Tom and all concerned with the stubborn resistance to
"interdisciplinearity."
I, for one, can not keep in mind the problem for which
"interdisciplinearity" is the solution.
The are hundreds of Christian denominations, and there are Christians,
Jews, and Muslims. And, of course, agnostics and atheists. Why integrate
them?
There is poetry, essay, novel, and drama: why integrate them into one
literary genre?
Kenneth Burke once said, "A way of seeing is also a way of not seeing."
A "discipline" is a way of seeing, a way of focusing on certain elements
of the world and its possibilities, and the power of that way of seeing
comes from what it leaves out of its field of vision as well as what it
includes.
"One world" is possible only if it is made up of many smaller worlds, and
much will be lost if the uniqueness of each world dissolves into the
commonality of a single way.
That, of course, is now happening as the world "integrates," and all
cultures wear jeans and carry boom boxes blaring rock.
Perhaps, then, those resisting the cry for interdisciplinearity are
struggling to preserve something of great value.
Steve Eskow
--"Dr. Steve Eskow" <dreskow@durand.com>
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>