Re: Values: (was Data Selection)

Andrew Moreno (amoreno@cyberspace.org)
Sun, 22 Jan 1995 23:50:23 -0500

Hi,

Fred Reed (freed@cc.atinc.com) wrote:

>It is strictly anti-representational in that all knowledge (i.e., that
>which is learned) is in the form of *acts*. Unlike the ladder of
>inference, which begins with perception and ends with action, we propose
>that there is *no* perception except as preceded by (and as a result of)
>action. I suppose that if I had to give an alternative to "mental model",
>I would suggest "habitual acts", both physical and intellectual. While it
>may seem like a silly play on words (and nearly is when "mental model" is
>used by the more insightful (IMHO) practitioners of systems thinking), it
>forces one to tie knowledge to action, and undercuts any tendancy to take
>certain objects/concepts as "given".

Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.
Sleep furiously ideas colorless are.

What information does a person act upon that enables them to
know that the first sentece has the right syntax and the second
syntax has the wrong syntax.

> Although this is the Learning-Org list, not metaphysics-L, I
>think this is still relevant because it is a critical point in
>one's "mental model" of learning itself, which surely must have
>practical importance to L.O. and consultants. If all learning
>arises from experience, and all experience arises from one's
>values, then clearly understanding value in general, and the
>variety of individual and organizational values, must be
>critical to understanding learning.

Regarding values, how do one know that another person's or
organization's definition of a value is the same as theirs?
For example, success. For me, success may be a wife, two kids, a
labrador retriever and a house in the mountains with a satellite
net link. For someone else, success may be a Ferrari, a gold
Visa card and weekend trips to popular nightclubs.

Does language play a role in a person's mental model
development?

Andrew Moreno amoreno@cyberspace.org amoreno@unixg.ubc.ca