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The Origins of Pattern Theory: Christopher Alexander at OOPSLA (1996)

42 points by gdubs 11y ago

ComNik 11y ago
There is a recording available as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98LdFA-_zfA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98LdFA-_zfA
schiffern 11y ago
If you haven't, I highly recommend A Pattern Language. It's full of fascinating insights into the ways functional design interacts with our lives (and perhaps moreso, how dysfunctional design impedes it). http://www.amazon.com/Pattern-Language-Buildings-Construction-Environmental/dp/0195019199 http://www.amazon.com/Pattern-Language-Buildings-Constructio...
- jnicholasp 11y ago
  Seconded. This is a really fascinating book for anyone who is interested in how space and environment affect us, or anyone who wants to build or remodel their own home/office/pub/any other human-used space. Whether or not you agree with any of the particular patterns (and there are hundreds), the authors' discussion of why they think each one is worth considering will make you think more deeply about the way buildings function and influence our behavior, and will prompt better, clearer ideas for how you want the spaces you live in to work for you.
  - gdubs 11y ago
    It really is an incredible work. It changed the way I look at architecture, but also community and the importance of 'human scale' interaction.
tfnw 11y ago
I have a theory that Christopher Alexander is the root behind all nonsense in programming. Reading this, he gives unfalsifiable measure's of quality, including, "Do I feel myself to be more whole?" and "whether the thing has life and whether it promotes life in me and you". When people try to follow his guidance, and they predictably fail to meet this arbitrary criterion, he distances himself from them and creates a new set of guidelines that if someone else is foolish enough to try to follow, I'm sure will lead to the same result. He speaks nonsense, then tries to head people off, who might criticize, him by including, "So, depending on who you talk to, they'd say well this stuff Alexander's been discovering is a lot of nonsense", implying that anyone who criticizes him just doesn't understand the immense insights he is making. It seems to me that people like him use bugs in the human mind to gain influence. The insecurity programmers felt, still feel to a lesser extent, caused by wider society largely considering programming to be mindless, is, I think, the main cause for his influence on programming. He gives programmers legitimacy, by associating programming with something generally perceived not to be mindless. Ironically, these perceptions seem to be precisely the opposite to reality. In effect, in order to fix one societal failure (public ignorance about programming), another societal failure (lionizing pseudo insight), is applied rather than addressing the first failure. I think he gets away with it because people are so willing to give others, the pseudo profound in particular, the benefit of the doubt.

42 points by gdubs 11y ago

There is a recording available as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98LdFA-_zfA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98LdFA-_zfA

schiffern 11y ago

If you haven't, I highly recommend A Pattern Language. It's full of fascinating insights into the ways functional design interacts with our lives (and perhaps moreso, how dysfunctional design impedes it). http://www.amazon.com/Pattern-Language-Buildings-Construction-Environmental/dp/0195019199 http://www.amazon.com/Pattern-Language-Buildings-Constructio...

jnicholasp 11y ago
Seconded. This is a really fascinating book for anyone who is interested in how space and environment affect us, or anyone who wants to build or remodel their own home/office/pub/any other human-used space. Whether or not you agree with any of the particular patterns (and there are hundreds), the authors' discussion of why they think each one is worth considering will make you think more deeply about the way buildings function and influence our behavior, and will prompt better, clearer ideas for how you want the spaces you live in to work for you.
- gdubs 11y ago
  It really is an incredible work. It changed the way I look at architecture, but also community and the importance of 'human scale' interaction.

tfnw 11y ago

I have a theory that Christopher Alexander is the root behind all nonsense in programming. Reading this, he gives unfalsifiable measure's of quality, including, "Do I feel myself to be more whole?" and "whether the thing has life and whether it promotes life in me and you". When people try to follow his guidance, and they predictably fail to meet this arbitrary criterion, he distances himself from them and creates a new set of guidelines that if someone else is foolish enough to try to follow, I'm sure will lead to the same result. He speaks nonsense, then tries to head people off, who might criticize, him by including, "So, depending on who you talk to, they'd say well this stuff Alexander's been discovering is a lot of nonsense", implying that anyone who criticizes him just doesn't understand the immense insights he is making. It seems to me that people like him use bugs in the human mind to gain influence. The insecurity programmers felt, still feel to a lesser extent, caused by wider society largely considering programming to be mindless, is, I think, the main cause for his influence on programming. He gives programmers legitimacy, by associating programming with something generally perceived not to be mindless. Ironically, these perceptions seem to be precisely the opposite to reality. In effect, in order to fix one societal failure (public ignorance about programming), another societal failure (lionizing pseudo insight), is applied rather than addressing the first failure. I think he gets away with it because people are so willing to give others, the pseudo profound in particular, the benefit of the doubt.