

The Problem of Design by Negation - eru
http://www.nabble.com/the-problem-of-design-by-negation-td23645054.html

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embeddedradical
this can be accomplished with a simple blend. use negation to understand what
is possible, which is quite large and still open ended, and drive your
optimism/enthusiasm into there.

don't be silly and abandon negation. negation is the heart of why the sciences
works, it is perhaps one of the most elegant and useful tools of mathematics,
and I could add some interesting things about negation, Nietzsche and
ontology, but decided to cut that out of this comment...

The most reliable way to the truth (essence, ontology) is by knowing what it
is not. The most reliable way to understand the behavior of phenomena is by
eliminating possibilities (theories) through contradiction against evidence
(the sciences).

i like the author's enthusiasm, and it is well suited for within possibility,
but if you take the good cheer of this posting to encourage yourself to have
less 'you can't do thats' and more 'what can we do?' - you'll get a lot more
hype than reality. negation is the way to the truth. within the truth, there
are many possibilities.

if anything, negation helps make your creative explorations be more successful
and more likely to lead into other true possibilities.

~~~
eru
> i like the author's enthusiasm

Who? There are mails from several authors.

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alexandros
This is so very true. I often hear developer friends rejecting every
proposition that goes against their current plan with excuses such as 'I don't
know how to do that', 'I don't think that's possible', etc. etc. While I
appreciate the clarity of mind that this can provide and the fact that it can
deliver from 'analysis paralysis' and seemingly infinite development routes,
there has got to be an alternative...

