Ronald Coase on theory and practice

lev — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 05:10:43 +0000

As we embark on an examination of what it means to be both a scholar and a Baha’i, this passage from Ronald Coase seems to align generally with our conceptual framework:

“As I see it, progress in understanding the working of the economic system will come from an interplay between theory and empirical work. The theory suggests what empirical work might be fruitful, the subsequent empirical work suggests what modification in the theory or rethinking is needed, which in turn leads to new empirical work. If rightly done, scientific research is a never-ending process, but one that leads to greater understanding at each stage.”
–Ronald Coase, “The Conduct of Economics: The Example of Fisher Body and General Motors, 2006″

And this in light of the following quotation from the Prosperity of Humankind document prepared by the Baha’i International Community:

The most important role that economic efforts must play in development lies, therefore, in equipping people and institutions with the means through which they can achieve the real purpose of development: that is, laying foundations for a new social order that can cultivate the limitless potentialities latent in human consciousness.
–BIC, The Prosperity of Humankind

A Framework for Learning about Baha’i Scholarship

lev — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 04:01:24 +0000

In Communities of Practice, Etienne Wenger discusses how groups of practitioners learn by pursuing a common enterprise. He defines practice as a shared history of learning — shared experiences of histories of participation and reification in the world. For example, the Baha’i world community is currently pursuing an enterprise of growth. Together, we are learning about growing the community. The practice of growth is actually a shared history of learning. Some of that learning is reified into statistics, Ruhi books, and guidance from the institutions of the Faith. But those reifications are meaningless without participation — people all over the world carrying out acts of service, practicing new ways of interacting with each other, trying new ways of being that are sometimes challenging or scary. The interplay between participation and reification builds up over time, and the community learns about growth.

At the Association for Baha’i Studies (ABS) conference, Mr. Lample spoke about frameworks for learning. He encouraged the friends to imagine frameworks for learning about other aspects of our lives: Social action, discourse, social and economic development, and even scholarship. Learning about growth is an enterprise the Baha’is are engaged in right now, but this does not mean that we should stop learning about other parts of human existence. What is important is to approach each of these aspects in an attitude of learning.

In his talk, Mr. Lample reminded the friends of steps that Baha’is have previously taken to translate belief into action:

Read the guidance
Reflect on experience to date
Ask what works? What has worked in the past?
Define initial lines of action. (They can always change later.)

Which brings us to the title of this blog post: A Framework for Learning about Baha’i Scholarship. Learning about scholarship will probably require elements of both reification and participation. For example, we can read about teaching children’s classes, but we also have to physically experience organizing a class and interacting with children. Otherwise the knowledge in our heads is two-dimensional. What do you think this looks like for scholarship?

Links:

anonymous cowgirl » practice

Ronald Coase on theory and practice

A Framework for Learning about Baha’i Scholarship