I deleted the last post before I thought of this point. I'm
never really sure whether many of these posts are practical
or metaphorical. This last post speaking of History carried
over into the idea of a "library and accessibility" reminded me
of the strange but effective way I keep my library and records.
Rather than going by subject, I arrange my 5000 or so volumes
by context i.e. culture. It forces me to think of the cultural
maps, (styles, etc.) that all of that writing springs from.
The maps, systems, rhetoric of each group becomes a kind of
Batesonian dialogue that precedes the dialogue with me, the
reader. I work at understanding my context and it is helpful
if I realize that I.A. Richards, Fernand Braudel, Gregory
Bateson and even my heros Clifford Geertz, Edward T. Hall,
Herbert Read and Peter Senge are all as grounded in and
limited by their time and place as I. Although I would
never claim to be as smart.
Oh, by the way, my context is that reality can only be expressed
metaphorically. My people believe that reality is too vast
for concrete and so the only choice is an open form, like song.
If you can re-engineer an orchestra why not compose a factory
by asking it what it wants?
"Finally Grandfather, I understand it,
Though the flowers may wither,
The Song will never die."
Nezahualcoytl,
-- Ray Evans Harrell mcore@soho.ios.com