Comments on: Holding Horses http://www.digitaldiner.org/2007/03/25/holding-horses/?&owa_from=feed&owa_sid= Gavin Clabaugh's irregular blog on irregular things. Mon, 06 Oct 2008 20:00:01 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Hold your horses — Internet Time Blog http://www.digitaldiner.org/2007/03/25/holding-horses/#comment-2610 Hold your horses — Internet Time Blog Sat, 24 May 2008 16:35:08 +0000 http://www.digitaldiner.org/2007/03/25/holding-horses/#comment-2610 [...] Story from a blog post by Gavin Clabaurg’s Digital Diner [...] [...] Story from a blog post by Gavin Clabaurg’s Digital Diner [...]

]]> By: Julian Egelstaff http://www.digitaldiner.org/2007/03/25/holding-horses/#comment-335 Julian Egelstaff Tue, 03 Apr 2007 13:41:36 +0000 http://www.digitaldiner.org/2007/03/25/holding-horses/#comment-335 Awesome post. It reminds me of another book about the history and intersection of people and technology: The Victorian Internet, by Tom Standage. It's about the development of the telegraph and how it affected people's lives, in many ways very similarly to our internet. Recent work in cognitive science is suggesting that the human capacity for metaphor is a cornerstone of our thinking processes, and it certainly does seem that we only ever understand new technologies in terms of metaphors they suggest in relation to our old technologies. Steven Pinker's upcoming book "The Stuff of Thought" will talk about this I believe. Keep up the great blogging. --Julian Awesome post. It reminds me of another book about the history and intersection of people and technology: The Victorian Internet, by Tom Standage. It’s about the development of the telegraph and how it affected people’s lives, in many ways very similarly to our internet.

Recent work in cognitive science is suggesting that the human capacity for metaphor is a cornerstone of our thinking processes, and it certainly does seem that we only ever understand new technologies in terms of metaphors they suggest in relation to our old technologies. Steven Pinker’s upcoming book “The Stuff of Thought” will talk about this I believe.

Keep up the great blogging.

–Julian

]]> By: Michele Martin http://www.digitaldiner.org/2007/03/25/holding-horses/#comment-283 Michele Martin Wed, 28 Mar 2007 11:11:14 +0000 http://www.digitaldiner.org/2007/03/25/holding-horses/#comment-283 This is a wonderful post, Gavin, and I love the metaphor of "holding the horses." As a consultant, like you I've found that I'm usually the one who comes in and notices that this is happening, so I can relate to everything you're saying here. What I find particularly interesting is that even when you point out that there are no longer horses to hold, people will still cling to the old roles. Rather sheepishly, but cling they do. You also point out something that I think is very important--that language doesn't keep up. I think to some extent that because it doesn't, it keeps us resisting change. I do a lot of staff training and we often discuss how language shapes what we believe about what we're doing. In particular, it shapes how we and clients perceive our interactions with them. When language is unable to accurately communicate the changed way of operating, I think that it holds us back from adapting to the change. Great piece--very thought-provoking. This is a wonderful post, Gavin, and I love the metaphor of “holding the horses.” As a consultant, like you I’ve found that I’m usually the one who comes in and notices that this is happening, so I can relate to everything you’re saying here. What I find particularly interesting is that even when you point out that there are no longer horses to hold, people will still cling to the old roles. Rather sheepishly, but cling they do.

You also point out something that I think is very important–that language doesn’t keep up. I think to some extent that because it doesn’t, it keeps us resisting change. I do a lot of staff training and we often discuss how language shapes what we believe about what we’re doing. In particular, it shapes how we and clients perceive our interactions with them. When language is unable to accurately communicate the changed way of operating, I think that it holds us back from adapting to the change.

Great piece–very thought-provoking.

]]>