I like this introduction of "human understanding" as a motivating force,
and I like the comparison of simplicity and complexity with divergence and
convergence. If we combine these ideas: that the creation of binary
opposites is part of the [academic] process of understanding, do we find
ourselves in the company of Bourdieu? One of his criticisms of academic
culture is that polarization is a technique designed in part for the
perpetuation of academia rather than the development of understanding. I am
not sure where I stand on this question. Forcing a polarization of ideas is
often fruitful, but is perhaps part of the rhetoric of thought rather than
representing its content. Conversely, creating artificial polarizations can
stifle thought and forms the core of much criticism in cultural studies.
Ref: Bourdieu, P. Distinction: a social critique of the judgement of taste
translated by Richard Nice. London: Routledge, 1984 [1979]
At 11:13 01/10/2002 +1000, John Broadbent wrote:
>Dear colleagues,
>
>Increasing complexity seems to be a feature of both the biological
>and cultural worlds. If we accept Ray Kurzweil's views on double
>exponential change, our cultural systems will become massively
>more complex in the coming decades, and technological support will
>become progressively more central to their maintenance.
>
>But as systems become more complex, they permit syntheses which
>were not apparent to us previously, through their juxtaposition of
>previously unrelated elements. This is the countervailing influence
>of simplicity and is vital to an ongoing human understanding of the
>increasingly complex systems we form. Often the opportunities for
>simplicity are conceptually novel, as the circumstances for their
>emergence have not existed previously.
>
>The tension between complexity and simplicity is similar to that
>between divergence/diversity and convergence. Neither state is
>preferable, one is more important at some stages in a system's
>lifecycle and conversely.
>
>These conceptualisations from systems theory are already
>important to design practice and will, I think, become more so with
>time.
>
>Kindest,
>John
>
>John Broadbent,
>Senior Lecturer,
>Faculty of Design, Architecture & Building,
>University of Technology Sydney, Australia.
>
>
>
>UTS CRICOS Provider Code: 00099F
>
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