Organised: Complexity Solving 60s

Complexity Solving 60s · Tuesday, January 25, 2005

Unless you’re using an LCD/TFT monitor the CRT screen you see before you and the mouse you move was most certainly directly influenced or invented by Doug Englebart.

I listened to an interview in which he had an epiphany when he was 25, something about how he’d like to do something else with his life other just make a living, to pick a complex problem he thought the world was dealing with at the time and try and find ways of resolving it. I think it so happens that he chose to deal with the rise of computers and human interaction.

I personally find myself very priveledged to hear such pioneers talk about their past and the turning points in their lives. I feel I learn a bit each time I hear them speak.

Theres a very interesting collection of audio and video clips on this site Invisible Revolution that include interviews with Doug,

one of his most famous works, a paper entitled ‘augmenting human intellect’ proposes quite an ambitious framework to assist in dealing with complex problems, its particularly interesting to see his description in the introduction, it describes how an architects work can be augmented with the aid of a computer system, it closely matches what we have today.. almost prophetic and perhaps slightly deterministic in accuracy!

What really caught my eye was his description of the collaborative processes and seamless collaborative environments, which much of his life seems to be dedicated to understanding. I think Ill be researching more.. to find out what he has to say..

The other thing he also brought my attention to was again the part about looking at complex problems in life and perhaps dedicating yourself to solving them, which is something Ive given a lot of thought to lately. If youre capable of it, I really dont see the point of being in a profession if youre not actively engaged in changing peoples lives for the better with your activities. teaching providing a service, etc.. the list of useful career paths and activities is endless..

and I guess its a pretty general statement to make, but when you think of things like that.. it has a point.. It puts the little things/concerns into perspective.

I mean right now Im on a Smart Design course, and possibly still very early on in many peoples eyes in terms of a future career…
but its kind of led me to think, all the things I do should be in line with a decent goal that extends beyond the goals Ive set myself now.

on that tune I think my main project should be less selfish, less ‘indulgent’.. less ‘cryptic’ and more in line with what Ive just described.
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