Comments on: Enabling Constraints http://cac.ophony.org/2006/07/08/enabling-constraints/ Tue, 06 Jan 2009 12:23:22 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 By: James Drogan http://cac.ophony.org/2006/07/08/enabling-constraints/comment-page-1/#comment-1620 James Drogan Thu, 13 Jul 2006 16:27:56 +0000 http://cac.ophony.org/2006/07/08/enabling-constraints/#comment-1620 From time-to-time there are people like Jody who, thankfully, pull our heads out of the clouds (or elsewhere) and help us plant our feet solidly on the ground. She also wards us against techno-dependency. I was a third party in a two-way e-mail discussion by parties across the hall from one another. Yikes! And they were occasionally in violation of Drogan's Third Law: Never put things in an e-mail you would not like to hear read in court. Yikes again! We have matched our over reliance on technology with an under reliance on healthy skepticism. By the way, we need to assure a healthy supply of Jodys. From time-to-time there are people like Jody who, thankfully, pull our heads out of the clouds (or elsewhere) and help us plant our feet solidly on the ground.

She also wards us against techno-dependency. I was a third party in a two-way e-mail discussion by parties across the hall from one another. Yikes! And they were occasionally in violation of Drogan’s Third Law: Never put things in an e-mail you would not like to hear read in court. Yikes again!

We have matched our over reliance on technology with an under reliance on healthy skepticism.

By the way, we need to assure a healthy supply of Jodys.

Reply to James Drogan

]]> By: Jody http://cac.ophony.org/2006/07/08/enabling-constraints/comment-page-1/#comment-1585 Jody Sun, 09 Jul 2006 23:50:44 +0000 http://cac.ophony.org/2006/07/08/enabling-constraints/#comment-1585 In the discussion at the meeting Jim refers to, the idea of an enabling constraint seemed tied to rapidly developing technologies, and while I agree that technology can often set the parameters for our communication, there are many other enabling constraints that have little to do with technology. We submit cover letters and resumes that are often each limited to one page so we don't bore our potential employers; instructors may require several shorter essays rather than one long one due at the semester's end to manage the work of grading; we find catchy, succint ways to describe something we want to advertise for purposes of both attention and cost. In these examples, writers are constrained by page or word-count limitations that can enable them to learn critical thinking, editing, and revising skills, among others. To think that technology is the only impetus for an enabling constraint would be to close our eyes to those we have been responding to far before a given technology came on the market. (and yes, I realize that even pen and paper are technologies!) In the discussion at the meeting Jim refers to, the idea of an enabling constraint seemed tied to rapidly developing technologies, and while I agree that technology can often set the parameters for our communication, there are many other enabling constraints that have little to do with technology. We submit cover letters and resumes that are often each limited to one page so we don’t bore our potential employers; instructors may require several shorter essays rather than one long one due at the semester’s end to manage the work of grading; we find catchy, succint ways to describe something we want to advertise for purposes of both attention and cost. In these examples, writers are constrained by page or word-count limitations that can enable them to learn critical thinking, editing, and revising skills, among others. To think that technology is the only impetus for an enabling constraint would be to close our eyes to those we have been responding to far before a given technology came on the market. (and yes, I realize that even pen and paper are technologies!)

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