September 2007

War as Retreat

by Brian on 09-30-2007

in general

A coincidence of events this week has led me to a surprising (and perhaps controversial) insight: war is not as complex as it may seem; at least compared to times of peace, it may even be fairly simple. During war there is a concentration of purpose. When we’re not at war, activity is less focussed, [...]

Philosophy of Enterprise: Reintroducing Alfred North Whitehead

by Brian on 09-24-2007

in Uncategorized

My concept of the ‘philosophy of enterprise’ (or philosophy of business, or ‘enterprise theory’) isn’t just a collection of ideas and theories about the practice of business – like those promoted by journalists, consultant-gurus, and business school professors. It is a higher mode of generalization, integrating existing knowledge into a more inclusive theoretical field, with [...]

Jacques Barzun and the Use of History

by Brian on 09-17-2007

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There are a few reasons I find it difficult to write about Jacques Barzun. The first reason is that he is something like my imaginary mentor and critic. When I write, I continually ask myself, “What would Barzun say about this?” Writing about him seems to double the pressure: now he isn’t just reading over [...]

[This post is a preface to the Draft Enterprise Model post.] As with my Résumé/Manifesto, the Draft Enterprise Model is an older piece of work (from June 2007) that I’d be just as happy never to see again; but I think it at least helps to give a more comprehensive impression of my background and [...]

Draft Enterprise Model

by Brian on 09-12-2007

in general

[Originally written in June 2007, unless otherwise noted. See the The Practice of Theory: Prefacing the Draft Enterprise Model.] Introduction: This is a germinal outline for a very open business model, for a very open and adaptive type of enterprise. Open Conceptual was founded for the purpose of developing intellectual resources, and one such resource [...]

Preface to Résumé/Manifesto

by Brian on 09-10-2007

in general

Before you read my Résumé/Manifesto, I want to call your attention to a recent essay by Paul Graham, a successful computer programmer and writer, who first came to my attention a few years ago via Arts & Letters Daily. (Graham’s essay about essays has stayed with me ever since; it’s why I call my posts [...]

Résumé/Manifesto

by Brian on 09-10-2007

in general

[Originally written in March, 2007... It was the first complete & coherent thing I wrote outside of school. It's far from well-written, but the background behind everything I do is in here... somewhere (it demonstrates more than it articulates).] Contents: i. A Résumé, a story about itself, a creative consummation… ii. Common points of reference / [...]

What is the meaning of life?

by Brian on 09-09-2007

in Uncategorized

The first thing that I think of when posed this question is that the question itself has two meanings: “What is the meaning of the word life?” and “What is the meaning of what the word life refers to?” Obviously we need to take care of the first question (if that’s possible), before we can [...]

Why do ideas need to be managed?

by Brian on 09-05-2007

in general

I should make my intentions for Open Conceptual a little more clear. It isn’t just a blog. This blog is sort of a seed from which (I hope) a more concrete enterprise may develop. For that to happen, I need other people to be involved (and for other people to become involved, I need to [...]

Stories of Disorderly Discovery

by Brian on 09-02-2007

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I’m using this week’s post to consider how the “six degrees of separation” principle might apply to ideas, the same way that it applies to our social lives. The blogosphere provides a great demonstration of both aspects of the principle: it’s about networking people and ideas. But long before we had blogs we had books. [...]