CONTACTS 
0201 - Texas Tech University                                                                                                                                              O-00000761 0504
020101 - Mr. Joseph M. Ransdell; Associate Professor                                                                                                                      O-00000761 0504
020103 - Department of Philosophy                                                                                                                                         O-00000761 0504

SUBJECTS
Communication, Orality, Literacy, Plato
Talking, Writing, Literacy
Phaedrus Shows Plato Favored Orality Rather than Literacy
Communication, Orality, Literacy
Plato, Phaedrus, Socrates
Writing "everything" down Not Needed to Understand
Writing Limitations, Phaedrus, 000720

1809 -
1809 -    ..
1810 - Summary/Objective
1811 -
181101 - Follow up ref SDS 89 0000, ref SDS 86 0000.
181102 -
181103 - Joe sets out analysis indicating Plato worried that writing, as
181104 - practiced during his time to record speeches, was less effective for
181105 - understanding, ref SDS 0 3652, than the controlled dialog method of
181106 - inquiry, which he believed Socrates could perform, but others could
181107 - not. ref SDS 0 1457  Plato wrote dialogs to demonstrate Socrates
181108 - method of talking, was better than Plato's writing, hoping others
181109 - would learn the Socratic method of controlled dialog inquiry, which
181110 - supports the scientific method of analysis now in common use.
181111 - ref SDS 0 4576
181113 -  ..
181114 - Submitted ref DIT 1 0001 noting the issue is not orality or literacy,
181115 - but how to strike a better balance under modern conditions of
181116 - information overload that impair understanding due to limited span of
181117 - attention, and limited time for controlled inquiry, based on work in
181118 - cognitive science. ref DIT 1 3795
181119 -
181120 -
181121 -
181123 -  ..
1812 -
1813 -
1814 - Progress
181501 -  ..
181502 - Plato Worried Literacy Displacing Orality, Limitations Overlooked
181503 -
181504 - Follow up ref SDS 37 7426.
181505 -
181506 - Received ref DRT 1 0001 commenting on orality and literacy.  Joe notes
181507 - receipt of the letter sent yesterday, ref DIP 1 0001; review is
181508 - underway. ref SDS 89 0001
181510 -  ..
181511 - Joe responds to the record on 981108, and maintains Plato did not want
181512 - to encourage writing in place of the oral, and was primarily motivated
181513 - by a belief that written discourse -- which was spreading rapidly in
181514 - his time -- posed a great danger for good thinking if its limitations
181515 - were not understood and consciously or systematically compensated for.
181516 - ref DRT 1 3363
181518 -      ..
181519 -     On 981108 analysis indicated Plato argued against over reliance on
181520 -     oratory and poetry as primary communication and memory methods.
181521 -     ref SDS 37 7426
181523 -      ..
181524 -     Off hand, this seems different from encouraging "...writing in
181525 -     place of oral."  Talking and listening will remain the dominate
181526 -     means of communication because of human biology and the need for
181527 -     immediate interaction, as explained in POIMS, ref OF 1 5106
181529 -      ..
181530 -     Writing alone is, also, not a solution, especially so in an
181531 -     environment of information overload, as set out in POIMS,
181532 -     ref OF 1 8844 and ref OF 1 1265
181534 -      ..
181535 -     Communication Metrics argues for proactive efforts to balance
181536 -     speaking and thinking carefully (reflecting, alignment, blah,
181537 -     blah, blah), in order to reduce mistakes caused by spontaneous
181538 -     stream of conscious communication that is accelerated by
181539 -     technology that compresses time and distance.  The aim is to
181540 -     improve understanding and follow up from communication, both oral
181541 -     and written, and to prepare so that subsequent communication will
181542 -     be more effective in guiding actions that accomplish needs and
181543 -     objectives, without conflicting with requirements and commitments.
181545 -      ..
181546 -     Need list of specific limitations of literacy, which Joe feels
181547 -     worried Plato, per above, ref SDS 0 0974, similar to list of
181548 -     limitations for orality shown in the record on 981108, ref SDS 37
181549 -     4505  Need examples, case studies, that illustrate weaknesses of
181550 -     literacy, along the lines of examples showing weaknesses for
181551 -     dialog listed in the record on 000719. ref SDS 89 1840
181552 -
181553 -        Are there more limitations for literacy than listed below?
181554 -        ref SDS 0 6030
181556 -         ..
181557 -        Actually, Joe explains another limitation of writing during
181558 -        Plato's time, that it was used primarily to jot down canned
181559 -        speeches, rather than for growing knowledge and ideas by
181560 -        integrating all relevant information. ref SDS 0 3652
181562 -      ..
