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question:how-did-traditional-craftsmen-know-what-to-do-what-did-they-have-in-their-minds-while-carving-or-weaving

How did traditional craftsmen know what to do? What did they have in their minds while carving or weaving?

Drives the inquiry into a compressed mental formulation that could generate living structure without explicit theory.

Neighborhood — ranked by edge-count

Claims (1)

claim

The fundamental process can be compressed to the instruction: Whatever you make must be a being.
gates
Summary claim that the entire process reduces to the single rule of making beings at all scales.

Related by similarity (8)

cosine ≥ 0.65 · no typed edge

Entities in the same semantic neighborhood but without a typed relation to this one — candidates for new edges or unrecognized duplicates.

The intention that each part should be I-like is what governs its shape, and is what makes the weaver weave this shape, and not some other.claim0.729
Alexander's claim that I-intention is the causal driver of the precise form of living centers in traditional making.
Traditional builders paid attention to the feeling of the emerging structure, allowing them to stay within the guidelines of the transforming whole.claim0.728
The great works of traditional art were most often created in a context where the maker was trying to become one with God or lose themselves in the ground.claim0.726
A summary of the reported intentions of historical craftsmen.
I doubt if we shall plumb the full extent to which a living structure is created until we have thoroughly explored and understood just what these ancient builders did, in what frame of mind they did it, and with what attitude.claim0.725
A statement of incompleteness: our understanding misses the inner state of the builders, which is essential.
We also feel wholesome when we are making these things. As we make them, and after making them, we feel whole in ourselves, healed, and right with the world.claim0.720
Second assertion linking creative activity with personal healing.
In assembling the pattern, it is necessary from time to time, to examine the state of the pattern many atoms away, if one is to be sure of not making a serious error when putting the pieces together.quote0.718
Penrose's statement about quasicrystal assembly, used as evidence that non-local action is required in natural morphogenesis
How do the parts discern which of their actions should be reinforced?question0.718
Core credit assignment question for distributed systems.
How can we achieve fine tuning and adaptation without labor-intensive handcraft methods typical of ages gone by?question0.717
The central engineering challenge Alexander poses given the modern labor-material ratio.