Self-transformation must accompany efforts to change the world. The need for a “change of heart” is difficult to quantify, and so is typically left out of most public policy manifestos. But without it, we only pretend to be at the controls of our intellectualized culture, forever moving around the external pieces — whether of the market economy or the political process or the academic orientation — without ever having to make real changes in the ways we actually live our lives. This inner obligation to transform our own lives need not be at the expense of our efforts to change societal systems. Quite the contrary. But in my experience this obligation does call forth some dimension of — for lack of a better phrase — spiritual discipline and practice. As the Dalai Lama has put it, “Spiritual practice involves, on the one hand, acting out of concern for others’ well being. On the other hand, it entails transforming ourselves so that we become more readily disposed to do so.”
– Kurt Hoelting, Clinton WA
Was chatting with my father today about the next steps in my career.
Well, kid, you only get so many heartbeats.
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It just occurred to me while jamming my Saturday morning sunny-side-ups down my gullet that just as the way in which cities are built and designed reflects the philosophical underpinnings of said urban architects –
Moses wanted to keep the people who couldn’t afford their own private cars off of parkways like the Hutch; those scenic views were the provenance of the wealthy (read: white) hence bridges with low overpasses
– so too is the way in which databases and online communities are built a reflection of the philosophies of said DBAs.
I am wondering if there are any academic explorations of these themes. (Relationship between the philosophy of built communities and the philosophy of database structure, notions of the worldviews information database design, etc.)
Has anyone seen anything that pushes this further? I’d like to know what the prevailing theories are.
Information becomes knowledge becomes understanding becomes wisdom.
(NB: each of those “becomes” is actually a “becomes subscript n, becomes subscript n+1″ etc.; note that the fxn “becomes” will not be defined at this time.)
Okay, back to my protein. Anyone up for a swim at the NYSC on 49th and Broadway later?
Meet my big sister, an outraged woman!
Words don’t capture my pride.
Um, why come they don’t just print a subway map on the front and back of our metro cards?
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Shout-out and thank you to New York magazine for their recent direct mail solicitation. I needed to update my furry, pulp-y wallet subway line map card.
ANP’s admissions of political confusion couched as political certainty have resulted in a few longtime listeners, first time commenters to come out of the woodwork!
Too bad I forgot to apply Aruban deodorant sensation Odorono in scent Fresh Bamboo this morning. All this excitement is making me sweaty.
Hilary won’t get the Democratic nomination because if Democrats were rational and valued qualities like experience, ability to execute, and the manner in which a leader solves problems over things like style, how one looks in a suit, and that which makes one feel warm and fuzzy …
Well, then, wouldn’t they be less likely to consider themselves Democrats, capital D?
(ANP ducks for cover.)
When I was at The Bank, a swarm of pen-clicking auditors descended on my pack-ratty cubicle to Taylorize my every move.
All this documentation was necessary to ensure Sarbanes Oxley compliance. We can’t have pussy cats obscuring card art, after all, lest a consumer complain when her credit card arrived in its welcome pack without an actual kitten.
Annoying as it was, I can’t lie, I secretly liked it. I love engineering processes and checklists and forms. For routinized, predictable tasks, nothing pleases me more than the transparency of a well-documented list, embedded macros optional. It helps when people outside your direct line of work start poking around; you’re already armed with the documentation you need to tell them to stop being an idiot educate them about what it is that you do and why they should shut the how that benefits them in the long run.
Documentation also allows for cross-franchise efficiency. I am squirming in my seat right now and must use the word amortize, because that’s what process transparency does within an organization: it allows a knowledge worker the opportunity to amortize the routinized aspects of their jobs across different silos within a complex organization. (At least, in theory.)
I wish, then, that auditors would come and demand some Visio flowcharts from our gubmint. If we could just take a step back, look at the carnival blinking lights that is our obscenely large government, cross-check various programs and align them against their ultimate goal (reduce poverty, stop abuse, prevent the munchies), perhaps we’d be able to identify some effort duplication and thus, opportunities for streamlining.
I understand the intense effort that this would involve, how much time it would take, etc. etc. And I know that budget line complications would give some pooh-poohers the chance to say, arms skyward, “There’s no way in hell we can operationalize this.” And yet, when my crazy little slice of the earth at The Bank had to hit multiple budget lines, we ultimately figured out how to git ‘er done. And the effort was worth it.
When I think about the machinery that undergirds so many of the services etc. that we take for granted, I can’t help but think it’s a good idea to occasionally peek under the hood and make sure it’s built real good.
And anyway, wouldn’t transparency be a good thing? Wouldn’t a nice deck teeming with 3 pt. bold black lines around boxes that point to other boxes give way to more strong minds collaborating and considering more efficient means to achieve the stated end?