181563 -     POIMS offers ideas to strengthen literacy, which hopefully helps
181564 -     solve prior limitations. ref OF 1 3742
181565 -
181566 -
181567 -
181569 -  ..
181570 - Phaedrus Written Long Ago, Illustrates Fear of New Technology
181571 -
181572 - Joe notes that Plato is quite explicit in his writing about...
181573 -
181574 -          writing posing a great danger for good thinking if its
181575 -          limitations were not understood and consciously or
181576 -          systematically compensated....
181577 -
181578 - ...as evident from his writing in the Phaedrus, close to the end of
181579 - the dialogue.  This may sound at first to be diametrically opposed to
181580 - your own view, but bear with it for a minute and it may come to look
181581 - rather different. ref DRT 1 1624
181583 -      ..
181584 -     On 991208 Phaedrus was reviewed to identify limitations (evils)
181585 -     that might result from too much reliance on writing. ref SDS 40
181586 -     0877
181588 -      ..
181589 -     Analysis at that time noted that "too much" of anything typically
181590 -     causes harm, by definition.  Communication Metrics strives to add
181591 -     "intelligence" into the information stream that balances over
181592 -     reliance on verbal communication and cursory analysis in writing
181593 -     due to limited time, exemplified by email.
181594 -
181596 -      ..
181597 -     Limitations of writing identified by Phaedrus...
181598 -
181599 -        a.  Forgetfulness
181600 -
181601 -            This contention is not supported in Phaedrus. ref SDS 40
181602 -            5658
181603 -
181605 -             ..
181606 -        b.  Literacy imparts reminiscence and the semblance of truth.
181607 -            Users of the alphabet will be hearers of many things and
181608 -            will have learned nothing; they will appear to be
181609 -            omniscient and will generally know nothing; they will be
181610 -            tiresome company, having the show of wisdom without the
181611 -            reality.
181613 -             ..
181614 -            This contention is not supported, and conflicts with the
181615 -            record subsequent to the Phaedrus. ref SDS 40 1786
181616 -
181618 -             ..
181619 -        c.  Writing is not intelligible nor certain; less reliable than
181620 -            knowledge and recollection. ref SDS 40 0720
181621 -
181622 -            This is pretty much a re-statement of b.
181623 -
181624 -                [...below, Joe clarifies this issue. ref SDS 0 4576
181626 -             ..
181627 -            The first issue is to define "knowledge"?
181629 -             ..
181630 -            After that, for example, see the record on 000517 at Intel,
181631 -            ref SDS 65 5096, and meeting at SRI on 000518, ref SDS 66
181632 -            3528, we ask what is the conflict between "knowledge" and
181633 -            literacy, and how is conversation more reliable?  If that
181634 -            were true, why did Plato bother to write the Phaedrus?  Why
181635 -            not just explain it in a meeting, and then collaborate in
181636 -            discussion?
181637 -
181638 -                The letter to Joe responding to his letter today, makes
181639 -                this point. ref DIT 1 2337
181641 -             ..
181642 -            For example, if we "learn" that a concrete footing needs to
181643 -            be 12' long, 20' wide and 30' deep in order to support the
181644 -            bridge, and we jot this down, how is such "knowledge" any
181645 -            less intelligible, reliable, or certain if the engineer
181646 -            gives the plans to the contractor, rather than just calls
181647 -            up and says...
181648 -
181649 -
181650 -                "Make sure those footings are 12' x 20' x 30'."
181652 -             ..
181653 -            And the contractor responds....
181654 -
181655 -
181656 -                Yeah, I got it.  20 x 12 x 30.
181657 -
181659 -             ..
181660 -            Engineer says...
181661 -
181662 -
181663 -                What?
181665 -             ..
181666 -            Contractor says...
181667 -
181668 -
181669 -                You said 12 x 30 x 20
181671 -             ..
181672 -            Engineer says...
181673 -
181674 -
181675 -                No!  20 x 12 x 30
181677 -             ..
181678 -            Contractor says...
181679 -
181680 -
181681 -                Okay I got it.
181682 -
181684 -             ..
181685 -            Wouldn't we feel safer if, the engineer just went ahead and
181686 -            sent the plans to the contractor, and the contractor gave
181687 -            the plans to the carpenter, and the carpenter used the
181688 -            plans to layout the footing, rather than the recollections
181689 -            of everybody, however, well structured and controlled such
181690 -            discussions might be conducted?
181691 -
181693 -             ..
181694 -        d.  Writing repeats inadequacies in what is said, lacks
181695 -            context, and therefore usefulness.
181696 -
181697 -            This latter point is more of an interpretation, where
181698 -            Socrates seems to complain that speeches of the day were
181699 -            memorized for repetition, and so writing such stuff down
181700 -            was not terribly helpful, and actually caused harm by
181701 -            imparting application beyond the original context.
