Doug was my friend and mentor. His augmentation framework, which was presented in his 1962 paper, still informs and inspires what I do.
“We need to improve how we augment a group’s (small, large, internal, global etc.) capability to approach urgent, complex problems to gain more rapid and better comprehension (which can be defined as more thorough and more critical) which result in speedier and better solutions (more contextual, longer lasting, cheaper, more equitable etc.). And furthermore, we must improve our improvement process (as individuals and groups).”
Douglas Engelbart
My friend Fleur and I made a brief web based documentary with him. None of the originally uploaded videos are playable, so I have uploaded them to YouTube. To me, this is an example of the brittleness of ‘rich media’ and a reminder how important it is to have our knowledge also stored in robust media, such as text.
He told me how it all started:
…the world is very complex if you are trying figure out what you would fix, etc., and how you’ll go up trying to fix it. And one Saturday I – God – the world is so damn complex it’s hard to figure out.
And that’s what then dawned on me that, oh, the very thing: It’s very complex. It’s getting more complex than ever at a more rapid rate that these problems we’re facing have to be dealt with collectively. And our collective ability to deal with complex urgent problems isn’t increasing at anything like the parent rate that it’s going to be that the problems are.
Soif I could contribute as much as possible, so how–generally speaking–mankind can get more capable in dealing with complex urgent problemscollectively, then that would be a terrific professional goal. So that’s… It was 49 years ago. And that’s been ever since.
He wrote the following in an email September 2003, a statement which still provides me with joy and energy to continue the work on the future of text:
I honestly think that you are the first person I know that is expressing the kind of appreciation for the special role which IT can (no, will) play in reshaping the way we can symbolize basic concepts to elevate further the power that conditioned humans can derive from their genetic sensory, perceptual and cognitive capabilities.
Douglas Engelbart
And finally, Doug after look at ‘Hyperwords’ the system I developed at the time, a forerunner of Liquid:
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