Mapping the Entrails: The Practice of Greek Hepatoscopy

Collins, Derek

doi:10.1353/ajp.0.0016

Cited by 37 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…They are associated with 'reading' signs and interpreting information that would be unintelligible to a non-soothsayer, e.g. animal entrails [34] or patterns in the stars [94]. As well as 'reading' information and assimilating data, they make judgements and advise their stakeholders on the path to take, even including which path is permitted.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

'Cyber security is a dark art': The CISO as soothsayer

Silva¹,

Jensen²

2022

Preprint

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Commercial organisations continue to face a growing and evolving threat of data breaches and system compromises, making their cyber-security function critically important. Many organisations employ a Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) to lead such a function. We conducted in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 15 CISOs and six senior organisational leaders, between October 2019 and July 2020, as part of a wider exploration into the purpose of CISOs and cyber-security functions. In this paper, we employ broader security scholarship related to ontological security and sociological notions of identity work to provide an interpretative analysis of the CISO role in organisations. Research findings reveal that cyber security is an expert system that positions the CISO as an interpreter of something that is mystical, unknown and fearful to the uninitiated. They show how the fearful nature of cyber security contributes to it being considered an ontological threat by the organisation, while responding to that threat contributes to the organisation's overall identity. We further show how cyber security is analogous to a belief system and how one of the roles of the CISO is akin to that of a modernday soothsayer for senior management; that this role is precarious and, at the same time, superior, leading to alienation within the organisation. Our study also highlights that the CISO identity of protector-from-threat, linked to the precarious position, motivates self-serving actions that we term 'cyber sophistry'. We conclude by outlining a series of implications for both organisations and CISOs.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

'Cyber security is a dark art': The CISO as soothsayer

Silva¹,

Jensen²

2022

Preprint

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“…For example, the classical process of haruspicy (the examination of the entrails of sacrificed animals in classical times) required multiple skills (and trained experts called haruspices). It had explicit rules and was widely used to forecast events (2). Astrology is another such process (3).…”

Section: Definitions and Adjectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Redefining Health Technology Assessment: A Comment on “The New Definition of Health Technology Assessment: A Milestone in International Collaboration”

Culyer

Husereau

2022

Int J Technol Assess Health Care

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A new definition of health technology assessment (HTA), developed by an International Joint Task Group claims to be a “milestone,” “an historic achievement,” and “a cornerstone reference”—claims that we think to be unjustified. We too favor clear definitions, especially when confusion abounds. However, the Task Group seems to have developed a definition without the help of usual conventions regarding definitions and, in our view, through an ill-described process. A definition ought to differentiate the entity defined from other entities. This one fails to do so. It states traits that are true of HTA (e.g., that is interdisciplinary) but HTA is not alone in this. There are other concerns: examples of HTA’s use are embodied in the definition, precluding other uses; the adjectives used, although generally true of HTA, are not differentiating features; and attributing to HTA specific purposes, thereby excluding other purposes. We have sympathy for these purposes but cannot consider them HTA’s only purposes or even, its main purpose. A newcomer to HTA, on reading this definition, will have no idea of HTA’s true potential. These numerous failings, we feel, send all the wrong signals, and could ultimately weaken, rather than strengthen perceptions of HTA’s legitimacy and objectivity. The production of a good definition remains, therefore, a work in progress.

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“…¹⁸ For an attempt to reconstruct how Greek hepatoscopy might have worked (interesting if speculative), see Collins 2008. ¹⁹ Schilling 1962.…”

Section: Homing In On Divination: Current Models Of the Quest For Litmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unsuccessful Sacrifice in Roman State Divination

Driediger-Murphy¹

2019

Ancient Divination and Experience

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This chapter explores what Romans thought they were doing through sacrifice, and what this can tell us about Roman conceptions of the relationship between gods and human beings. The chapter focuses on those animal sacrifices that Romans believed had been unsuccessful in that they had failed to please the gods. The chapter queries the current consensus that Roman divinatory sacrifices generally proceeded until a favourable sign was obtained (usque ad litationem). It is argued that Roman magistrates took signs from failed sacrifices more seriously than we have often thought, and that this behaviour can be read as evidence that they were anxious about their relationship with their gods.

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Mapping the Entrails: The Practice of Greek Hepatoscopy

Cited by 37 publications

References 17 publications

'Cyber security is a dark art': The CISO as soothsayer

'Cyber security is a dark art': The CISO as soothsayer

Redefining Health Technology Assessment: A Comment on “The New Definition of Health Technology Assessment: A Milestone in International Collaboration”

Unsuccessful Sacrifice in Roman State Divination

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