[NewsScan Daily, 18 December 2003]

FLASH CARD

"The greatest cost of the specialization of technological life—and out of which all other damages are birthed—is arguably our separation from the practical and enriching sense of ourselves as embodied beings. When we are alienated from the wisdom of the body, our lives become theoretical and abstract, and we are distanced from the direct, felt sense of living." (Richard Strozzi-Heckler)

WORTH THINKING ABOUT: VALUE DYNAMICS

In his contribution to Richard Strozzi-Heckler's new book, "Being Human at Work," our friend Peter Denning, the noted computer scientist, writes about "The Somatic Engineer." He explains:

"From the beginning, my heart has gone out to students who came to me for help with breakdowns they were experiencing in their personal and professional lives. Like Peanut's Lucy, I sat behind my desk listening to my students and dispensing logical, rational, and intellectual advice. Because I had become an expert at containing my own emotional rushes and reactions, I was almost completely unaware of my own body, my own sensations, and my own flows of energy. I could not empathize with other people's emotions because I did not sense them in myself. My logical advice probably rang hollow to many of my students because I did not address how they were feeling and experiencing. When I became a manager I was very competent at the management processes of stating our mission, defining our promises, recruiting good people, and getting things done on time. But when a disagreement came up in the group, or a confrontation, or anger, or even great joy, I would pull back from it. If someone confronted me, I would tense up and defend. Some of my teams became dysfunctional because I was unable to move with the emotions and moods of the group.

"Dr. Fernando Flores's language-action principles made the first real dent in this. He showed me that I was not a skilled performer of basic speech acts and that my fears of negative assessments and emotions kept me from successfully accomplishing the simplest of things such as making or declining a request. But I found it frustrating that my knowledge of such a powerful framework did not help me in challenging or charged situations, where it mattered the most.

"The addition of somatic principles ["somatics" from the Greek word meaning "the living body in its wholeness"] to the language-action framework made a dramatic difference for me, and then for my students. I finally learned to sense my own body and to release the old contractions that contained my emotional energy. The more I became aware of my own sensations, the more I was able to be aware with others. I began to experience genuine connections with other people and to find that I could listen for what they care about. Once aware of what they cared about, I more easily formulated actions that were of great value to them. I came to see that many of my colleagues in computer science and engineering were in the same boat I was. We have all been trained to deal with abstract concepts, not with sensing, living bodies. Most of the breakdown that our users experience with software and computers would be avoided if software engineers knew how to listen to their customers. I see that all I have learned in Sense 21 [a course developed and taught by Denning] and from my teachers can now be synthesized as value dynamics and can help them. I am working with national and international curriculum groups toward adding a value dimension to engineering education."

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