Sense and Sensibilities of Science

If you want to understand process formalization, read Jane Austen.

As James Collins wrote [comments added] in the Wall Street Journal,*

Austen’s emphasis on good order and propriety [process definition] can seem dry and stiff. But anyone who reads Mans?eld Park will feel the same relief that Fanny does at the change from the rackety disorder of her family’s house in Portsmouth [current drug research] to the order of the Park [process-oriented research]. Similarly, Austen’s regard for self-control, especially as expressed in Sense and Sensibility, can seem hard, but it must be remembered how the author clearly regards Marianne’s emotionalism [science as an artistic endeavor] with the greatest compassion. Austen is not advocating a suppression of the feelings [creative efforts]themselves— despite her faultlessly correct behavior, Elinor undergoes great suffering and feels every bit of it. What Austen is saying, as a modern psychologist might urge, is that one should try to prevent the disintegration of one’s personality [endless kerfuffles].

If that knocked your socks off, take a gander at our next cool topic: Life’s Too Short. And if you want to peruse all of the previous sock-knocking blog entries, visit the Knocked My Socks Off archive. (links to another blog site)

*Collins J. What would Jane do? Wall Street Journal. Nov 14, 2009.https://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703683804574531863687486876.html?KEYWORDS=jane+austen KEYWORDS%3Djane+austen.  Accessed May 12, 2010.