Sometimes you come across a well worded criticism, I referenced one from the Archbishop of Canterbury last week. I came across another when there were attempts by the Randinistas to delete it from the Wikipedia. The whole thing is worth reading but the final paragraphs are well written and to the point:

Rand's readers will invariably admit that they first responded to her writing during adolescence. That makes sense. A simplified world of brilliant and unappreciated beings fighting for the recognition they deserve is understandably appealing to teenagers.

These are romance novels with a patina of pseudo-philosophy which is well-suited to those desperate for adulthood. Indeed, Rand is probably best read by those still young enough to miss the implication of her beliefs: neither charity nor compassion nor common cause have any value when compared with the transcendence of the individual mind.

This isn't philosophy, it's petulance. And 50 years on, these novels read like a relics.

A surge in sales of Atlas Shrugged may reflect a depressingly adolescence approach to politics and morality, and not just any adolescent but rather that spoilt brat down the street who has never been subject to any constraint. Of course it could get worse.

Posted by Dave Snowden at 3:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

I have just been told that the seminar I am giving at the University of Surrey this Tuesday lunch time is open (although there are limited places). The title of the seminar is: From Induction to Abduction: a new approach to research and productive enquiry. As well as the practice of micro-narrative or abductive research I plan to outline some of the basic theory, in particular to the American Pragmatists Dewey and Peirce. Taget audience is those working on social science research, experimental philosophy, ethnography and management science.

Posted by Dave Snowden at 12:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I'm working on a history of the Cynefin model. The number if citations and mentions seems to have gone up markedly in the last few months which is pleasing. However with growing use there are some misunderstandings of the history, and odd claim for influence which has surprised me! The sequence goes something like this:

Continue reading "The evolution of Cynefin over a decade" »

Posted by Dave Snowden at 4:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

As a part of the general sort of the study I have been cataloguing my library. Once upon a time this would have been a major undertaking, but now with the benefit of a hand scanner and Bookpedia (thanks to the twitterverse for helping make that choice) its become a lot easier! I'm only half way through the process and have barely touched the science fiction collection yet. That may be harder as many books predate ISBN codes.

For those interested here is the list of books that I consider to have been critical in the whole body of my work. If you order via the CE link we earn some money! I should say now that the list is not exhaustive, I still have some shelves to catalogue, and presence on the list is not endorsement of the ideas contained in each volume. Several go back to the 70s and my Catholic Marxist days, there are two volumes of poetry and a fair amount of philosophy. Note that there is only one knowledge management book and that I don't necessarily recommend. It's there because it triggered me to look into complexity via its use (incorrect I now think) of autopoiesis. Working Knowledge from Prusak and Davenport is a classic here, and while talking with Larry had a great influence over the years (and I may publish that list of people one of these days), the book summarised a field which I was familiar with. You may also notice the more or less complete absence of any popular management books!

It's a fairly eclectic mix but my criteria was any book I had read twice, or which I picked up and referenced frequently. I have also loaded them to Library Thing but not really set that up for social sharing yet. If you want to see the list of books which may get added to the list, then my planned reading list is here.

Posted by Dave Snowden at 1:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)