181702 -            ref SDS 40 3905
181704 -             ..
181705 -            This is the "garbage in garbage out" problem.
181706 -
181707 -                [...below, Joe clarifies this issue. ref SDS 0 4576
181709 -             ..
181710 -            SDS places information into a context that expands
181711 -            understanding, discussed recently on 000709. ref SDS 79
181712 -            1029  This supports the scientific process of inquiry which
181713 -            Joe related to semiotics, as related on 000716. ref SDS 85
181714 -            4641  When the record is provided to others, there is
181715 -            opportunity for feedback, so that accuracy can be refined
181716 -            on factual issues, and on analysis of implications, theory
181717 -            and practice.
181718 -
181719 -
181720 -
1818 -

SUBJECTS
Meaning Drift Occurs in Writing and Verbal Communication
Meaning Maintain Shared Over Time
Meaning Drift Causes Bumbling Murphy's Law
Meaning Build and Maintain Shared, Over Time
Meaning Derived Common Patterns of Language Experience

3907 -
390801 -  ..
390802 - Permanence of Meaning Requires More than Permanent Media
390803 - Meaning Drift Constantly Evolving, Mind Adjusting to New Experience
390804 -
390805 - Follow up ref SDS 89 3200.
390806 -
390807 - Joe explains the written word seems to stop meaning drift by making
390808 - its expression permanent in the form of the inscribed word, which
390809 - doesn't change so long as it exists. But it is an illusion to think
390810 - that the meaning of what is said can be made permanent by resort to
390811 - permanent media:  the permanency of meaning is something that depends
390812 - upon repeated renewal across time rather than on insulation from
390813 - change and the passage of time.  One must return again and again and
390814 - refresh the record by a new interaction with it, in other words,
390815 - instead of assuming that, once recorded, something has been fixed.
390816 - ref DRT 1 1380
390818 -      ..
390819 -     This is a powerful insight, supplementing multi-prong solution to
390820 -     meaning drift which Joe proposed yesterday. ref SDS 89 9880  Joe's
390821 -     letter today seems to recognize Landauer's point about meaning
390822 -     drift on 960518, ref SDS 17 3734, but goes on to suggest that a
390823 -     mind constantly acquiring new connections, will, as a result,
390824 -     draw, or perhaps, assign, i.e., interpret, different meaning from
390825 -     a constant message, and, thus, needs more than mere renderings of
390826 -     prior utterances to maintain alignment, or otherwise make
390827 -     effective use of the record.
390828 -
390829 -         [On 000721 Joe says cognitive science does not have a solution
390830 -         for meaning drift. ref SDS 90 7650
390832 -      ..
390833 -     Communication Metrics is a process of continual alignment using
390834 -     the "intelligence" process of plan, perform report everyday to tie
390835 -     everything together.  It provides an opportunity to routinely
390836 -     challenge and refresh meaning and application of the record across
390837 -     time, in a significantly more robust manner than is possible in a
390838 -     dialog setting, based on the scientific process of inquiry noted
390839 -     by Joe that is reflected in Peirce's semiotics, reviewed on
390840 -     000716. ref SDS 85 0785
390842 -      ..
390843 -     These advantages are set out in the record on 950204 explaining
390844 -     SDS has a lot of firepower to improve traditional reading and
390845 -     writing. ref SDS 7 4995  This helps overcome former limitations,
390846 -     for example that worried Plato in the Phaedrus, per above.
390847 -     ref SDS 0 0006
390848 -
390849 -
390850 -
390851 -
3909 -

SUBJECTS
Communication Manager Expertise Helps Knowledge Worker Learning Curve

4203 -
420401 -  ..
420402 - Communication Manager New Work Role, Professional Discipline
420403 - Socrates Role of Critical Analysis Supported by SDS Needs Training
420404 - Continual Learning Through Critical Analysis Supported by Dialog
420405 -
420406 - Socrates discovered unceasing, critically controlled dialogical
420407 - inquiry maintained "intelligence."  Writing was coming to dominate
420408 - communication more and more, with people getting less and less
420409 - skillful at oral communication, reducing likelihood the Socratic art
420410 - would be used.
420411 -
420412 -     Evidently the quality of writing that worried Plato did not follow
420413 -     the tradition of Thucydides, credited for adding analysis to the
420414 -     record that creates history with context, as reported on 991108.
420415 -     ref SDS 37 7048
420416 -
420417 -        [...below, Socrates method is proposed for managers to improve
420418 -        productivity. ref SDS 0 4962
420420 -         ..
