What would you call this class of book?- Notes on the Synthesis of Form- Thinking in Systems- Why Greatness Cannot Be Planned- Cybernetics

(2) cristóbal on Twitter: “What would you call this class of book? – Notes on the Synthesis of Form – Thinking in Systems – Why Greatness Cannot Be Planned – Cybernetics” / Twitter

A good thread with various thoughts about why ‘this sort of book’ is so special (especially to certain types of people – ‘type of guy who…’ in some parts of twitter speak).

I added a few books to the list (which has significant overlap wth Lisa McNulty’s PostRat reading list https://stream.syscoi.com/2021/10/08/lisa-mcnulty-postrat-reading-list-zotero/ ), the concept of ‘threshold concepts’ (linked here before), and in response to @kanjun saying: I see these as attempts to begin formalizing very early fields. In lieu of experimental results, simple models serve as intuition pumps for future experiment design. @michael_nielsen & I felt this way in our metascience essay—we use metaphors but no math.

…I said: Very astute, that. The partial formation of a field, when it’s amorphous but real – before it’s formalised and constrained.