Bring on the Teeth
April 17, 2003
In an interview in Switch Doug Engelbart says: (0000G0)
Don't lightly tromp along paradigms because you'll get bitten. (0000G1)
This after suggesting the only way to really address the need for change is to tromp heavily on our own personal paradigms, breaking free of the constraints of our usual experience to see new possibilities. Not just evolutionary change, but revolutionary change. (0000G2)
It's remarkable and refreshing how many times he uses the words "intuition" or "intuitive" in the interview. (0000G3)
I had the pleasure of having lunch with Doug last week and he used it then too. (0000G4)
I believe that intuition is the source of genius. That is, genius exists outside of (known) rational processes. Rational processes build the tools that create and maintain paradigms (and thus a degree of security and safety). (0000G5)
Another quote from the article: (0000G6)
Slayton: I use Herbert Simon's text in my class teaching art students about complexity and how to think about software and coding as an art medium. Making software as art. In his text he says this about in the context of talking about learning: "If achievements exceed aspirations satisfaction is recorded as positive, and if aspirations exceed achievements there is dissatisfaction." (0000G7)
Engelbart: I must be a very dissatisfied guy then. (0000G8)
Comments
I agree with you about intuition and leaps of faith. They are the source of wacky hypotheses that pan out (and those that don't). As the torch bearer for reason, I must also insist that rational processes are useful not just for building and maintaining paradigms, but for evaluating the accuracy of your intuition [at some later point], which is really valuable because our intuition can so often be wrong.