Alan,

You wrote:
>> Good thoughts. I would say "most of the above" (er, below). A big influence
>> on my way of thinking about this was (and is) Jerome Bruner (via many books
>> including his 1965 "Towards a Theory of Instruction", a book that I still
>> read once a year). Instead of trying to summarize it I will simply
>> recommend it.

I just looked for that in the Portland library catalog; that title
wasn't there, but there are a half-a-dozen others by Bruner.  While I'm
looking for that one, is there another book of his that would get me
started?

>> I actually don't think this way about it. I used to be professional
>> musicial (and even earned a few bucks as an illustrator). I don't think of
>> the "nonsymbolic modes of human sensory-motor I/O" as mainly for dealing
>> with symbolic information. They are worthwhile on their own merits alone.
>> But they also provide a context and precursor to symbolic thought ...

Oh, good, I'm glad you don't think that way.  I guess I'm oversensitive
to people who think of computers as useful *only* for symbol
manipulation, not realizing just how vast a realm that is (and many of
those are *proponents* of computer use!).

And you also wrote (to Stefano):
>>      Also, I believe that we don't yet have a programming medium worthy of
>> humanity (and especially of children). We have to create something much
>> better -- *above threshold* for "the new literacy" -- before we can start
>> complaining about society. I think this is possible in the next few years,
>> and I really want us to make it happen!

Hear, hear!  Although I suspect your use of the word "programming" is
part of my misunderstanding before.  I think we need a much broader
definition of the word, or maybe another word altogether.  Too many
people, hearing that word, fixate on the kind of thing I'm doing today,
typing in Java code to a bunch of editing windows on my Sparc, and not,
for instance, building a simulation by demonstrating example behavior,
or even writing a symphony.

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    -- Christopher Alexander, "the Timeless Way of Building"
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Bruce Cohen,                               |  email: cohenb at gemstone.com
GemStone Systems, Inc.                     |  phone: (503)533-3602
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