“Planning is usually based on some sort of idea structure, often one or more theories. People who love theories are often sympathetic to the concept of planning. After all, isn’t it rational to plan things rather than simply “muddle through?” — this concept itself being something of a theory. A danger here is that the plan becomes more important than its results, as Stephens suggested.
Perhaps another danger is the creation of a Mandarin state led by a small, smart, highly-educated, self-confident, self-perpetuating elite — which is a kind of extension to Stephens’ point at the end of his column. Unless I’ve read him wrong, this danger is something along the lines of what has been troubling Friedrich von Blowhard for the last year or two.”
- 2 Blowhards (yes, it’s a little grumpy, but that’s the best thing about the Blowhards, you know?)
Update: Wait, it’s really not that grumpy. You know who’s grumpy? Well, kinda me, kinda today.
2 responses so far ↓
Chaz // July 11, 2009 at 9:31 pm |
For some reason your post appeared as an incoming link to my blog.
Perhaps on my post about thinkers thinking and provers proving.
I agree that theories have a place in life…. as long as they do not take the place of life. I like the quote you have posted.
I saw a documentary recently on an elite group of WW II comandos. In their training, they were taught that “The first casualty of any military operation is The Plan”. Simply meaning that our most carefully formulated plans and expectations can become intstantly meaningless when we deploy them.
Now this does not mean the plan has no validity… we had to start somewhere. But most plans require sudden and frequent adaptation.
In my post, I was referring much to theorists of drug and alcohol recovery versus those of us who have lived through it.
The theories some propose would be nice of they were practical. And they even make sense. Yet they do not represent reality. Especially since addiction is so complex.
Addiction is only one of the complex matters of life that cannot be easily theorized or formulized. These life circumstances simply have too many moving parts.
Ciao.
Chaz
onparkstreet // July 16, 2009 at 2:20 pm |
yes, theory meets real world is always interesting