Core and Fringe
11th February 2024
If one thinks of a society as occupying a three-dimensional bell curve (which looks like an actual bell, not the two-dimensional slice to which the term ‘bell curve’ is ordinarily applied), one can divide it into two parts: That which exists within One Standard Deviation from the center axis (approximately 68% of its volume) and everything else, the other (approximately) 32%. I call these apportionments Core and Fringe, and apply them to the people who occupy those parts of society that are either central to its existence or peripheral to that existence.
The distinction between Core and Fringe may be discerned by asking a simple question: If all of the people that share a certain characteristic were to disappear overnight, would society grind to a halt? or would it keep chugging on, perhaps after a bobble or two or at a reduced level? If that removal means society would halt, then such people are Core; if not, then they are Fringe.
Truck drivers are Core; homeless people are Fringe. Engineers are Core; artists and other ‘creatives’ are Fringe. Doctors, lawyers, and accountants are Core; bikers, convicts, and yoga instructors are Fringe. Carpenters, electricians, and plumbers are Core; sculptors, musicians, and poets are Fringe. Tech writers are Core; literary novelists are Fringe.
You get the picture.
This is a useful frame for viewing the modern world. About half of government employees are Core; the rest, including politicians, are Fringe. The higher one climbs in the academic prestige rankings, the more an institution trains Fringe and the less it trains Core–in fact, we have academic institutions who focus solely on training Core, like MIT and CalTech.
Try it yourself.