Uncovering the Act of Organisational Learning LO28839

From: Terje A. Tonsberg (tatonsberg@hotmail.com)
Date: 07/14/02


Replying to LO28831 --

Hello At and group,

At said:

> They abhorred the severance between art and science ...

Indeed, what would science be without imagination? Can't we say that art
is the bridge between tacit knowing and formal knowledge? The stage were
patterns are taking shape, but are not as abstracted as precise
professional or scientific language? Isn't art playing with ones sensory
experiences to get at a certain (tacit) meaning or pattern when words
needed would be too many? Isn't art also a "communication tool" where dry
prose fails to convey the message (such as how something looks or feels?)

Perhaps at least some of "intelligence" comes from this: a more
intelligent person can use his imagination to arrive at the same formal
knowledge, with less raw sensory input and less experience. Why do
drawings of 2 year olds differ so much from that of 4 year olds? Why is a
2 year old drawing like a 4 year old considered to be of high
intelligence?

But lest we forget that the other way is also true. An artist with
inadequate technical skill is a sham. He doesn't have the bridge between
the inside and the outside. So even the artist needs to do his technical
drills.

At said:
>...also teach them how to make use of existing sources of information in
>many different scenarios rather than becoming another junky information
>producer.

Good point. It took me a long time before I formalized a great key to
reducing information overload and to get insight into a new field without
being overwhelmed: focus on the empirical, stick to the observable. If one
pays too much attention to theory one will easily be thrown into a
whirlpool and reach nowhere desirable fast. Spend 90% of the time on the
empirical/ observable/ verifiable/ currently falsifiable. This worked very
nicely when I wanted to get a better understanding of educational
psychology some time back, because I could easily relate to my own
experiences and what I knew about research methodology from other fields.
There really wasn't much there I found worth worrying about if I dared to
largely ignore lengthy theoretical arguments. Of course, one also needs to
keep in mind what one wants out of the study.

Terje

-- 

"Terje A. Tonsberg" <tatonsberg@hotmail.com>

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