420421 -        [...below, feedback through correspondence, critical review and
420422 -        comment was a missing ingredient in writing during Plato's
420423 -        time, that reinforced impression that unceasing dialog was a
420424 -        better method of analysis. ref SDS 0 2960
420426 -      ..
420427 -     This reflects, in part, the model consultants promote today, who
420428 -     teach talking and listening for executive skills, see Axiom on
420429 -     950426. ref SDS 11 4392  They attend a seminar or read a book and
420430 -     jump to the conclusion that what was good enough for Socrates will
420431 -     work today.
420433 -      ..
420434 -     People do not have enough time, nor skill to conduct ceaseless,
420435 -     critically controlled dialog.  Communication Metrics provides a
420436 -     form of critical analysis, with some new wrinkles that add value
420437 -     to traditional methods, discussed above. ref SDS 0 0006  It likely
420438 -     requires a new role to implement, which needs dedicated training,
420439 -     set out in the letter, ref DIP 1 8632, to Joe yesterday.
420440 -     ref SDS 89 5029
420441 -
420442 -         A letter responding to Joe cites limitations of human thinking
420443 -         identified in Cognitive Science, which make the solution that
420444 -         worked well using Socrates' discovery of unceasing, critically
420445 -         controlled dialogical inquiry during his time, less effective
420446 -         today due to information overload. ref DIT 1 3795
420447 -
420448 -
420449 -
420450 -
420451 -
420452 -
4205 -

SUBJECTS
Feedback Provides Metric
Writing Improves Understanding
Writing Structured Improves Knowledge Management
Knowledge Management Dilemma Balance Summary and Complexity
Time KM Dilemma Immediate Response in Conversation, Reflection Deferr
Deferred Reward or Immediate Action in Conversation KM Delimma
Feedback Metrics Meeting Notes Improve Productivity Lessons Learned
Garden Eden Grazing Foraging Information Overload Email Meetings No T
Knowledge Dilemma Fear Accountability Brought by Knowledge
Deferred Rewards Defy Common Sense
Binary Forces Permeate Human Endeavors, Cause Stress, Conflict
Feedback Resisted Defers Results
Feedback Critical to Communication
Feedback Feared Deferred Reward May Lose Opportunity

6116 -
611701 -  ..
611702 - Orality, Literacy Binary Forces of Immediacy v. Deferred Reward
611703 - Binary Forces Immediate Gratification v Deferred Rewards
611704 - Writing Crafts Dialog to Illustrate Critical Thinking
611705 - Art of Dialog Spontaneous, Cannot Craft Reflective Critical Thinking
611706 -
611707 - Plato wrote dialogues in which the characters are exhibited as engaged
611708 - in controlled oral discourse of the sort Socrates specialized in. This
611709 - form of the written word -- drama -- is the closest that writing could
611710 - come to oral discourse, but this depended, too, on it being used in
611711 - that way, simply as a reminder both about what critically controlled
611712 - conversation is like and about the actual content of the conversation
611713 - on this topic and that. Thus Plato deliberately and explicitly
611714 - deprecates the value of his own work precisely because it is written,
611715 - but also tells how to compensate for that, by taking it as a reminder
611716 - of what authentic communication is like. ref DRT 1 7500
611718 -      ..
611719 -     Don't quite grasp the nuance in the last part here, especially
611720 -     relative to "limitations" set out in Phaedrus, ref SDS 0 6030,
611721 -     which at this remove, some 2000 years later, seem not to have
611722 -     stood the test of time.
611723 -
611725 -      ..
611726 -     Need demonstration of "authentic" communication.  Per above, it
611727 -     might not be possible Joe to submit in writing, if it can only be
611728 -     done through dialog.
611730 -      ..
611731 -     Human biology has great variability in emotional temperament.  It
611732 -     therefore seems doubtful that a lot of people are sufficiently
611733 -     equipped to accomplish Socrates' controlled dialog.  Unless there
611734 -     is a judge who directs traffic, it is pretty much impossible. Even
611735 -     a judge in a court cannot achieve the level of control attributed
611736 -     to Socrates in Plato's dialogs.  That is the beauty of writing a
611737 -     dialog -- the author can write it up to show control beyond the
611738 -     capacity of human biology.  As a result, it seems likely that
611739 -     controlled dialogical inquiry is more of a romantic construction
611740 -     than an account of actual practice.  It works great in the movies
611741 -     and on the stage, where the dialog is laid out, reviewed, tried,
611742 -     revised, and rehearsed so it sounds natural.
611743 -
611744 -         Letter to Joe, ref DIT 1 3795, mentions this point.
611746 -      ..
