Hi 3WD, All
Thanks for the heads up on Christopher Alexander's "The Nature of
Order" in which he says:
> In the world-view I am presenting, a second kind of statement is also
> considered capable of being true or false. These are statements about
> the relative degree of life, degree of harmony, or degree of wholeness- in
> short, statements about value. In the view I hold, these statements about
> relative wholeness are also factual, and are essential statements. They
> play a more fundemental role that statement about mechanisms. It is for
> this reason that the view of order which I am presenting is this book
> inevitably involves us in a shift in world-view." (Christopher Alexander-
> The Nature of Order-Oxford University Press 2001 pg16)
Another block buster book claiming a shift in world-view just published
is "A New Kind of Science" by Stephen Wolfram, reviewed in last
Sunday's NY Times book section. The review says in part:
"From the very beginning of this meticulously constructed manifesto,
the reader is presented with a stunning proposal: all the science we
know will be demolished and reassembled. An ancient error will be
corrected, one so profoundly misguided that it has lead science down
the wrong avenue until it is approaching a cul-de-sac. The mistake . . .
is trying to capture the richenss of the universe with mathematical
equations."
Wolfram proposes to replace equations with "little snippets of software
called algorithms."
It remains to be seen whether Wolfram and Alexander are creating
intellectual patterns of higher quality than those based on current
scientific assumptions. Like Pirsig, both authors expose and question
the mythos of those assumptions. Unlike Pirsig, they are just
beginning to climb the metaphysical mountain whose summit Pirsig
reached a number of years ago.
But by all means, let's cheer them on. (-:
Platt
MOQ.ORG - http://www.moq.org
Mail Archive - http://alt.venus.co.uk/hypermail/moq_discuss/
MD Queries - horse@darkstar.uk.net
To unsubscribe from moq_discuss follow the instructions at:
http://www.moq.org/md/subscribe.html
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Sat Aug 17 2002 - 16:02:19 BST