A landscape is not neutral, but rather something that we build thanks to our experience. And build again each time we experience it. A story in a dynamic space, over time. The landscapes are not simply expressions of physical geography: there may be a cultural landscape, political, a technology landscape and one of the trust. All, sometimes, superimposed or cohabitants, the same geography.
It's in my mind because I think of landscape of my workwhich is, by nature, exploratory. My method of exploration is not medico-legal (although it is directed by research): it does not provide a representation on a scale, but rather a sketch map. It is probably enough to show the relative locations of certain characteristics of social age, such as “community”, “confidence” and “belonging”, but not a clear route card to move between them.
I mention it because I had the feeling recently that I superimpose a layer in addition to what I have already documented: do not add details, but rather a layer of context or interpretation. I suppose that contextual interpretation would be a characteristic of the knowledge of a landscape over time (just like a map of your street can show the same houses over the decades, but with a contextual layer that showed changing property models and dwelling.
It is not to abandon the desire to explore: I always find myself at the limits (boundaries themselves being a characteristic of the new context that I explore), as with the new Planetary philosophy work. But it may represent a more detailed “knowledge” of the place. Almost as if I had a certain comfort or familiarity which allows me to move without navigating, without fear of getting lost, and therefore to spot new marks of characteristics because my eyes no longer need to look so many my feet.
There are of course risks: I would normally dispute that our own comfort and our certainty are key characteristics of our illusion and our failure. But without a certain certainty, a platform, we have nothing on which ourselves at all.
The notion of landscapes, and my identity like ‘explorer“Formed a central part of my doctoral research, and therefore why, as I arrive at the end of this trip, I find that it was lifted in my writing and my work more widely. Learning has a way of doing this, not only to change what you know, but rather to change the “you” that makes it known.
The metaphors of the landscape and exploration, as well as a consideration of the social structures in which we explore, have always formed a backdrop at my work. This perhaps represents something of my thought process, which is that of the general practitioner or the trans-disciplinary practitioner, or polymathe, in the sense that I probably have a width of knowledge more than a depth, but with the advantage that the extent allows a wider model of recognition of patterns or interconnection through the limits. And in times of change, this can be a useful characteristic.
Planetary work turns out to be a useful excuse to dive into part of this more deeply, and to locate my broader work in a new context: to understand that a certain characteristic of our social context is de -regulator or disalabing, and that the landscape, at a tectonic level, is in motion.
#Workingoutloud on landscapes and knowledge.
At Learnopoly, Finn has championed a mission to deliver unbiased, in-depth reviews of online courses that empower learners to make well-informed decisions. With over a decade of experience in financial services, he has honed his expertise in strategic partnerships and business development, cultivating both a sharp analytical perspective and a collaborative spirit. A lifelong learner, Finn’s commitment to creating a trusted guide for online education was ignited by a frustrating encounter with biased course reviews.