611747 -     SDS provides controlled analysis of the kind Joe imputes to
611748 -     Plato's objective, per his explanation on 000716 of the scientific
611749 -     process of inquiry. ref SDS 85 0785  It, too, requires a certain
611750 -     emotional temperament that may limit the application, but
611751 -     possibly, like the alphabet, it can become broadly applied, if the
611752 -     technology can be made simple enough, as set out in the letter to
611753 -     Mary on 000624. ref DIP 6 6018
611754 -
611756 -      ..
611757 -     Garden of Eden, Analysis/Danger Hidden by Information Overload
611758 -     Scientific Process of Inquiry Enhances Traditional Writing
611759 -     Knowledge Management Dilemma Continuum Thinking to Doing
611760 -
611761 -
611762 - Joe explores evolution of analytic and artistic traditions in Greek
611763 - culture, from the contrast between the conversational art of Socrates,
611764 - which is analytic, and the speech-making art, which is entertaining to
611765 - hold an audience, as well, to "control" a crowd. ref DRT 1 2115
611766 -
611767 -     On 991108 the entertainment aspect of speech is cited. ref SDS 37
611768 -     4505
611770 -  ..
611771 - Joe notes this contrast presents distinct forms of communication...
611772 -
611773 -     1.  Monological and unidirectional, bent on control of the person
611774 -         to whom the speech is directed, or
611775 -
611776 -     2.  Dialogical and critical, bent on critical self-control of the
611777 -         conversational process itself rather than of persons involved
611778 -         in the process.
611780 -      ..
611781 -     This seems like another dimension of the Knowledge Management
611782 -     dilemma discussed on 000106, ref SDS 41 5120, possibly arisising
611783 -     from the continuum between left brain, right brain activity cited
611784 -     by some authorities.  It reflects the underlying binary nature of
611785 -     existence requiring constant struggle for balance, reviewed on
611786 -     990716, ref SDS 32 4940 None of us are entirely one way or the
611787 -     other, but each of us is oriented slightly more toward analysis or
611788 -     toward art.  The Greeks urged moderation to balance binary forces.
611789 -
611791 -  ..
611792 - Plato identifies the written word with unidirectional monologue and
611793 - the oral word with the reciprocal interactivity of critical discourse.
611794 - His fear of the domination of culture by the written word was fear
611795 - that it would come about that people lost all capacity to respond
611796 - critically to what is said to them. ref DRT 1 8500
611798 -      ..
611799 -     Evidently the mail system had not gotten up to speed, given that
611800 -     writing was a new system of knowledge at the time of Socrates and
611801 -     Plato.  As a result, there was no tradition to provide feedback by
611802 -     writing a letter to correct the record.  Transitioning from only
611803 -     an oral tradition to use of literacy took time work out these
611804 -     procedures.
611806 -      ..
611807 -     Literacy permits research, construction and refinement of analysis
611808 -     that is not possible in dialog.  Eventually the discipline of
611809 -     science evolved that combined alphabet technology with analytic
611810 -     inquiry developed by Socrates, cited by Joe on 000716 ref SDS 85
611811 -     0785  Today, SDS extends this tradition by adding organization,
611812 -     alignment, summary connected to detail, and the inherent context
611813 -     of chronologies showing cause and effect to strengthen alphabet
611814 -     technology and analysis.  Socrates and Plato did not have these
611815 -     capabilities at their disposal.  For example, which Plato dialog
611816 -     has Socrates using information from 3, 4, 10, 100 different
611817 -     sources over days, weeks, months and years, to assess meaning and
611818 -     implications, based on actual alignment, rather recollection, as
611819 -     shown, for example on 980307 reviewing Grove's book. ref SDS 25
611820 -     0001
611822 -      ..
611823 -     This does not deny Socrates and Plato their place in the sun for
611824 -     important work.  However, they surely would be disappointed, if,
611825 -     after taking the trouble during their watch to point the way, we
611826 -     in our time shrink from the chance to extend their achievements.
611827 -     After 2000 years, our duty to them is not blind faith, but to
611828 -     extend their legacy by lifting civilization to a new plataue.
611830 -      ..
611831 -     SDS proposes that 2000 years of culture and technology now permit
611832 -     a new strategy for growing knowledge by investing intellectual
611833 -     capital, based on the farming model, also, set out on 950426.
611834 -     ref SDS 11 4404  Socrates' worry turns out to have been justified
611835 -     because dialog in the current era is mostly foraging on endless
611836 -     information, a veritable Garden of Eden, like cows grazing on vast
611837 -     plains of grass, see 000604, ref SDS 69 5893, and supported by a
611838 -     proposal on 000505 that technology development focus on email
611839 -     because it brings executives, managers, engineers, everyone "all
611840 -     the information that needs attention. ref SDS 63 3000
611842 -      ..
