Steve Smith wrote at 03/19/2013 11:36 AM: > Is this arrogance (that we assume our immediate knee-jerk intuitive > irritation and response-to-it is superior to more broadly considered > solutions) or is it our general self-selection (as members of the list > first and ones willing to speak up second) as optimizers and problems > solvers? Some would suggest that the psuedonymity or asynchronousness > of network communication supports this kind of > brainstorming-as-problem-solving. Perhaps it is just that, what occurs > here is really just brainstorming even if it often masquerades as > problem solving?
I think it's more a feature of the openness of thought (and, for the realists among us, the openness of the universe). People tend to run with their own thoughts, regardless of whether the foundations of those thoughts couple nicely with reality. That sort of behavior is necessary for skills from good chess playing to sculpture, much less invention. And it also results in phenomena like groups of (usually men) who merely wait for others to quit talking so they can begin talking about something totally unrelated. To me, this ability to run forward with a set of assumptions is critical to exploring what can be said (and done). The only thing that irritates me is our self-centeredness, our facility with running forward with our own thoughts and our disability with respect to playing out _others'_ thoughts. Communities where you see lots of extended, playful, futile bitching and/or philosophy are refreshing because it indicates, to me, that the participants are willing and perhaps good at running others' thoughts/assumptions forward and seeing how it turns out. It's much more interesting than the communities where every stray thought is shut down and ridiculed the instant it shows up. -- glen e. p. ropella, 971-255-2847, http://tempusdictum.com http://meat.org ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
