eekim.com: EEK Speaks

Wed, Apr 14, 2004

ChiliPLoP Day 1 #

Yesterday afternoon, I arrived in Phoenix, Arizona for ChiliPLoP 2004. I hitched a ride with RalphJohnson and JoeYoder to Carefree, Arizona, and soon found myself at the LutheranRetreatCenter, where the conference is being held. (1BJ)

The post-dinner agenda was to discuss the structure of the conference. Other than the meal schedule (which is strictly enforced), there is no structure. This is what differentiates ChiliPLoP from HillsideGroup's other PLoP conferences. The setting is more relaxed, and the agenda is entirely flexible. (1BK)

Once we got business out of way, the fun began. There were a lot of great conversations, and a few of us stayed up late into the night chatting about everything from PatternLanguages to politics. (1BL)

TomMunnecke got the discussion started by asking about the generativity of PatternLanguages. This is an ongoing beef that Tom has with PatternLanguages, a misunderstanding that's important to clarify. (1BM)

Tom's thesis is that society is too problem-centric. For example, our approach to healthcare is to cure sickness rather than to promote healthy living. Tom's GivingSpace project -- and the reason he's here -- is to identify and propagate patterns of uplift. This is a wonderful effort. It's related to our work on patterns of collaboration, and it's an effort I fully support. (1BN)

Patterns are often defined as solutions to problems in a context. Tom's complaint is about the term "problem"; he think it prevents patterns from being generative. "Problem" in this context, however, means, "Something that needs a solution," not, "Something that is wrong." In other words, describing things in terms of problems and solutions does not necessarily prevent the solution from being generative. (1BO)

In fact, ChristopherAlexander stresses the importance of identifying generative patterns. LindaRising cited an example first described by DonOlson? (and is also discussed in Linda's book, The Patterns Handbook). Beginning skiiers often have a tendency to lean back, something that will cause them to lose their balance. You could say that one pattern is, "Don't Lean Back." This is not very useful advice. Leaning back is an instinctive, not conscious action. (1BP)

Don's suggested pattern is "HandsInView?." This is a conscious action you can perform, and the end result is that you lean forward. This is a great example of a generative pattern. (1BQ)

Ralph cited a similar example in software development: qmail. The motivation for qmail was to build a secure mail server. The approach, however, was not to identify and fix every security problem. The approach was to design small, modular programs that were easy to verify as secure. In other words, security was an emergent property of the software's design. (1BR)

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EEK Speaks

A blog about collaboration, community-building, and the various goings-on at Blue Oxen Associates, with occasional digressions on food and other vital matters.