Replying to LO24759 --
Dear LO'ers, dear Rick,
I praise Rick for putting forward such a difficult matter. I praise those
who have mentioned their concerns about the present and future state of
this list. For some the quantity-limit is impaired, for others it is the
lack of fruitfullness.
Personally, I am possibly a rare species who have enjoyed the way this
list has developed. I love all types of contributions, although I was not
always able to read everything. The LO-list is for me an Open University;
I have learned more and I have learned about my learning more, and about
myself more in the past 3 years from and with this list than during the 30
years of professional work.
I am willing to change, even if the future results are unknown. With some
hesitation (because of the possibility of the introduction of some
apartheid) I propose the following.
1. Devide the messages in 3 categories, each clearly labelled with some
sort of code.
2. These categories are: A) Abstract/principles/theories/systems thinking;
B) problems/questions and ideas/solutions; C) analyses/information/data/
descriptions.
3. These 3 categories are 3 levels of creative thinking and problem
solving: upper 'abstract' level - middle level of the very problem and
solutions - lower level of data and information sensu stricto. Some of you
may see in the upper level the 'content' and in the lower level the
'form'.
4. The thinking meanders between the upper and lower levels. To find a
solution to a problem, one has to meander several times between these two
levels, passing the neutral middle level to drop ideas and solutions.
Perhaps this way of splitting the messages will help. But in my opinion
the only way a LO could function in a healthy way is that one has to visit
regularly all 3 levels.
I agree that some messages of the past could be better and crisper
formulated. Some could be much shorter. But if the length of a message
will be the criteria of acceptance, than some jewels will be lost for
ever. Some jewels of the past are for me 'the digestor', the 'primer on
entropy' and the various 'essentialities' of At de Lange, and Jon Krispin
(LO20309); but there so many other jewels in this gold mine that my
geological heart is completely satisfied, just behind my desk.
I hope that we could find a way that this list will be a goldmine for all
of us.
dr. Leo D. Minnigh
l.d.minnigh@library.tudelft.nl
Library Technical University Delft
PO BOX 98, 2600 MG Delft, The Netherlands
Tel.: 31 15 2782226
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Let your thoughts meander towards a sea of ideas.
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--Leo Minnigh <l.d.minnigh@library.tudelft.nl>
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