
Conversation Theory and the Architecture of Conversations
This text holds an overview of the "architecture"
of conversations, where architecture should be read as structural
relationships among participants and their language exchanges
in conversation. "Conversation" should be read as broadly
as possible, as in the Conversation Theory of Gordon Pask [1], where it means interaction
of any knowable type.
This piece was first written to support consulting
work on behalf of Du Pont. It strives toward the formality
of the source from which it is taken [2] but also to be prescriptive in tone. The application of this
model of interaction constitutes a rigorous definition of "intelligent
system" and hence holds great promise for the creation of
effective systems and organizations of all forms. - August 2003
The Architecture of Conversation Theory
Related Links
Participative Systems
New Order from Old
Sources
[1] Conversation Theory: Applications in Education and Epistemology. Amsterdam and New York: Elsevier Publishing Co., 1976.
[2] "Artificial Intelligence
- a Preface and a Theory", Gordon Pask. Originally published
as the introduction to the chapter on machine intelligence in Soft Architecture Machines, Editor N. Negroponte, MIT Press,
1976.
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