The carapace
Dr Brian and His Thoughts
A starting point is the contrast between Techical Rationality and Creativity. Techical Rationality is bounded, whereas Creativity is unbounded.
Creative people are in the world to make something new, to bring about a new way of looking at things and, all in all, are open to experience. They recognise there is a "rough magic" in the world. This magic may, or may not, be repeatable. They do not say 'something cannot be' from an a priori position. They do not seek to standardise eveything, they do seek to understand and express everything that they can. They are not respecters of boundaries.
Technical Rationalists work within a given domain. They respect boundaries. Boundaries define their 'closed system' for them. These boundaries may act as a carapace - an enclosing shell that keeps the rationalist in his world. Techical Rationalists seek to standardise their world. Looking at open systems introduces an unnatural, and unwelcome, turbulence into their world. They eschew the unpredictable for the predictable.
These two views have implications for education, especially in the knowledge era. Techical Rationality gives a false impression of the world as predictable, known and unfree. These are serious implications; indeed they should be regarded as reservations.
But the open world of Creativity has problems when viewed from the perspective of control. Our world of bureaucratic systems cannot handle creativity very well. It is not predictable enough.
Which world are we educating students for? The one, or the other, or both?
A starting point is the contrast between Techical Rationality and Creativity. Techical Rationality is bounded, whereas Creativity is unbounded.
Creative people are in the world to make something new, to bring about a new way of looking at things and, all in all, are open to experience. They recognise there is a "rough magic" in the world. This magic may, or may not, be repeatable. They do not say 'something cannot be' from an a priori position. They do not seek to standardise eveything, they do seek to understand and express everything that they can. They are not respecters of boundaries.
Technical Rationalists work within a given domain. They respect boundaries. Boundaries define their 'closed system' for them. These boundaries may act as a carapace - an enclosing shell that keeps the rationalist in his world. Techical Rationalists seek to standardise their world. Looking at open systems introduces an unnatural, and unwelcome, turbulence into their world. They eschew the unpredictable for the predictable.
These two views have implications for education, especially in the knowledge era. Techical Rationality gives a false impression of the world as predictable, known and unfree. These are serious implications; indeed they should be regarded as reservations.
But the open world of Creativity has problems when viewed from the perspective of control. Our world of bureaucratic systems cannot handle creativity very well. It is not predictable enough.
Which world are we educating students for? The one, or the other, or both?
posted by Dr Brian Morris at 11:31 am
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