Just thought I'd provide a snap shot of some of the indigenous chatter
used by my native tribe (back on the home planet :-D). Sometimes it's
fun to peek in on exotic message traffic like this, just passing in
the night.
Back to lurk status. Carry on then, what? <-- faux British accent
Kirby :-D
4D Solutions
http://www.teleport.com/~pdx4d/
======
Date: Fri, 29 Jan 1999 10:26:03 -0800
To: Tetworld@listbot.com
From: Kirby Urner <pdx4d@teleport.com>
Subject: Re: t more WG
>As to NetWorld Game, as one of the Beta Testers, I can assure you that it
>is almost completely unplayable. The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation has
>pumped nearly $350,000 into that project over the last couple of years. If
>any of you can see where the money went, let me know. Incidentally, it was
>promised that the game would be played in more than one hundred New Jersey
>Secondary Schools by now. Not.
>
My take on NetWorld Game is it goes into an area where it's really
impossible to sort out "simulation" from "reality". High schoolers
in New Jersey with access to the web have access to the complete
text of 'Synergetics', Amy's 'Fuller Explanation', several other
Fuller originals, plus ample additional curriculum, such as purveyed
via my Oregon Curriculum Network. So the components are all there,
plus the ability to network, find like-minded collaborators around
the world, form organizations, companies... while listening to MP3
tunes and checking out the latest movie reviews on the side.
I really can't blame Medard for the slowness of design science memes
to percolate outward by osmosis. Sure, he's had an excellent position
from which to promulgate these memes. But it's a more or less even
playing field by this time, given all the new technologies. Even
without $350K, I'm able to forge ahead playing "net world" for real.
In fact, the years of zero grant funding (every penny earned on
services rendered -- except for "intrabank" loans) have made my
operations extremely lean and mean. I really don't need WGI or BFI
to do anything different to get on with my work.
Kirby
======
>The problem with it is that as a player, it is not clear what you are
>supposed to do, or why you are supposed to do it--
>
Kinda like life itself. Not up to WGI to spur everyone on to being
skillful players towards whatever ends. Each brings a teleology to
the picture, and from this derives a sense of what the game is, what
the stakes are.
>Why would they do this? Why would they even care? The full text of
>"Synergetics" has an opaque circumlocutiveness to it that rivals Ezra Pound
>in obliqueness-
>
>A few words from the introduction suffice to illustrate my point:
Why read Ezra Pound either? Or Shakespeare (easy enough back then
maybe, but people don't talk that way any more). Why do anything
in particular (relates to your first point)? We're talking
motivation I guess. Again, I don't see WGI as cheerleader (although
I admit that idea sparks humorous images).
As to your characterization of 'Synergetics' as a lot of speculative
verbiage, I think that's the stereotype USA high school teachers
have bought (if they've thought about it at all -- usually not).
But I'm busy changing that stereotype in Oregon, through workshops
for math teachers included (e.g. presented at the Oregon Math
Summit in '97, and had a sizable group, even though I was up
against Sir Roger Penrose and Keith Devlin in the same time slot).
'Synergetics' is where Fuller allowed himself to go 'hog wild'
in his own invented language, to give it as complete an articulation
as possible, with encouragement from Ed. Ed himself is amazingly
succinct in his self-expressions (good match for Bucky), but
he doesn't put up with a lot of idle bullshitting either i.e.
wasn't just "being kind" by letting that project consume so much
time/energy, nor was Hugh Kenner (author of 'The Pound Era').
My point is that 'Synergetics' is not going down in history as
the ravings of a semi-incoherent egomaniac, even though many in
academia have worked rather hard to put this spin on it. Still
a few sore losers around, but I'm happy to report that most of
those early PR problems have been solved, at least in this neck
o the woods.
>>There is an inherently minimum set of essential concepts and current
>>information, cognizance of which could lead to our operating our planet
>>Earth to thelasting satisfaction and health of all humanity.
>
>Translation: Recognition of a few concepts and facts could result in
>changes that would benefit all of humanity.
Brevity isn't always better, when you're exercising a key term set.
