RE: Resistance to new ideas (4)

["Alan Meekings" <alan@landmarkconsulting.co.uk>]

David,

In posting number 4*, in your series of very interesting messages on this
topic, you said:

<To expand Dr Deming's analogy of the lens, we may use different
lenses for different purposes. For some things we use a microscope,
others a telescope. What we see with one cannot be seen with the other.>

Although I agree with the point you're making, I wonder if we could find a
more appropriate word than telescope for the second perspective you mention.

When I hear the word telescope, I think about looking at things that are far
away and hard to distinguish with the naked eye.  In contrast, what I think
you're talking about are things that are just as close as those we need to
look at through your microscope but need to be viewed through a lens with a
wide enough angle to encompass all the relevant inter-related aspects of the
higher-order system we seek to study.

Some years ago, I happened across a book called THE MACROSCOPE: A NEW WORLD
SCIENTIFIC SYSTEM by Joël de Rosnay.  I confess I still haven't read the
book in full. However, the title caught my attention.

I wonder if the term macroscope, rather than telescope, appeals to you in
the context of your message, David?

Incidentally, if you're interested, Joël de Rosnay's book is published
freely on the web, in an English translation, at
http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/macroscope/.

Regards as ever,

Alan

Email: alan@landmarkconsulting.co.uk
Mobile: 07785 258 741