Reflection

A new start with EMIM 2013 feels great, my state of mind was consciously open-minded. Realizing that we, and thus I, am constrained in my thinking, feeling and sensing within a frame developed over life – I still tried to keep an open mindedness so as to be in a learning mode. In hind sight, I recognize that at many moments my opinions and frames created feelings of acceptance or un-acceptance – depending on the subject. The themes often touched my own profession. I recognize in hindsight that when they did, although it should be easier to learn something in “known territory”, my own framing of the universe formed a stumbling block, hindering myself chosen mode of “open mindedness” and therefore causing an effect I didn’t recognize beforehand: more could have been learned if I could have dropped my own frames – at least for that moment.

And so, with this reflection on the concepts of framing and discourse (concepts that I do not feel yet that I fully master them, after all the confusion that they generate), I now better understand these after finding myself being a subject of concept, instead of only using the concepts as research object.

In Broken Images

He is quick, thinking in clear images;
I am slow, thinking in broken images.

He becomes dull, trusting to his clear images;
I become sharp, mistrusting my broken images,

Trusting his images, he assumes their relevance;
Mistrusting my images, I question their relevance.

Assuming their relevance, he assumes the fact,
Questioning their relevance, I question the fact.

When the fact fails him, he questions his senses;
When the fact fails me, I approve my senses.

He continues quick and dull in his clear images;
I continue slow and sharp in my broken images.

He in a new confusion of his understanding;
I in a new understanding of my confusion.
Robert Graves

In choosing who may play the role of He and I in this poem, for this reflection I feel I could be both. As the “certain” outward focusing me, I am He. The inner core more uncertain is I. And in the class, He was pretty certain to just grasp the new knowledge coming this way. However, He seemed to miss different parts of it, in a new confusion of his understanding. On the contrary, I, slow and thinking in broken images, found a new framing – a new understanding and acceptance of my confusion. The process leads to a remarkable conclusion: the honest, “real life” based thoughtfulness of thinking in broken images proves stronger than the certainness of clarity of images. Whereas, in my view from both He and I, the fast thinking certainty seemed stronger. Both He and I proved ourselves wrong with interesting results which occurred exactly to us during this first block of lectures.

My outbound me, a professional trusting in certain images, seems to fail to cope with black swans as well as my more uncertain inner me. So, my paradigm on the strength of certainty proves false.

Resume

September 17 – Rick de Leeuw

The lead singer of the Tröckener Kecks, a punk/rock/pop band (1980-2001) opened the course, (after the first introductions) and included a very sensitive interview, precluded with a hart-touching song. Rick’s slides are not so very important – the fact that a singer is here, an artist, who focuses on the sensitivity aspect of information, is of importance. How do we feel, what does information do to a person? A person, is one who is sensitive and whose heart, brain and soul will somehow respond (or not) to the implied information – if only through a sense with maybe just the slightest of meaning. What does it mean? And hence, in my reflection, the relevance of information, in the end, is concealed in its meaning and thus to the impact on the recipient. If it wouldn’t do anything, then even a song would be mere noise – or, at least, a background filling in a space which would otherwise be empty. The non-existence of a signal can also be information.

The sender sends a message using some channel and format (more detail: semiotics), and the recipient recieves in a way that fits his/her framework. Rick wrote a book consisting of many interviews. Through each interview, we can understand a bit of the interviewee. However, by reading the whole series, we may gain more understanding of Rick, the sender. His message seems to be hidden – but it exists in a way that we can sense it. We can understand through these interviews who Rick is without texts about Rick. The human recipient is not a machine, we have intuition and sensitivity that reaches a heart and soul and touches the meaning of life.

What will show about me as I write about the EMIM? Clear or broken images?

September 18 – Rick Maes & Dick Rijken

Rick Maes addresses the morning and afternoon (images, attitude, instruments, action), Dick Rijken the evening (innovation and values).

Rick Maes

Part 1: Images

• Images: the lemon example
• Definitions of information: see slides
• AIM framework: its all about bottom left
• Linearity between bad and good (not boolean)
• Philosofer: Richard Rorty

  “Language doesn’t represent reality, but is an instrument that deals with reality”

• Distinction between: “Information over (=about), as, and for reality”
• Flusser (philosofer): hammer (=tool), machine (requires maintenance, is complex, is demanding towards man), apparatus (or device – JN) is a tool again – adds fun.

  article: Flusser_Vilem_Towards_a_Philosophy_of_Photography.pdf
  

Turbulence rises log curve above the log curve for “solving capacity” – to the left of the crossing: doing things right vs. to the righthand side: doing right things; the new now, security vs insecurity, problem solving vs problem finding etc. (see slides). Also: Fragile vs. Anti-fragile and Push vs. Pull
book: the Power of Pull

book: Anti Fragile by Taleb

Part 2: Attitude

movie: Introducing the Book.flv is a funny helpdesk metaphor

book: The Reflective Practioner, how professionals think in action – David Schön

On high grounds (semantic knowledge), low grounds and the swamp (Dutch: “taai”)
movie: www.safeinternetbanking.be by febelfin (very funny about personal privacy) 
graph: (see slides) x axis: analytic vs. synthetic, y axis: realistic vs. symbolic.

Q1: art, Q2: science, Q3: skills/engineering (Dutch: “kundes”), Q4: design/architecture

Part 3: Instruments

eulogy: Business IT Alingment – may rest in peace

Triangle “Business”-market-“Information”-control-“ICT”-care & trust: Governance is all about interactions. Governance is directing (richting geven);

Arcitecture is shaping (vorm geven) – speaking/politics/offering space

Framing and Discourse (see later: Introna) – Vase picture showing two heads – brain sees one at a time:

framing-discourse

Info as a service (IAAS)

SLA (in Dutch, sla = lettuce)

New job (-role) in reframing the information manager = the information curator.
movie: “what is curation.mp4”

movie: “Walk with Rutger Hauer” (Johnny Walker collection) – about meaning of life (to give)

Part 4: Action

Bernard Shaw (on action):

“A lot of people see what happens and ask why?”

“A lot of people see what could happen and ask: “why not?””

movie (http://bit.ly/188VXDZ)

webinar by Steve Eppinger: Systematic Innovation by Design: model of three circles:

people – desirable / business – viable / technical – feasible

Dick Rijken

Director STEIM – focus on the Romantic era (1770 – 1830)

First slide: Skull, artwork “For the love of God” by Damien Hirst, why? It is all about value. What do I, what do people, what do creatures value? The skull points out the temporariness of life, so the diamonds can only offer value briefly. Reflection: see film with Rutger Hauer – to give is the ultimate. Give a great evening is ok, giving inspiration is better, but teaching is the ultimate giving because it lasts. As a parent and a teacher (part time: English in grammar school) – giving to children is of a greatest value. The discussion raised by the artwork is just the shock people sometimes need.

Central theme: Innovation vs Meaning and list of technologies vs list of feelings and values

Successful innovation only exists when it addresses values.

September 19

Prof Guido Dedene