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Interactivity happens in a field of choices.
How to choose? That is the question.


A key issue
is the perspective from which we choose.
Choices are not neutral.
They are not objective.
They depend on how a problem or situation is looked at.
Most of the time we are caught in a perspective
and choices are automatic
But if we can take a step back
to reflect and consider multiple perspectives.
New fields of choices open up as if by magic.
To manage interactivity is to dance reflective steps.

 

The world of business is driven by choices
made in decision-fields that change constantly.
It provides a growing number of models
on how to negotiate decisions in all types of situations.
The study of such models yielded Nobel awards in Economics
in 1994 on non-cooperative games
and in 1996 on how to make decisions based on incomplete or changing data.

 

How do we make personal choices?
Many fields influence our decisions:
ethics , religion, cultural background, education.
Freedom maximizes the options from which to choose from.
But too many choices decrease our ability to act (it is an existential issue).
Paradoxically, structures in society help us manage our choices by limiting them.

 

Choices can produce convergences or divergences.
They can have dramatic results or make little difference in the end.
When making a choice, a sense of its impact helps us gauge
how seriously to take it.

 

I like a practical approach to making decisions.
I favor what increase diversity without hampering the ability to act.
I believe this difficult balance maximizes interactivity.


Increased interactivity invites more play and the possibility of emergence:
something unexpected is more likely to happen.
This is the heart of exploration and discovery.
Of course, we can only hope that the surprises will be for the best.
Whatever the case may be, it leads to further balancing choices.

Openings (most recent entries appear first)

 

In his book Art of the Long View: Planning For The Future in an Uncertain World,
Peter Schwartz explores how to plan for the future in an uncertain world.
His approach is from the perspective of business management.
He favors using scenarios of possible outcomes,
and then make strategic decisions that will be sound for most plausible futures.
His innovation is to decide not on the single most probable future
(which is just about impossible to figure out)
but on a range of plausible futures.
Of course, this is easier said than done. But it provides refreshing ideas.

 

Fuzzy Thinking is a way of choosing which rests on the notion
that everything is a matter of degree.
Fuzzy logic looks at varying shades of grey, rather than strictly black or white.
Situations are usually multivalent and can be looked at from multiple points of view.
Fuzzy thinking is a flexible tool with affinity to flow.
It is important to know when to use it as well as how to.

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interactive art space      © 2000 by luis o. arata   contents | here | there | everywhere