So, first I should probably tell you my idea for this little project, including the source of its name.
A terministic screen is the great Kenneth Burke's notion that we all possess our own frame of reference (symbols) for interpreting the world. Well, duh. But I like the palpability of the phrase, and also its implication that words/thoughts can never be objective because their strength relies on interpretation, and that interpretation is always entirely subjective. The terministic screen, "directs our attention to particular aspects of reality rather than others."
Let me acknowledge that I am fairly consumed by school. From time to time, the wonderful people in my life ask me what I'm studying, and it seems that I almost never have a good way of explaining it. Inexcusable at worst, unfortunate at best.
More to the point, I want to be able to share my thoughts with people who aren't in my program, and to make connections between the things I'm learning. It would also be nice to have a record of this learning because most of the time, thoughts slide off my brain like a greased cat in a vacuum cleaner (um, or something...).
This is not to say that I want to write exclusively about school. Once upon a time, I wrote a different blog that quickly turned into a drippy, maudlin, brain-masturbatory exercise, so I gave it up. I hope not to swing the pendulum too far in the other direction with this one by producing something esoteric (read: boring). But I'll aim for something in the middle, and we'll see where we end up, ok?
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7 comments:
this is very interesting to me-- i've recently been reading two different philosophers with two different descriptions of desires and emotions which i thought of as being in opposition, but which both seem to be incorporated in this terministic screen idea. the philosopher christine korsgaard describes desires and emotions in almost identical language to what you used there-- as those psychological forces that focus our attention on particular aspects of our environment. simon blackburn, on the other hand, describes our emotions and desires as the very lenses that we look through-- lenses transparent to the viewer in many ways. consequently, korsgaard is the kind of philospher who thinks we can step back and examine things from a position something like objective, that there's some solid critical ground from which we can question whether the things we focus on are worth it, while blackburn is of the opinion that there is no such ground- or at least no way or recognizing and inhabiting it.
Nice blog! I just linked to this post to provide an introduction to Burke's concept of a terministic screen in an "action learning" post called, Critiquing the EU.
The comment from laura.g is also intriguing. Throughout the project (my dissertation research) I have been trying to stay aware of psychodynamic influences, particularly at the level of the group but also specific to my role/position as an action researcher. Emotion and desire is all wrapped up in the entire endeavor.
Just last week, I realized (I think!) that there is a convergence of grief in the discourse and organizational processes I'm studying concerning mono- and multi-lingualism. Do you think that contrasting extremes provide a relationship that enables critical assessment?
I've just discovered terministic screens, did a search on google and found your blog. Way cool.
Nice timing for me to be reminded of this resource out here in cyberspace!
The trick with terministic screens is that if you don't already know what is being de-selected or un-chosen, then it can be very hard to figure out the relevant absent element.
I've found myself going through a series of experiments (more or less) substituting in different possibilities as they occur to me and then trying to play out the ramifications (usually, how discourses could unfold if reconfigured) and lastly imagining whether one or the other 'playing out' has any particular consequences for the overall system.
Prediction is impossible, but sometimes I do feel fairly confident in the varying constraints/possibilities enabled by different parameters...
steph, thanks for your comment. i think it's also relevant that burke's notion of the terministic screen was that it was both prescriptive and unavoidable. our language (as a way of seeing the world) not only describes what's in front of us; it also shapes that view. and we can't simply turn off that lens because it would only then be replaced by a new lens.
is any of your research on the web?
Thanks Steph and Boo for your recent contributions. It seems like this blog has woken up after quite a period of slumber.
Re: Prescriptive and unavoidable.
We need some kind of lens or filter even to be able to talk about the world (=prescriptive, right?) and if we had none, we would not be able to speak of the world at all (=unavoidable).
I suppose that if I can now 'see/recognise' terministic screens, I must also be using one, or at least an updated version of an existing one, which includes the very term "terministic screen".
Experiments might go along the lines of determining the extent to which people overlay new terms on existing ones. Question: is it possible to investigate the overlap in how doctors express a business in terms of health, or how an artist expresses food in terms of colour/texture?
Hi all, very interesting contributions. I am 57 years old and first became aware of these filters back in 1983. Whilst I did not hear the term 'Terministic' screen until recently. The real value for me and the people around me, has been regularly recreating these screens.
When ever I feel stuck in a situation, I use the question; How is the world or situation occurring for me and the people around me.
i recently read a book that was written by a guy I worked with many years ago. His name is Steve Zaffron. The book is called The Three Laws of Performance. I think that this book illustrates the most practical way of using or being used by Terministic screens.
I applaud your blog as concrete step in the enlightenment of people.
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