Re: Cultural Literacy LO3400

Nickols@aol.com
Tue, 24 Oct 1995 17:47:52 -0400

Replying to LO3381 --

In the msg referenced above, Marion Brady tells a wonderful story about a
boiler tender, a jeweler, time, and synchronicity. It is, at the same
time, an illustration of how vicious cycles might be set in motion.

But, in a ruthlessly pragmatic vein, missing, for me, is the real world
referent that acts to keep this obviously endogenous system aligned with
other devices announcing the time. Perhaps it is some critical mass of
citizenry who, glancing at their own timepieces, conspire through their
individual, unrelated, actions to inform the jeweler that something is
wrong with his. Who knows?

Mr. Brady also closed with this comment:

>I push the making explicit of our implicit mental models of reality so
>hard because I believe that making the familiar strange enough to see is
>the best way to break the cycle and free ourselves for really fresh
>thinking.

I have a friend who once defined genius as, "The ability to see the
obvious" (which is not far removed from "making the familiar strange
enough to see"). I don't know if my friend borrowed his quote from some
other source, but the link to Mr. Brady's comment is plain to see.

I've read other of Mr. Brady's postings and they, too, reeked of good
sense. So, too, do most of the postings on this list.

I suppose what I'm trying to say is that I really enjoy this list.

--
Fred Nickols
nickols@aol.com