Words matter

[Harrison Owen]

Jack said: "Forgive my impertinence, but does any of this really matter? 

Angels, pinheads, blah blah blah ..."

 

Given a great cosmic view of things, none of it really matters, I guess. The
reality of self-organization will continue on its majestic path regardless
of what we say or think. That said, our understanding of the process and
capacity to work effectively within it (open space) depend in large part on
the accuracy of our perceptions which is enhanced by a careful, respectful
dialogue in the community of practitioners. Nobody will ever get it "just
right" and words will always be faint approximations of the reality
experienced. And given the multiplicity of languages in our community the
situation is even more complex. However, through this 25 year long dialogue,
we have gotten pretty good, I think, in sharpening our perceptions and
framing our actions. It may be true that a large part of the written
versions of this dialogue came from my pen (computer), but it is even more
true that everything I have ever written derives ultimately from the
community dialogue. I may have written the books, but WE have created the
basic understandings. So words do matter, slithery as they may be. To limit
our losses, my effort has been to find the fewest words that say the most,
all under the heading of less is more, or in more classical terms, the Law
of Parsimony, otherwise known as Occam's Razor. And it ain't over yet -
which means I think that we have lots of great conversations to enjoy which
hopefully will bring us to a clearer perception of what we are doing -
expressed in the fewest words possible. 

 

Harrison    

 

 

Harrison Owen

7808 River Falls Dr.

Potomac, MD 20854

USA

Phone 301-365-2093

www.openspaceworld.com

www.ho-image.com (Personal Website)

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