Just before I left New York for the desert, I came across an artist named Brett Doar while doing a web search for kinetic sculpture. I commented on this video (my YouTube channel name is jgizmo) and we became webfriends and still are to this day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgD4TzTjfxs&list=UUsJc0HfyCH-uoq0nPhOThdg&index=27&feature=plcp Watching this again after all these years - I am struck by the first thing he said in the video. (Carl approves!) I have followed Brett's career and we correspond occasionally to stroke each other's ego. He now works and teaches in LA and lends his talents to an interesting company called Syyn Labs, building Rube Goldberg machines. He recently posted this link on his Facebook page.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=YV6a1SDHWIc At 8:20 in the video, Adam Sadowsky via Brett, introduced me to the term
enabling constraints and explains it in relation to their work. I finally found a good name for something I use on a daily basis.
A further search came up with this quote from Amy Newman
http://dancingwithelephants.ca/tag/enabling-constraints/
"In our teacher education module, we explored the notion of “enabling constraints. I discovered the term in the book,
Engaging Minds. Enabling constraints are about opening possibilities by limiting choices.Very simply put, too much choice is overwhelming. Too little choice is restrictive, squelching learning and creativity. By giving choices in lesson activities and projects within a given structure we are providing enabling constraints.
"
Enabling constraints are not prescriptive; they don’t dictate what MUST be done, rather they are expansive, indicating what MIGHT be done… from Engaging Minds (2000), Davis, Sumara, Luce-Kapler, p. 193
When getting started out here in the desert, I had almost unlimited possibilities. Whenever I am faced with such an opportunity - I look for what I had previously called
givens that guide me down a certain path. An example of this is: How big do I build my new house? My
chosen constraints were based on budget, the size of dimensional lumber that is commercially available, and my thoughts on the minimum amount of space I needed to live comfortably. The constraints on my greenhouse were - I wanted to use 4 shipping containers to outline a courtyard...how I arranged them was based on the space available on site and an esoteric design aesthetic that I have embraced over the years. In everything I do, I look for things I
know to guide me down an uncertain path.
God granted mankind free will...then gave his only Son to die for our sins. He has provided us all with His teachings and prophecies - there for the taking...or not. In a brilliant move, He did not want to limit our potential by restricting our free choice but decided to was time to give the world a strong hint (an
enabling constraint) about which path to take when He sent Jesus Christ to teach the masses and ultimately die on the Cross for all of mankind - past, present, and future. We are all free to choose but the choices in a physical world with no constraints can be overwhelming and Satan takes full advantage of that. 77,91,57,0,C,0
