bakery, okay. We can imagine one baker is much more talented than the other. But, what about the bar? And the store?

This is where, from an economic point of view, things get interesting. Part of renowned business advisors points to the hedgehog mentality as fundamental to success; the other part understands that foxes achieve it easier, as they adapt and are linked to more trends than hedgehogs. This brings us to the study of conflict.

Several theories revolve around the conflict caused by limited resources and groups adopting different strategies to obtain them.

The radicalization that we see today in many societies, between left and right is a classic example of one of the greatest conflict theorists that ever lived: Karl Marx and his belief that the bourgeois oppresses the proletarians in ways that go far beyond institutions.

The relationship between endemic and pandemic, as well as movement and trend, are also evaluated, both from a social and pathological perspective. Are we genetically aggressive, or only when we fight for something difficult to obtain?

Why wars, imperialism, and racial segregation?

The fact is that the dichotomy of society fosters conflict. There are bosses and employees, rich and poor. There are robberies and murders. The human being is hostile, even if there is possible compatibility, for instance, in the case of left and right radicals.

Contextualizing behavioral patterns, the opposites are always easier, as they presuppose the direct application of silencing, basal transcription, activated transcription, modularity, and combinatorial interaction techniques related to the mediatic particle.

What about you? Are you a fox or a hedgehog?

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