Dear Kari-Hans,
I was delighted by your post and its reminder to us of our deep purpose.
Excuse the analogy, but it was like washing hands before a good meal
with friends.
To me, the purpose of this group is to foster inquiry into design in all
of its manifestations and in the full variety of our conceptions. And
inquiry is an open and easy engagement with different views and
ideas--even tentative ideas and quiet speculations--so that one may see
more clearly into the world. This is the model I hope we wish to
present to doctoral students and that we wish to foster among a young
community of inquiry. If one needed a slogan, it might be, for me,
testing and trusting.
I have suggested earlier--much earlier--that I find a useful distinction
between semantics and inquiry. Semantics, as I use the term, is
concerned with the interpretation of positions and even their
clarification through discussion. Semantics is inevitable in a strong
community. But many other communities and disciplines have broken down
over semantic disputes when positions become rigid and unable to flex
with new challenges.
One of our important challenges is to engage in semantic discussions
when it is useful, but to keep our eyes on the goal of inquiry. I
cannot speak for others, but for me all of the posts on this board are
interesting--whether or not I agree with the substance or the drift or
nothing at all. I love the variety, and I learn from how serious folks
try to make sense of their--may I say 'our'?--world. Even if I do not
respond to a post, I think about it--and am often better, i hope, for
trying to understand a different idea.
I am going out this evening on my deck and I plan on opening a nice
bottle of wine and laughing at the crazy world we live in. I will tip a
glass to the moon, tonight, and think of you. I hope you look up this
evening and see the moon and think of me--and all our good friends
around the world.
By the way, will you be in South Africa next week? It's the
"Continental Shift" meeting, and I think it will be lively.
Best wishes,
Dick
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