Givens (was: Already-there ness, Empowerment and Such)
Chris Corrigan
chris at chriscorrigan.com
Sun Mar 2 10:43:58 PST 2003
I've poked around a little and just for the record, the New York Times
was writing about Samuel Langley. Langley was an aviation pioneer whose
early experiments with piloted aircraft were unmitigated disasters.
After a particularly brutal crash in which his pilot Charles Manley was
almost drowned in the Potomac River in Washington, USA, the New York
Times wrote:
"We hope that Professor Langley will not put his substantial greatness
as a scientist in further peril by continuing to waste his time and the
money involved in further airship experiments. Life is short, and he is
capable of services to humanity incomparably greater than can be
expected to result from trying to fly. . . . For students and
investigators of the Langley type, there are more useful employments."
-- New York Times editorial page of December 10, 1903.
Seven days later, the Wright Brothers flew elegantly and safely in South
Carolina, USA. If anyone has the full text of this editorial, I'd
appreciate knowing more of the argument.
Chris
---
CHRIS CORRIGAN
Consultation - Facilitation
Open Space Technology
Bowen Island, BC, Canada
http://www.chriscorrigan.com
chris at chriscorrigan.com
> -----Original Message-----
> From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of
Chris
> Corrigan
> Sent: Sunday, March 02, 2003 10:14 AM
> To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> Subject: Re: Givens (was: Already-there ness, Empowerment and Such)
>
> That's great to know Bernd! Amazing the stories we tell ourselves.
> "Science won't let us fly yet." I suppose they were right, but only
by
> three weeks!
>
> Chris
>
>
> ---
> CHRIS CORRIGAN
> Consultation - Facilitation
> Open Space Technology
>
> Bowen Island, BC, Canada
> http://www.chriscorrigan.com
> chris at chriscorrigan.com
>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of
WB-
> > TrainingConsultingDevelopment
> > Sent: Sunday, March 02, 2003 6:15 AM
> > To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> > Subject: Re: Givens (was: Already-thereness, Empowerment and Such)
> >
> > Chris,
> >
> > Yes, I agree - of course - with your main point.
> >
> > and the N. Y. Times article was based on a declaration of some
quite
> > eminent physicists
> > who made that basic error to believe, that, what they can not
> imagine,
> > can not happen.
> >
> > They did not say: "actual physics (=our map) does not see any
> possibility
> > for flying"
> > They said: "it is impossible to fly"
> >
> > So they were fundamentally wrong, although on the top of their
> science
> >
> > Bernd
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU]On Behalf Of
> Chris
> > Corrigan
> > Sent: Sunday, March 02, 2003 6:32 AM
> > To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> > Subject: Re: Givens (was: Already-thereness, Empowerment and Such)
> >
> > Yes Bernd, my point was that the Wright brothers, having fully
> > understood the givens, figured out how to fly. I recently read
that
> > only weeks before they did this, the New York Times published an
> > editorial saying that humans would never fly. Seems to me to be a
> prime
> > example of what I'm talking about.
> >
> > This case is in fact an eloquent example of what I mean now when I
> say
> > that the real "givens" are empowering and the false ones are
> > disempowering. Dealing with real givens, we can work around them,
> bring
> > to bear all the creativity and ingenuity of the human spirit alone
or
> in
> > groups to figure out solutions that include and transcend the
givens.
> > But I believe that the hardest givens to overcome are the ones
that
> > aren't even real: the stories we tell ourselves about why we can't
do
> > things. In that case, empowerment finally comes when one sees
that
> the
> > stories are simply stories, and not reality at all.
> >
> > To put it on a bumper sticker, it's the difference between
"givens"
> and
> > "give-ins"
> >
> > Eh?
> >
> > Chris
> >
> >
> > ---
> > CHRIS CORRIGAN
> > Consultation - Facilitation
> > Open Space Technology
> >
> > Bowen Island, BC, Canada
> > http://www.chriscorrigan.com
> > chris at chriscorrigan.com
> >
> >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf
Of
> WB-
> > > TrainingConsultingDevelopment
> > > Sent: Tuesday, February 25, 2003 6:44 AM
> > > To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> > > Subject: Re: Givens (was: Already-thereness, Empowerment and
Such)
> > >
> > > Has nothing to do with open space,
> > > just a note for science-metaphor using freeks:
> > > ------------
> > >
> > > Chris,
> > >
> > > I like your argument
> > > but your example is only good in the sense of a metapher.
> > >
> > > f you look at the real history of technology, the Wright-
brothers'
> > (and
> > > other genial technical engeneer's) approach was not the one you
> > > described. Yet they flew.
> > > The point is, that you forgot that there was another fact-or in
the
> > game
> > > you unduely reduced complexity
> > > Air: they did not invent ballistic rockets (for which your
argument
> > would
> > > be right)
> > > But they used aerodynamics against gravity in their art (greek:
> > téknè) of
> > > flying
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > On Tue, 18 Feb 2003 14:14:18 -0800, Chris Corrigan wrote:
> > > Without getting esoteric, one can WANT to fly, but if one
advances
> > > efforts to do so without admitting that gravity is a force to be
> > > reckoned with, one won't get very far. However, if one accepts
> that
> > > gravity is real and can be absolutely known and that it is a
true
> > > given, then one can accommodate gravity in one's quest to fly.
> "Okay
> > > then" one would think, "I need to make something that
accelerates
> me
> > > away from the earth with more force than gravity can exert on
me."
> > > This is profoundly more empowering thought than "Screw it,
gravity
> is
> > > too strong. I'll never fly." It is more empowering because it
> > > actually leads one to flight.
> > >
> > > *
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