Dear Ken,
I hope to find time to respond fully to your generous contribution to this
topic but a quick note regarding your reply to Eduardo.
You say:
"Pictorial images are ambiguous, culture-dependent, and open to entirely
different interpretations that depend on the inner world of the viewer."
I feel that your tendency to introduce Picasso whenever discussing visual
art and research is not helpful in this context. You are putting all forms
of visual art, Fine and applied, in one box. It surely cannot have escaped
your notice that on this list (and elsewhere), debates conducted in word
text rather than visual text generally descend quickly into argument about
the meanings and definitions of words. Words can be manipulated in many
ways to disguise or massage meaning. As well as focussing so strongly on
your belief that images are too ambiguous to take a lead role in a
research context, I think it would be useful to 'put the boot on the other
foot' and give a convincing, persuasive argument for the proposition that
words leave less room for ambiguity (not in 11,000 words though!).
Best wishes and thanks again,
Martin
Professor Martin Salisbury
Director, The Centre for Children's Book studies
Course Leader, MA Children's Book Illustration
Cambridge School of Art
0845 196 2351
http://www.cambridgemashow.com/
http://www.anglia.ac.uk/ruskin/en/home/microsites/ccbs.html
The Twelve Dancing Princesses, illustrated by Sheila Robinson- now
available from our online store:
www.anglia.ac.uk/12dancingprincesses
<http://www.anglia.ac.uk/12dancingprincesses>
On 13/10/2015 15:08, "Ken Friedman" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>Dear Eduardo,
>
>Thanks for your note. This requires a clarification.
>
>Mathematics dissertations may not use natural language, but mathematics
>itself is an explicit and clearly defined symbolic language. Mathematics
>is much less ambiguous than words. This makes it possible to write a much
>shorter and more economical thesis than one can usually write using
>natural language. For time to time, people can earn a PhD in mathematics
>with a thesis of only a few pages.
>
>Not being a mathematician, I do not know the traditions with regard to
>stating the problem and discussing research methods. Nevertheless, there
>must be clear and explicit traditions for people who work in an
>axiomatic, symbolic language in which everyone understands and agrees to
>common rules without regard to the culture from which they come.
>
>This is quite different to a book or thesis in pictorial images.
>Pictorial images are ambiguous, culture-dependent, and open to entirely
>different interpretations that depend on the inner world of the viewer.
>
>The hermeneutical horizon makes the world of pictorial images entirely
>different to the explicit and carefully defined language of mathematical
>symbols. While all human symbolic languages involve some form of
>hermeneutics, but the nature of these languages differs, as does the way
>we communicate, read, and interpret them.
>
>In this sense, the numerical portions of a thesis in mathematics
>constitute an explicit and unambiguous written discourse, while the
>pictorial portions of Unflattening do not.
>
>Warm wishes,
>
>Ken
>
>Ken Friedman, PhD, DSc (hc), FDRS | Editor-in-Chief | Éè¼Æ She Ji. The
>Journal of Design, Economics, and Innovation | Published by Tongji
>University in Cooperation with Elsevier | URL:
>http://www.journals.elsevier.com/she-ji-the-journal-of-design-economics-an
>d-innovation/
>
>Chair Professor of Design Innovation Studies | College of Design and
>Innovation | Tongji University | Shanghai, China ||| University
>Distinguished Professor | Centre for Design Innovation | Swinburne
>University of Technology | Melbourne, Australia
>
>--
>
>Eduardo Corte-Real wrote:
>
>¡ªsnip¡ª
>
>I went to take a look at some PhDs in Mathematics, found one on Physics
>and it ends to be very similar to what I expect a PhD in Maths looks like.
>
>Most of the arguments are developed through formulas, and of course, if
>not demonstrated through formulas, not valid. Written discourse seems to
>introduce and connect formulas but the formulas are conducting the
>document to its final conclusions.
>
>Of course, only peers are able to follow the reasonings and arguments
>expressed in such manner.
>
>In the limit we may admit that through very eloquent formulas, we could
>accept a Maths dissertation almost without written discourse, especially
>dealing with calculus. An ¡°Unflattening" Maths Thesis would probably be
>possible with little discussion.
>
>¡ªsnip¡ª
>
>
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