Re: Grains of salt...

["Tim Gwinn" <***>]

Judith,
If its not involved to describe it, can you give us an overview or summary
of some of those major differences in thought between AS and LI ?
Regards,
Tim

> -----Original Message-----
> From: ROSEN Forum [mailto:*** Behalf Of Judith
> Rosen
> Sent: Sunday, June 08, 2003 10:35 AM
> To: ***
> Subject: Grains of salt...
>
>
> 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/