Replying to LO30072 --
Hi At.
Thanks for the reply and the constructive comments.
Having pondered over the interchange on the list for the past few days the
following came to mind...
I was drawn to the work of Paul Watslawick and his book The pragmatics of
human communication. and in particular his comments on paradox, and not
being able to solve a paradox on the same level it exists in. But needing
to go to a higher level.
It also brought to mind that quote about not being able to solve the
problems of today with the solutions of yesterday (it might have been
Einstein). And in a similar vein the work of Kurt Godel and unprovability
from within a system.
Do we then, in thinking about data, and information need to go to a new
level of thinking when we talk about knowledge. Are we, even now, framing
our concept of knowledge in a language and mind set that is not fully
enabled to understand it? Are we trapping ourselves and not being aware of
it?
Like you say - "But after contemplating it all over again, I think that
the concept "paradigm" makes all the difference. I cannot think of one
instance where a paradigm shift involved both the old and the new paradigm
afterwards."
Once we have discovered this "new paradigm" and the paradox is broken,
what then - we move onto the next one! But one thing is for sure, our new
found "knowledge" will give us a different view of the past, and when we
reconstruct that view of the past - will we learn anything. Will we still
fumble along, and continue to be "destined" to make similar mistakes -
reframed in the new mind set!
Knowledge is a good thing but only if some use is made of it. You allude
to this in your "horror stories" where people of academic repute are "put
out to pasture". This does not only happen in academia. Modern society I
think is becoming more "ageist" in its discrimination. Less value is
attributed to that fraction of the population that are close to
retirement, or have retired.
However, to counter the above I do find it heartening to see that as we
(hopefully) approach this new understanding of knowledge, this change of
paradigm - that we are moving around again to a more "community" based
approach rather than individualistic approach to the sharing of knowledge.
...till we write again...
Regards
Philip Keogh
Pathology Information Officer
(see our website at www.leedsteachinghospitals.com)
--"Philip Keogh" <Philip.Keogh@leedsth.nhs.uk>
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <Richard@Karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>
"Learning-org" and the format of our message identifiers (LO1234, etc.) are trademarks of Richard Karash.