[Marsha] Systems thinking: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NCpdLKhY04&feature=related
[Krimel] Thanks Marsha, that really was a simple and concise explanation. I hope you will notice that I am almost always talking about systems. Platt has explicitly criticized me and Ian for that at least as often as Dave has accused me of be a reductionist. Notice what the guy says about engines and spark plugs. He says, "What would you say if I told you I knew all about spark plugs but nothing about engines?" This I think is what Dave is accusing me of; focusing on spark plugs. But I don't see how anyone can claim to know about engines if they know nothing about spark plugs. We can know a lot about engines and what they do and how to operate them without mentioning the parts involved. But to gain a deeper understand not only of how to operate an engine but how it works and how to fix it we are going to have to look at the parts. Engines are pluralistic. From the point of view of the engine operator the parts are irrelevant, as long as the engine runs. When it stops running we have to look for another point of view. It seems wrong to me to claim that the operator's point of view is "better" because it is holistic and a mechanics view is wrong because it is reductionistic and riddled with philosophical error. After all mechanics can run the equipment too. There is nothing about their knowledge of engine detail that stands in the way of their holistic understanding of the value of engines. In fact the holist view of the engine helps them tune the parts to make it function and function better. This, I think, is the whole point of ZMM and Pirsig's take on the romantic/classic split. The romantic may enjoy driving an elegantly designed motorcycle but they will always be dependent on someone else to keep it running. The classist can not only keep his cycle running but can write a book about how all those motorcycle parts relate to everything from the open road to western philosophy. Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
