Generative Entrenchment and the Possiblity of Inheritance.

Posted by Jochen Fromm-3 on May 21, 2006; 10:48am
URL: http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/Generative-Entrenchment-and-the-Possiblity-of-Inheritance-tp521822p521823.html


I am not convinced that there is a problem here.
Can you explain the problem in simple words without
using the term "generative entrenchment" ? This
should be possible if it is more than a nebulous idea.

"Generative Entrenchment" is a concept proposed by
William C. Wimsatt, a Professor of Philosophy from the
University of Chicago. He uses "Entrenchment" in the
sense of encapsulation. We can investigate a system
and its parts because not everything is connected to
everything else. If there is a high interdependency
between many dependent modules in a complex system,
how can a complex system be controlled and organized if
all components of a system are closely linked together ?
Obviously it cannot work if parts of the system
are not isolated and encapsulated from each other.
I guess encapsulation and codes are the key here.
The phenomenon of strong emergence comes to mind.
Once a new system evolves in an old system, the old
system has reached the point of maximal complexity
and apparently stops to evolve, because a change in
the base would topple the whole system. This means the
system at the base and the connection between both
systems (in form of the corresponding code) are frozen.

However is there a need for a new complicated buzzword ?
I would rather consider philosophers and sociologists
as experts in "Generative Entrenchment", because
they ENTRENCH (or encapsulate) our ignorance so well
behind newly GENERATED complicated terms.

-J.