| Friday, January 31, 2003 |
 | Light and Magic is buzzing in the background as I try to wrap my head around the concept of the certainty of improvement. Metaphysically, it's an absolute bugger. First up, if we exist in a universe in which every individual element can be improved without cost to the perfection of another element, that is one in which perfection is not a constant, then we are currently stuck in a universe grotesquely unfit for purpose. Alternatively, we find ourselves in a universe already perfect, in which case we are in real trouble.
Pangloss maintains constantly that we live in the best of all possible worlds, but what is more often forgotten is that there was a recognisable philosophical position being parodied here. One of the attempts to solve the problem of evil lands you with a worldview recognisable as Leibniz's optimism, where the balance of elements is such that there is enough wrong with the world to make good actions both necessary and meaningful.
Alternatively, we could subscribe to the Popperian model, where things are getting better, but are doing so in increments so tiny and by processes so arcane that it is impossible to detect how, where or when, or so we must believe in order to continue striving to improve the human condition. Thanks a fucking bunch, Popper. Next time you're in my dojo, we'll be studying the open eye-pokery and its enemies.
What all this has to do with business consulting remains obscure, but I' m sure it will all come in handy in the reasonably near future.
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