611843 -     Knowledge Management Dilemma Feeedback Essential But Resisted
611844 -     Deferred Feedback Higher Quality, Risks Missing Opportunity
611845 -     Feedback Timing Disparity Tension Between Orality and Literacy
611846 -
611847 -     The battleground in the dilemma of choosing orality or literacy is
611848 -     really over how soon do we get rewarded or have the opportunity to
611849 -     influence?  Is it immediate and certain though slight and likely
611850 -     to fail; or, is feedback deferred, comprehensive and accurate, but
611851 -     risks being too late?  Deferred rewards are emotionally resisted
611852 -     by human biology.  On the other hand, some people are afraid to
611853 -     ask questions, so this may balance out, per NWO... ref OF 2 2670
611854 -
611855 -        [On 000721 Joe seems to agree that feedback is, or was, the
611856 -        issue. ref SDS 90 4576
611858 -         ..
611859 -        [On 000722 Joe explains questions cause resistance because
611860 -        they, also, delay action. ref SDS 91 4320
611862 -      ..
611863 -     On 000515 feedback is "metric" of understanding to refine
611864 -     accuracy, also, "truth," in order to make reliable decisions, i.e.
611865 -     to manage effectively. ref SDS 64 7380
611866 -
611867 -        [On 000729 Joe reviews "truth" again. ref SDS 93 0005
611869 -      ..
611870 -     A dilemma arises because feedback can be done immediately by
611871 -     interrupting someone in conversation, waiting for a pause, or
611872 -     waiting to be asked for response.  We can think more about what
611873 -     was said, and call back to comment, get more input, integrate
611874 -     everything into a connected web of "knowledge" and evaluate
611875 -     alignment, then respond some more.
611877 -      ..
611878 -     Similarly, we can respond to an email immediately.  Or we can
611879 -     analyse it, integrate it into the record, organize it, align it,
611880 -     assign subjects which, by virture of ontological assocation,
611881 -     discloses nuance and implications that are not immediately
611882 -     apparent, then send people work product as feedback.  We, in turn,
611883 -     can get feedback in the form of a call, or a letter.  The dilemma
611884 -     is that we are running out of time.  We all going to die, and
611885 -     before that a broad range of intermediate deadlines limit the time
611886 -     available for analysis, with the result that to defer may mean to
611887 -     deny or miss and even foreclose opportunity.  So, the struggle is
611888 -     always to balance immediacy which may bring assured influence,
611889 -     albeit limited, with deferring response to strengthen feedback in
611890 -     hopes of getting a bigger reward, like the farmer, reported on
611891 -     960426. ref SDS 11 4404
611892 -
611893 -         [On 000724 Joe explains email and other spontaneous activity
611894 -         yields creativity. ref SDS 92 6512
611896 -          ..
611897 -         [...adding "intelligence" is not spontaneous, but can be
611898 -         creative. ref SDS 92 0008
611900 -      ..
611901 -     Conversation is an opportunity to immediately influence; human
611902 -     biology is driven to manifest that opportunity, because for most
611903 -     of the period when the human brain was evolving, immediate action
611904 -     was the best strategy for dealing with conditions encountered
611905 -     day-to-day.  It still remains so today.  For most human activity,
611906 -     conversation works well, as explained in POIMS. ref OF 1 5106
611908 -      ..
611909 -     An example is a baby asking for a cookie. ref OF 2 0936  A similar
611910 -     example is an executive blaming staff for not telling the truth,
611911 -     when management fears feedback and fails to provide means to
611912 -     discover the truth, reported 950412. ref SDS 10 3920
611914 -      ..
611915 -     SDS is about discovering what influence needs to occur based on
611916 -     the record, and shaping it to be thorough and effective.  This is
611917 -     a deferred reward, which experience in farming shows multiplies
611918 -     many times the reward from demanding immediate gratification of
611919 -     biological urges that drive conversation and listening.
611921 -      ..
611922 -     Actually, perspective due to inexperience is another factor.
611923 -     People who have not worked with SDS cannot believe it enables
611924 -     literacy to keep up the dynamics of daily life, because they liken
611925 -     it to paperwork that is always days or weeks behind, as reported
611926 -     on 970107. ref SDS 21 4953  5000 years of culture tell people it
611927 -     cannot keep up with the work minute by minute, hour by hour, etc.,
611928 -     as reported on 000517. ref SDS 65 5073  The record on 970107 and a
611929 -     thousand more show SDS can keep up, ref SDS 21 9769, and this
611930 -     saves time and money, reported on 981027. ref SDS 28 7315
611932 -      ..
