THE UNMET

CHALLENGE OF CRAFT
DAVE WEST, PHD

Sunday, February 24, 13

 MOTIVATIONS

PROBLEMS
DECENTRALIZATION
INHERENTLY CONFLICTING, UNKNOWABLE, AND DIVERSE
REQUIREMENTS
CONTINUOUS EVOLUTION AND DEPLOYMENT
HETEROGENOUS, INCONSISTENT, AND CHANGING
ELEMENTS
EROSION OF PEOPLE / SYSTEM BOUNDARY
NORMAL FAILURES
Ultra-Large-Scale Systems: the software challenge of the future

THE PRECIPICE Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon

COST / WASTE
PACE OF CHANGE
IT INERTIA
HUMANS AS COMMODITIES

Sunday, February 24, 13

 WHO/WHAT CAN SOLVE
THESE CHALLENGES?

Sunday, February 24, 13

 COMPUTER SCIENCE CAN NOT

PHYSICS ENVY

HUBRIS - THE WORLD IS A COMPUTER!

SCIENCE IS NECESSARILY EXCLUSIVE

Sunday, February 24, 13

 ENGINEERING CAN NOT

ENGINEER THESE?

Sunday, February 24, 13

 CRAFT IS NOT ENOUGH

BETTER AND BETTER AT

DANCING ON THE CLIFF

INSTEAD OF IMPROVING
WHAT WE DO - WE NEED TO
BE DOING SOMETHING
ENTIRELY DIFFERENT.

Sunday, February 24, 13

 RADICAL RETHINKING

Sunday, February 24, 13

 ADMIT FAILURE

JUST SAY NO TO SCIENCES OF THE ARTIFICIAL”

INSTEAD OF CREATING
MIRROR WORLDS
LETS CHANGE THE WORLD!

Sunday, February 24, 13

 EMBRACE ALTERNATIVE

JUST SAY YES TO “ARS

MAGNA” THE GREAT ART

ART NOT SCIENCE

CRAFT NOT ENGINEERING
REALITY NOT SIMULATIONS
HUMANS NOT MACHINES

Sunday, February 24, 13

 REALITY IS OUR CALLING
REALITY CONSTRUCTION IS OUR
PROFESSION

A CALLING IS NOT A PROFESSION -

RESPONSIBILITY - TRANSPARENCY -
ALTRUISM, AN HONEST HUMANISM

WE CHANGE REALITY - WAY PEOPLE WORK,

LIVE, PLAY, THINK, FEEL

LET’S CHANGE IT DELIBERATELY - BY DESIGN

Sunday, February 24, 13

 HOW TO DESIGN THE WORLD

THE WORLD IS A SYSTEM

“SET OF ELEMENTS AND THE RELATIONSHIPS AMONG

THEM.

ELEMENT MAY BE A SYSTEM

WORLD DESIGN IS THE DELIBERATE AND INFORMED

ADDITION, SUBTRACTION, OR ALTERATION OF AN
ELEMENT OR RELATIONSHIP

TO CHANGE THE WORLD - ALTER SMALL DISCRETE

ELEMENTS AND THE WORLD WILL CHANGE ITSELF.

Sunday, February 24, 13

 INFORMED

NATURE OF THE SYSTEM, NATURE OF EACH ELEMENT,

OR EACH RELATIONSHIP

WHOLE SYSTEM - PERCOLATING EFFECTS

WAYS TO CHANGE EACH ELEMENT

FUNCTION OF THE NATURE OF THE ELEMENT

SOME MAY BE ‘COMPUTERS’ AND REQUIRE EXPERTISE

IN CS, SE, AND SOFTWARE CRAFTSMANSHIP

MOST ARE NOT AND REQUIRE OTHER KNOWLEDGE

Sunday, February 24, 13

 ARS MAGNA REDUX

NEW DISCIPLINE: REALITY CONSTRUCTION?

NEW TITLE: REALITY ARCHITECT?
NEW SPECIALIZATIONS:
COMPOSITE SYSTEMS ANALYST
SYSTEMS DESIGNER
SYSTEMS TINKERER
NEW DISCIPLINE

Sunday, February 24, 13

 REALITY ARCHITECT = POLYMATH

"THE IDEAL ARCHITECT SHOULD BE A MAN OF

LETTERS, A SKILLFUL DRAFTSMAN, A
MATHEMATICIAN, FAMILIAR WITH HISTORICAL
STUDIES, A DILIGENT STUDENT OF PHILOSOPHY,
ACQUAINTED WITH MUSIC; NOT IGNORANT OF
MEDICINE, LEARNED IN THE RESPONSES OF
JURISCONSULTS, FAMILIAR WITH ASTRONOMY,
AND ASTRONOMICAL CALCULATIONS."

VITRUVIUS 25 B.C.

Sunday, February 24, 13

 Imagine...
...a studio in Renaissance Florence; a master and advanced apprentices at least; several arts being worked shoulder
to shoulder: sculpture, painting, goldsmithing, even poetry with masters for each; a spectrum of younger
apprentices eager to master one of them but eager also to learn another, or two. This the ideal of the bottega:

• a “storefront” where goods and services are produced and delivered to paying customers

• a workshop simultaneously engaged in the craft, in building the tools and discovering the techniques that
advance and support the craft, and teaching that craft to apprentices

• a place noisy with multiple projects and activities; walls and benches covered with works in progress and
exemplars of the craft

• a place filled with the tools of the craft with room for lounging and eating facilities as well

• an intellectual center that was a “must visit” for masters, scientists, and thinkers visiting the area,

• an environment and atmosphere that is very self-consciously multi- and inter-disciplinary; that mixes theory
and practice almost without differentiation

• a place full of music,, a place to share food and drink (and perhaps sleep)

• a fountain of innovation and creativity

Sunday, February 24, 13