This article is putting what our profession does in the wider context of science and technology and serves as an overview where we stand as a society at the end of 2024. Don't worry, it is more philosophical than political and ends on an optimistic note. Happy Holidays!
This article explores whether the quest for knowledge is the motor of civilization and if knowledge depends on growth. It addresses current cultural pessimism vs the value of rationalism and the scientific method and culminates in some optimistic vision for the future.
"The future is open. It is not predetermined and thus cannot be predicted – except by accident. The possibilities that lie in the future are infinite. When I say 'It is our duty to remain optimists", this includes not only the openness of the future but also that which all of us contribute to it by everything we do: we are all responsible for what the future holds in store. Thus it is our duty, not to prophesy evil, but, rather, to fight for a better world." Karl Popper, The Myth of the Framework: In Defence of Science and Rationality
Is enlightenment passé?
Over long periods of history, there was very little growth of any kind, including growth of knowledge. Whatever knowledge there was, it was cloistered, literally, in the libraries of monasteries. What the father and grandfather had learned from their fathers was still useful to their children because nothing had changed.
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[Klaus] Philipsen FAIA
Archplan Inc. Philipsen Architects
Baltimore MD
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