DECLARATIVE THINKING
I have been experimenting with a personal process technique lately I call "declarative thinking". I came to this process and this term independently, based on my life long study of linguistics, grammar, and sentence structure, as applied to developing conscious personal process systems for dealing with everyday reality from the perspective of seeing reality as a language-objectifiable complexity landscape. It was this type of internalized, verbal, linguistic approach to studying life perspectives and potential, actualizeable action decisions within that landscape, that led me to develop the to-do list, personal process application The MasterList.
But after researching the term "declarative thinking" on the internet, I realize that I am not alone. Steven Pemberton,a cutting edge programming guru, touts a concept he calls "The Power of Declarative Thinking", which appears to be a philosophy that relates language to thought with the aim of finding practical ways to apply the concept as Declarative Coding of web-based applications. Probably, I have botched the description of his concept and his purpose. The key is that his approach is to consider the interface of language and thought to the process of creating web applications. My approach is to consider the interface of language and thought to create a self-conscious life process.
I am my own application. In my approach, I am the Declarative Mind. Simply put this means that I can look at reality and say what I see in a declarative sentence. This sentence can describe anything that I can see with any words that I can find. And, I can do this internally, in my mind. Ooh lah lah! I think (cognitively, with full sentences, grammatical structure, syntax, and according to language rule hoyle)! Therefore, I am (or have) a Declarative Mind.
Language is an invention, as is software coding language. I won't belabor the invention of language here. Suffice it to say, early man did not have a big dictionary. Modern man can only speak words he knows, many of which are written. And, until just two hundred years ago, most citizens of the now democratized world could not read or write. So, they didn't have the words. Or, the potential knowledge that goes with the words.
Put another way, precise, verbal language (declarative sentencing) is a technique which is learned. Remember the 3R's? So, a modern programmer might say of an enterprise management software program: This coding is not declarative enough. In other words, instead of the software telling the software what to do, too much human interaction is required to tell the software what to do, even while the software is telling me what to do. Let's build more internal declaration into the software to reduce the required amount of human declaration to make the software sputter and go.
So, let's analogize that to the human situation of the subjectively conscious individual. Someone who can perceive, observe, think, and convert that into precise verbal declarations. OK. Here's an experiment. Stop. Look around. Be Quiet. Can you say what you see? Can you say it internally? In a complete sentence? That is Declarative Thinking. You are the Declarative Mind.
Alright, where am I going with this? My theory is that I am the most important application in my life. I am the tool that walks, runs, drives, works, manages, plays, and navigates through the complex landscape of my reality. So, how do I manage this tool? I think I could improve upon the declarative side of my personal coding.
Hence, I choose to exercise my ability to declare. Constantly, persistently, and wherever possible.
It was this impetus towards internal verbal declaration combined with the idea of looking at reality, almost as if by game theory, as an objectifiable complexity landscape, that led me to create my personal process software The MasterList. The MasterList software application, not emails, or word documents, or spreadsheets, is where I store most of my inventory of potentially useful Declarations (memories, ticklers, bookmarks, descriptions, pathways, avenues, routes, goals, reminders, back stories, stratagems) for both done and undone actions.
So, that's my path. Declarative Mind. Declarative Thinking. Declarative sentencing. Observation and choice in flux (flow, accordance) with that.
T.S. Vu
But after researching the term "declarative thinking" on the internet, I realize that I am not alone. Steven Pemberton,a cutting edge programming guru, touts a concept he calls "The Power of Declarative Thinking", which appears to be a philosophy that relates language to thought with the aim of finding practical ways to apply the concept as Declarative Coding of web-based applications. Probably, I have botched the description of his concept and his purpose. The key is that his approach is to consider the interface of language and thought to the process of creating web applications. My approach is to consider the interface of language and thought to create a self-conscious life process.
I am my own application. In my approach, I am the Declarative Mind. Simply put this means that I can look at reality and say what I see in a declarative sentence. This sentence can describe anything that I can see with any words that I can find. And, I can do this internally, in my mind. Ooh lah lah! I think (cognitively, with full sentences, grammatical structure, syntax, and according to language rule hoyle)! Therefore, I am (or have) a Declarative Mind.
Language is an invention, as is software coding language. I won't belabor the invention of language here. Suffice it to say, early man did not have a big dictionary. Modern man can only speak words he knows, many of which are written. And, until just two hundred years ago, most citizens of the now democratized world could not read or write. So, they didn't have the words. Or, the potential knowledge that goes with the words.
Put another way, precise, verbal language (declarative sentencing) is a technique which is learned. Remember the 3R's? So, a modern programmer might say of an enterprise management software program: This coding is not declarative enough. In other words, instead of the software telling the software what to do, too much human interaction is required to tell the software what to do, even while the software is telling me what to do. Let's build more internal declaration into the software to reduce the required amount of human declaration to make the software sputter and go.
So, let's analogize that to the human situation of the subjectively conscious individual. Someone who can perceive, observe, think, and convert that into precise verbal declarations. OK. Here's an experiment. Stop. Look around. Be Quiet. Can you say what you see? Can you say it internally? In a complete sentence? That is Declarative Thinking. You are the Declarative Mind.
Alright, where am I going with this? My theory is that I am the most important application in my life. I am the tool that walks, runs, drives, works, manages, plays, and navigates through the complex landscape of my reality. So, how do I manage this tool? I think I could improve upon the declarative side of my personal coding.
Hence, I choose to exercise my ability to declare. Constantly, persistently, and wherever possible.
It was this impetus towards internal verbal declaration combined with the idea of looking at reality, almost as if by game theory, as an objectifiable complexity landscape, that led me to create my personal process software The MasterList. The MasterList software application, not emails, or word documents, or spreadsheets, is where I store most of my inventory of potentially useful Declarations (memories, ticklers, bookmarks, descriptions, pathways, avenues, routes, goals, reminders, back stories, stratagems) for both done and undone actions.
So, that's my path. Declarative Mind. Declarative Thinking. Declarative sentencing. Observation and choice in flux (flow, accordance) with that.
T.S. Vu
posted by TML at 5:20 AM
