("JP")

Understanding is a cognitive function through which humans gather information from their environment in order to make sense of it and create a context in which they can interact with it. With a good understanding of the environment, humans are able to avoid dangers and take advantage of opportunities for food, reproduction, and shelter.

In a class called Social Software, which I taught last fall, the students worked in small groups to design and launch software to support some form of group interaction. To anchor the class, I required that whatever project they came up with be used by other ITP students. This first order benefits of this strategy were simple: the designers came... See more

The show, released in 1998, centers on a teen-age girl named Lain who discovers a virtual realm called “the Wired,” which she accesses through an elaborate personal computer. The palette of the show is dark but soft; Lain is most often seen in her dimly lit bedroom at night, which reminded me of the basement nook that held the desktop in my own... See more

When I try a wine and I HATE it, but I can totally understand that it's good wine (no flaws, I can see why others might like it), I think that's what having "taste" is.

Apart from my subjective judgment, I can usefully apply the label "beautiful" to things I observe. To taste is to be a living being, but to have taste is to be human.

Beauty in architecture

Beauty is one of the most enduring themes of Western philosophy, going all the way back to Vitruvius’ three laws of architecture: firmitas, utilitas, venustas (solidity, utility, beauty). But when I was in architecture school, no one talked about beauty in architecture because it was considered too subjective. What was... See more