INDEX 

ESSAYS & ARTICLES 

DESIGN BUILD 

MANAGERS

ZONING 

 

BACKGROUND

PHILOSOPHY

PLANNING

VIEWPOINTS

 

THE BOTTOM LINE

 

BACK TO THE BEGINNING

 

BACK

 

 
 
 

  VIEW POINTS

  • Is one viewpoint more complete than another?

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    Only if you are comfortable with your head in the sand!
     

  • Is it possible to completely understand a system from only one viewpoint, or two, or three?

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    Not really but if you are interested in more than basic survival then the more [viewpoints] you encourage, the better your chances at understanding and success are.

THERE'S ALWAYS MORE THAN ONE
  • If something IS, does it always objectively look the same?

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    The same thing can look entirely different from a different point of view, and to make it potentially even more difficult consider this:
    A viewpoint is not just a point of reference it is also a WAY of considering something [a viewpoint within a viewpoint!]
     

  • Is complete knowledge possible?

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    Not really!
     

  • Is complete knowledge desirable?

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    Well, it is more a question of whether it is even attainable, but to address the question; the pursuit of it can be a cop out on managing the process... focusing on finding out everything about something [or everything!] begs the question of what the purpose of knowledge really is.  Lots of knowledge does not presuppose good judgment.  Certainly the more knowledge you have the better your potential understanding of a subject is ...but it is also very easy to loose sight of the forest for all the trees [to get lost in facts without a purpose].
     

  • If complete knowledge doesn't provide all the answers then why bother trying to attain it?

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    Actually knowledge is really good stuff, but it is more important to look for the ESSENTIAL characteristics of a system and to have a sense of, or an understanding of, where a system is and where it is likely to go... to find a balance between knowledge and understanding.
    The really important thing is to develop a sense of direction about where a system is likely to "want" to go and to find ways to encourage convergence between where you think a system should be and where the system is likely to be.... and to do it with limited resources.
     

  • Occam's Razor offers a comfortable alternative.

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    The obvious solution to a problem has about the same chance of being the best solution as a GUESS [maybe 50%].  So if you are satisfied with a 50% success rate then you can save yourself a whole lot of effort trying to understand the nature of things.  What's more, broadening your viewpoint and increasing your vision does not proportionally improve your chances of understanding, you have to work harder and harder for increasingly smaller returns.
     

  • Sound like a lot of work?

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    Well it usually is, but the results are ALWAYS more satisfying than the alternative [the 50% solution].  True some of the "magic" of a spontaneously and accidentally conceived solution may be missing but in its place there is the sort of peace that comes from harvesting the fruits of an intellectually honest effort.

 
 

pwdickson@white-phoenix.com