http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/Re-Direct-conversation-tp3137870p3201475.html
I'd also be interested. I've been trying to put together a basic
framework to order my own thinking. Not quite resorting to set theory,
but making explicit the various levels of organisation, system boundaries,
relationships between elements, information flow, etc. My hope is that if
one carefully works one's way up through the various levels of
organization (from quarks to content of the psyche), it should become clear
where the different views part ways.
I'd expect that this sort of thing has been attempted before; Google
doesn't appear immediately helpful, though.
--------------------------------------------------
From: "Owen
Densmore" <
[hidden email]>
Sent: Thursday, July 02, 2009 5:46
PM
To: "The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group"
<
[hidden email]>
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Direct conversation - 1st vs
3rd person
Thank you Nick, good explanation. And Steve -- we
actually started
down this road on the thermodynamic formulation of
ABM .. Guerin-
Speak .. with some success.
Much more generally: There
is a rift between the formal and
philosophic that I have a partial
solution for. Both are VSI (Very
Short Introduction)
books.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0192853619/
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0192854119/
The first is the Mathematics
VSI. It is written by Timothy Gowers and
really does get the
reader into the mind of mathematics folks. Gowers
is a Fields
Medalist -- the Nobel for math. And he is driven by a
Wittgenstein understanding of abstraction. Gowers' discussion of
a
5th dimensional cube is a wonderful example. He constantly comes
back
to the type of abstraction he prefers: very clean and focused on
the
properties under discussion.
The second is the Wittgenstein
VSI, to bind Gowers' math with his
inspiration, Wittgenstein.
I've not finished this one (I've got a
digital version and have just
sent for the paper one) but there is
hope we might actually find a
connection between the more
philosophical discussions and a formalism
for them.
I'd be very interested in this
endeavor.
-- Owen
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College