Template:Form and substance capsule: Difference between revisions
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[[Form]] is the [[Map|map]]: simplified, rationalised, modularised: it establishes, through followable rules, a safe passage through the incomprehensible thickness of the jungle. It tries to reduce ''[[complexity]]'' — scary, unmanageable, [[non-linear]] — to mere ''[[Complicated system|complication]]'' — fiddly, but tameable by punctilious attention to detail — by prescribing fixed rules and procedures — [[process]] — which may be followed even by those with no particular experience or expertise of the [[territory]]. As long as you can read, and are generally disposed to quickly and quietly doing what you are told, the only question which is asked of you in such a [[formal]] system will be: ''did you faithfully follow the rules?'' | [[Form]] is the [[Map|map]]: simplified, rationalised, modularised: it establishes, through followable rules, a safe passage through the incomprehensible thickness of the jungle. It tries to reduce ''[[complexity]]'' — scary, unmanageable, [[non-linear]] — to mere ''[[Complicated system|complication]]'' — fiddly, but tameable by punctilious attention to detail — by prescribing fixed rules and procedures — [[process]] — which may be followed even by those with no particular experience or expertise of the [[territory]]. As long as you can read, and are generally disposed to quickly and quietly doing what you are told, the only question which is asked of you in such a [[formal]] system will be: ''did you faithfully follow the rules?'' | ||
[[Substance and form|Substance]] is the [[Territory|territory]]: the fractal, inchoate, indeterminate, dancing, organic mass of messiness in which we are consigned to play our mortal games. Without a map, there is only one way to navigate the territory: by ''knowing'' it. Substance requires an investment of time, patience, energy and skill. A map is a proxy, not a substitute | [[Substance and form|Substance]] is the [[Territory|territory]]: the fractal, inchoate, indeterminate, dancing, organic mass of messiness in which we are consigned to play our mortal games. Without a map, there is only one way to navigate the territory: by ''knowing'' it. Substance requires an investment of time, patience, energy and skill. A map is a proxy for knowledge, not a substitute: one who has the knowledge, and knows the territory — an ''[[Subject matter expert|expert]]'' — will bridle upon being told to use a map. | ||
Put it this way: would ''you'' use a map to navigate from the station to your own home? | |||
Revision as of 14:09, 2 September 2023
Form versus substance in a nutshell
Form is the map: simplified, rationalised, modularised: it establishes, through followable rules, a safe passage through the incomprehensible thickness of the jungle. It tries to reduce complexity — scary, unmanageable, non-linear — to mere complication — fiddly, but tameable by punctilious attention to detail — by prescribing fixed rules and procedures — process — which may be followed even by those with no particular experience or expertise of the territory. As long as you can read, and are generally disposed to quickly and quietly doing what you are told, the only question which is asked of you in such a formal system will be: did you faithfully follow the rules?
Substance is the territory: the fractal, inchoate, indeterminate, dancing, organic mass of messiness in which we are consigned to play our mortal games. Without a map, there is only one way to navigate the territory: by knowing it. Substance requires an investment of time, patience, energy and skill. A map is a proxy for knowledge, not a substitute: one who has the knowledge, and knows the territory — an expert — will bridle upon being told to use a map.
Put it this way: would you use a map to navigate from the station to your own home?