611933 -     Time does seem, more and more, to be a core driving factor in
611934 -     cognition, indeed in existence.  SDS may provide a path to shift
611935 -     the balance in the modern era a bit more toward the controlled
611936 -     analytic inquiry Socrates advocated, by reducing the time and
611937 -     increasing the quality of knowledge work.  As explained in the
611938 -     record on 000716, this improves both orality and literacy.
611939 -     ref SDS 85 4641
611940 -
611941 -         Letter to Joe notes that SDS is not intended to replace
611942 -         dialog, but to provide better balance for analysis.
611943 -         ref DIT 1 0686
611945 -      ..
611946 -     On 000405, for example, Jack Park characterized SDS records as
611947 -     "...Rod's opinions mixed with links to other opinions, linked
611948 -     ultimately to original sources." ref SDS 53 2565
611950 -      ..
611951 -     In discussion, Jack feels frustrated.  He wants to be able to jump
611952 -     into an SDS record and add his own stuff. This reflects a desire
611953 -     for gratification through immediate feedback to control thoughts
611954 -     of others by injecting, or substituting our own.  It is an
611955 -     impossible objective to achieve and thus constitutes another
611956 -     dimension of the so called "Knowledge Management Dilemma, per
611957 -     analysis on 000106. ref SDS 41 5120
611958 -
611959 -
611960 -
611961 -
6120 -

SUBJECTS
Memory Improved by Writing Without Seeing Text
Microcosm Power to Organize, Link Complex Details
Subconscious Thought Microcosm Complex
Productivity Discover Communication Errors Before Mistakes Impact Wor
Microcosm Productivity Increased by Controlling Lower Levels Organic

6707 -
670801 -      ..
670802 -     Microcosm of Human Thought Complex, Overwhelming, Needs Feedback
670803 -     Feedback Provides Critical Control to Microcoms of Human Thought
670804 -
670805 -     At some point the conversation stops.  The meeting ends, people
670806 -     scatter, go home, go talk to other folks, read email, work on
670807 -     something, play tennis, watch the kids football game...; yet, the
670808 -     human mind continues to dwell on what has been experienced across
670809 -     the full range of inputs: sight, sound and action.
670811 -      ..
670812 -     We "think" about our experience, mostly on automatic pilot, in the
670813 -     background outside conscious span of attention.  The subconscious
670814 -     mind rearranges things, compares alignment by heuristic guessing,
670815 -     explained by Landauer on 960324, ref SDS 16 0083, senses causation
670816 -     from sequence based on chronology explained on 991014. ref SDS 34
670817 -     5600 The mind reaches preliminary opinion and conclusions, makes
670818 -     adjustment based on new stuff from talking to the kids, watching
670819 -     television and looking at the neighbor's yard, and cycles the
670820 -     results into other matters, and on and on and on.  The whole thing
670821 -     is a secret to the conscious mind, because the complexity is
670822 -     overwhelming.
670824 -      ..
670825 -     SDS provides access into the microscosm of the subconscious
670826 -     thought process that discloses some of the mind's secrets.  This
670827 -     permits making adjustments in time to avoid mistakes.  An example
670828 -     of mistakes caused by secrets in the mind, called "mistake" is a
670829 -     case study on 940611, ref SDS 6 8239, per letter, ref DIP 1 7735,
670830 -     to Joe on 000719, ref SDS 89 4020, based on analysis of secrecy on
670831 -     000717. ref SDS 86 0006  Power of the microcosm from gaining
670832 -     control over lower levels of organic structure is reviewed on
670833 -     960519. ref SDS 18 8338
670834 -
670836 -          ..
670837 -         Letter to Joe, ref DIT 1 3795, mentions this point.
670839 -      ..
670840 -     As Joe mentioned on 000717, others can see how what they said to
670841 -     Rod was applied. ref SDS 86 3825  They can send a letter or call
670842 -     Rod and object, correct, ignore or accept, under traditional
670843 -     notice procedures, perhaps eminating from Plato's dialogs long
670844 -     ago.  They can use their own SDS record to help them organize
670845 -     their own thoughts.
670847 -      ..
670848 -     On 950927 explained power derived from gaining control over lower
670849 -     levels of organic structure, in this case the microcosm of human
670850 -     thought. ref SDS 13 5412
670852 -      ..
670853 -     Feedback needs to be applied in both an immediate and a reflective
670854 -     mode in order to benefit from stronger understanding in the
670855 -     microcosm of the mind....
670856 -
670857 -     a.  Conversation provides immediate feedback to draw out issues,
670858 -         kick things around, explore.  This is discursive and so not
670859 -         conducive to careful analysis; but, it is often very creative
670860 -         in providing pointers to things that need careful attention.
670862 -          ..
670863 -         This is valued collaboration.
670865 -          ..
