Grains of salt...

["Judith Rosen" <***>]

Hello Everyone,

I recently had some discussions with a colleague of my father's that brought
to mind an important consideration for anyone studying his written work. I
had this converstion because of my efforts to get photocopied versions of
the out of print books made so that they will be available for purchase.
This colleague was saying that he didn't agree with many of the details in
Anticipatory Systems although he and my father agreed conceptually. The
specifics he gave me were enough for me to recognize that my father had
actually changed most of those details in later works, such as Life, Itself.
That, in turn led me to include an editorial note in the photocopied
editions discussing this aspect of following someone's creative thought
process over time (ie: reading older books). I have seen many arguments
break out in discussions of my father's ideas that pit a recent description
(from Life, Itself) of some aspect of his work against an earlier
description he wrote in a previous paper or monograph. When we think about
it, it's not surprising that Robert Rosen would change his thought structure
if it was required to find the answers he was seeking. He always said he
"followed the problem" and he discarded or revised whatever part of his
conceptual framework that solving the problem dictated. Therefore, all his
older work needs to be taken in that light. Each of his books and papers
represented his ideas at the moment, but were only accurate as far as he had
gotten in his thinking up to the point of being recorded The  ideas in older
books can only be relied on to be an accurate reflection of his entire
theoretical framework if the same thoughts survived his constant revision
process over time and are visible in his final works as well.

The value of reading the earlier work is subjective but I believe that
sometimes seeing the thought process as it progresses through time can give
insight into the perspecive and mind of the person who is generating it.
That may lead to inspiration for the reader down the road who wants to take
these ideas to a new level. He said the road map is all there in his work
and a discerning reader/thinker will be able to follow it to the ideas he
didn't publish or hadn't gotten to yet. Another benefit I find is that many
of the ideas in his first books actually did stay with him all the way
through and seeing those ideas rephrased a few different ways can make them
much clearer to the reader.

Cheers,
Judith
Website address: http://www.rosen-enterprises.com/