Torsten Nilsson: Can Our World Be Made Less Abstract by Use of Computers?

Many times, it seems like we today are forced to live in two separate worlds. One is the concrete experienced world of our own perceptions, the other is the world of abstract structures. One of the most basic notions of experience is that we live in a space, which is the foundation for the whole thought of existence. At the same time we have, by means of science and technology strived to establish an abstract space, a world of representational structures, originally meant to be some sort of "mirror" of what we commonly term "reality".

The abstract space has been created in order to understand and control our natural and social environment. Today the abstract space is becoming so complex and vast that it is no longer any more comprensible than the environments it is thought to model. Also, I think, the abstract space is no more a representation of experience, even in intent.

The foremost "tool" for handling of the abstract space is the computer. With the creation data communication, the abstract space has grown enormously in extent and complexity. I earlier days, people could to a great extent rely on their personal concrete experience, as the source of knowledge for survival. Today the abstract environment and the tools for action in it are not comprehensible by direct concrete experience. Are there then any ways to bridge the growing gap between the abstract and the concrete space?

Some indications of a way can be found in the writings of G. Bachelard, french philosopher. In his book "The Poetics of Space" he outlines a "phenomenology of imagination", a method for understanding the experience of art, especially poetry. Communication seems to have other dimensions than just the contents of a message. The aesthetics of a poem is in itself conveying meaning, though the content of the worded message is sparse, not to say unintelligible many times.

The question is: Can this dimension of communication be utilized to make our abstract space become more comprehansible and possible to perceive by experience?

Two areas of interest for me is competence formation and geographical information systems, where the issues of communication of experience and of space are brought to front.

Välkommna!
Kenneth Nilsson