Dear Ken, Jude, and Colleagues
Thank you, Ken, to remind us of the excellent documentation by Joseph
Needham on China and science.
And thank you, Jude, for you trying to enlighten us on the Daoism
interpretation of nature. Please do keep trying, and hopefully come up with
a more concise and workable view guidelines on Daoism and knowledge of
nature, and how this knowledge has been (and perhaps still is) 'translated'
into building and usage of material culture within its zone of influence.
Contrary to your reservation, saying that all this discussion doesn't have
anything to do with "the proper business of discussing design", we are
indeed discussing designing, in the sense so 'authoritatively' suggested by
Don in http://jnd.org/dn.mss/the_research-practice_gap_1.html
Don enjoins us, designers, to become the "translators" of scientific
knowledge, now of Western origin, but why not that of the entire humanity,
into prescriptions immediately practical into CEO's office, onto the
manufacturing floor, and in the market place as well as (my addition) in
all daily life environments. This is the reason why I here reiterate my
early request to all: would other listers instruct us also on the Islamic
view on science and resulting material culture? On the Hinduist view and
ways? On the Shintoist view and ways? On the Buddhist view and ways? On the
Maya view and ways?, etc. etc. And I personally shall come up with a
tentative glimpse on the Bantu view as well as that of the so-called
"Negro-hamitic" people, on how those views translated into pre-colonial
material cultures of the sub-Saharan Africa, and how those views and ways
can eventually be re-vitalized, actualized, and shared, to the benefit of
the entire humanity, now that we have become just one.
Regards
Francois
Montreal
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