There's a 4 volume dictionary behind his use of words like "concept"
and "information" (plus threads on Synergetics-L investigating).
'Synergetics' is a work in the humanities, a philosophy. It's a
lot more coherent and worthwhile than Heidegger's stuff, according
to my accounts, and is required reading in any philosophy department
claiming to give its graduates a comprehensive overview of what 20th
century philosophy has contributed to our emerging 21st century
curriculum.
>Bucky makes a sound point, but it comes in well above the comprehension
>level of most high school students--and it needs to be presented in a way
>that they understand.
This has been done. I get emails from high schoolers. A lot of
them are doing their homework, already understand synergetics a lot
better than anyone at WGI or BFI, I have no doubt.
>>I really can't blame Medard for the slowness of design science memes
>>to percolate outward by osmosis. Sure, he's had an excellent position
>>from which to promulgate these memes. But it's a more or less even
>>playing field by this time, given all the new technologies.
>
>Why can't you blame him? He's taken a wheelbarrow full of money in
>exchange for a promise that he will present this stuff to young people in a
>way they can understand it--and the fullfillment is past due--
I'm just saying he's not the critical bottle neck. High school math
teachers who don't see the utility of exposing kids to the simple
streamlining of the concentric hierarchy, in relation to sphere
packing, as a way of opening doors to chemistry and crystallography,
also get a lot of funding, and are more sensitively positioned than
Meddy ever was (full time contact with the next generation of scholars).
Looking back on "why it took so long", I'll have a lot more to write
about classroom teachers and their professional groups (the MAA, AMS
and NCMT) than some tiny, underfunded non-profit in Philadelphia.
I've been a classroom teacher myself by the way -- visited my old
school in New Jersey enroute to Philly recently, had the librarian
bookmark my website and met with math faculty. That's a catholic
school though -- freer to innovate and stay current than probably
the public ones, more mired in bureaucracy and prone to toe whatever
line the text book companies are putting out (I was a text book
company person too BTW, at McGraw-Hill, K-12 section).
>You seem to have done an awful lot on the web without money --and you are
>to be congratulated for that--none the less, the problem of education
>requires large scale co-operation, and comensurate cash expenditures,
>especially as support for those who are treading into new areas.
I didn't say "without money" -- just that I earned mine. And I fully
agree, and will not be turning back the megabucks flowing into
institutions I work with, to make our curriculum even more user-
friendly (e.g via the Videogrammatron project).
>Bucky did some remarkable work--but a lot of his writing(and he intended it
>to be this way) is really just speculative--broad brushstrokes that may be
>either filled in or erased by others.
Too easy a dismissal. His thinking was the source of a lot of proven
artifacts, even today withstanding enormous stress loads (dome at the
South Pole). Much in 'Synergetics' is hands-on, stuff you can do with
models. Not much of that nature in Heidegger (or even Kant) -- also
difficult and verbose.
I've incorporated synergetics into Java, as has Gerald de Jong
(Beautifulcode, NL). A lot of kids in my neck of the woods know this
(and some teachers), and will be well positioned when it comes to
landing those high tech jobs (plentiful in this region -- Silicon
Forest we call it).
>My point is that this presenting this stuff by itself doesn't do much--it
>has to be presented clearly and in an audience appropriate format.
Doing it. That's what I met with Meddy about in November. Showed
him my video (short synergetics cartoon, a collaboration with Richard
Hawkins), my colorful overhead transparencies, suggesting WGI might
add curriculum like this to its meat and potatos -- let Philly schools
know these workshops were available (to teachers, not just the students).
Medard reminded me that (a) WGI is not just Philly-focused and
(b) hard core synergetics is not their main line (which I already
knew) -- but he was impressed with my materials in any case (Kiyoshi
Kuromiya was in on the meeting too -- we went out for dinner together
later (Kiyoshi is one of the great gourmands of Philadelphia, as
I suppose you already know)).
>Furthermore, the only way to get it right is to continually evaluate what
>has been done to determine it's effectiveness-even when it means pointing
>out that the emperor has no clothes--
Sure. Honest, no-nonsense feedback always a positive, even if it's
negative.
Kirby
=====
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