670866 -     b.  Communication Metrics explained in POIMS, ref OF 1 3742,
670867 -         provides measured and extended feedback, that permits review
670868 -         and integration with continuing experience, and in relation to
670869 -         a broader array of correlations from history and related
670870 -         forces than was originally recognized due to limited span of
670871 -         attention.
670872 -
670873 -
670874 -
670875 -
670876 -
6709 -

SUBJECTS
Semiotics Synergy Communication Meaning Inference
Communication Self-Controlled Dialog
Science Process Inquiry Implemented by SDS Plan Perform Report

7105 -
710601 -  ..
710602 - Semiotics -- Communication, Meaning, Inference Aided by SDS
710603 - Egalitarian Self-controlled Dialog Makes Communication Productive
710604 - Communication Training Not Enough to Solve Information Overload
710605 -
710606 - Joe argues that communication by managers is clever monologue that
710607 - involves no real interaction between the manager and others, with the
710608 - manager playing the Sophist role, achieving persuasion by any means
710609 - available. ref DRT 1 1980
710611 -  ..
710612 - He proposes a remedy to use an egalitarian self-control model of
710613 - dialogue, attributed to Socrates, per above, ref SDS 0 1457, where
710614 - meetings are not occasions for self-defensive managerial control.
710615 - This perspective can be applied in every phase of the communication
710616 - and record keeping. ref DRT 1 4368
710618 -  ..
710619 - Resistance comes from people who prefer top-down authoritarian
710620 - methods.  Joe feels top-down manipulative communication is in fact
710621 - essentially stupider than communication which has an egalitarian
710622 - structure involving critical self-control of the process itself.
710623 - ref DRT 1 5561
710625 -      ..
710626 -     Frustrations over unproductive meetings dominate the managerial
710627 -     scene, giving rise for strong application of scientific process of
710628 -     inquiry, see for example reports on...
710629 -
710630 -         940114. ref SDS 4 2290
710631 -
710632 -         950228. ref SDS 8 1994
710634 -          ..
710635 -         960205 causes of poor meetings listed. ref SDS 15 5902
710637 -      ..
710638 -     Clever monologue is not generally an apt description of business
710639 -     communication.  From time to time a meeting, call, email or memo
710640 -     is "clever," and it is certainly true that some managers tend to
710641 -     dominate a conversation.  But, for the most part executives and
710642 -     managers do not have enought time to think, reported on 970910.
710643 -     ref SDS 22 3479
710645 -      ..
710646 -     In any given group some people dominate the conversation because
710647 -     of verbal skill, technical expertise, level of interest or strong
710648 -     personality, and they may or may not be the manager.  Thus,
710649 -     top-down managerial control, per se, is not the big issue, that
710650 -     needs a solution.  In any case, taking that path requires not only
710651 -     training managers to involve others, we, also, have to train
710652 -     others to get involved.  That is a lot of training for which
710653 -     nobody has time, and which is opposed by human biology that is
710654 -     bound by time to take short cuts, and recognize hierarchy.
710656 -      ..
710657 -     We want to help people to do a better job with whatever level of
710658 -     involvement they can, or care, to have.  This requires lifting the
710659 -     capacity to think, remember and communicate.
710661 -      ..
710662 -     Meetings have varying degrees of interaction.  There is no
710663 -     evidence that controlled discourse makes communication more
710664 -     productive by, for example, getting doors hung in the right place,
710665 -     selecting the best software program, reducing completion time, or
710666 -     any of the thousands of subjects that arise in meetings.  People
710667 -     who ask a lot questions are respected by some and feared by
710668 -     others, for example on 961017. ref SDS 20 1127  Genetic cognitive
710669 -     variability, and differences in life experience, which each of us
710670 -     bring to the process of communication, means that training by
710671 -     itself is not enough.
710673 -      ..
710674 -     Communication Metrics strives to make people productive despite
710675 -     these variables, by leveraging innate capacity to think and
710676 -     remember, because these factors improve communication, despite all
710677 -     other obstacles.  Better communication, in turn, provides better
710678 -     information and clues about what is important to think about and
710679 -     to arrange to remember.
710681 -      ..
710682 -     Synergy between communication, meaning and inference, discussed in
710683 -     Joe's paper on Perice's semiotics, cited on 000716, ref SDS 82
710684 -     4267, can be supported by technology, as proposed in POIMS.
710685 -     ref OF 1 1054 and ref OF 1 8559 and further.  ..
710688 -     This is a good place to focus our efforts, i.e., getting more
710689 -     people positioned to use SDS technology for implementing the
710690 -     synergy of semiotics -- communication, meaning and inference.
710691 -
710692 -
710693 -
710694 -
710695 -
710696 -
710697 -
7107 -