I revere Descartes... he not only invented the method of observation which in effect we have continued to use unchanged for several hundred years, but he also saw clearly what it would bring.

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• Descartes not only invented the method of mechanistic observation but foresaw in 1641 what the cumulative application of that method would accomplish over several hundred yearsclaim0.889
  Alexander's reverential framing of Descartes before proposing to extend his method
• Where Descartes only allowed observation to focus on the outer reality of mechanisms in the world, my method requires that we focus on the inner reality of feeling as well.quote0.846
  Core distinction between the two methods stated concisely
• The observations presented throughout these four books are based on a method of observation which is entirely different from the Cartesian method.claim0.805
  Alexander claims his method is a genuine alternative to Cartesian observation.
• The Cartesian method of observation, by forbidding inclusion of the observer's self, systematically excludes awareness of the different degrees of life in spaceclaim0.785
  Alexander's critique of Cartesian epistemology as structurally incapable of perceiving living structure
• Twentieth‑century thinking has made us careless so that we do not recognize this deeper structure as more profound and do not know how to create it.claim0.779
  Blames modern education and design culture for losing the ability to generate living environments.
• In the late 20th century, architectural judgment had been turned on its head by prevailing dogma, requiring a formal observational method as antidoteclaim0.775
  Historical claim explaining why a formal methodology is needed to counter deliberate perversion of commonsense architectural values
• Alexander's method of observation based on inner feelingmethod0.772
  An empirical method that invites the observer to make distinctions based on inner feelings of wholeness, with a framework that guarantees consistency and objectivity.
• Alexander jettisons many arguments; he rejects the computers and mathematics used in Notes a year after its publication.claim0.764
  Observation of Alexander's pattern of self-rejection.