과학에 대한 크리스토퍼 알렉산더의 견해
크리스토퍼 알렉산더가 과학에 대해 언급하는 지문들 모음.
The timeless way of building
On the timeless way:1
Although the process is precise, and can be defined in exact scientific terms, finally it becomes valuable, not so much because it shows us things which we don’t know, but instead, because it shows us what we know already, only daren’t admit because it seems so childish, and so primitive.
On being alive:2
It is the quality of life. And we must seek it, for our own sakes, in our surroundings, simply in order that we can ourselves become alive. That is the central scientific fact in all that follows.
On generative process:3
This hinges on a simple scientific proposition: the great complexity of an organic system, which is essential to its life, cannot be created from above directly; it can only be generated indirectly.
On sharable patterns:4
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Making abstractions which are powerful and deep is an art. It requires tremendous ability of go to the heart of things, and get at the really deep abstraction. No one can tell you how to do it in science. No one can tell you how to do it in design.
The solidity of human feelings:5
It is easy to dismiss feelings as “subjective” and “unreliable,” and therefore not a reasonable basis for any form of scientific agreement. And of course, in private matters, where people’s feelings vary greatly from one person to the next, their feelings cannot be used as a basis for agreement.
However, in the domain of patterns, where people seem to agree 90, 95, even 99 percent of the time, we may treat this agreement as an extraordinary, almost shattering, discovery, about the solidity of human feelings, and we may certainly use it as scientific.
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In short, the scientific accuracy of the patterns can only come from direct assessment of people’s feelings, not from arguments or discussions.
Footnotes
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Chapter 1 “The timeless way”, The timeless way of building ↩
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Chapter 3 “Being alive”, The timeless way of building ↩
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Chapter 9 “The flower and the seed”, The timeless way of building ↩
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Chapter 14 “Patterns which can be shared”, The timeless way of building ↩
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Chapter 14 “Patterns which can be shared”, The timeless way of building ↩