I need my time for understanding things, and making up my mind. In addition I try to be flexible while admitting that things can change and my understanding evolve, as I am aware there is a high probability to make mistakes, then keep the eyes and ears open. Awareness, persistence and patience are the best allies.

From my previous post about context I got new information that gave food for my though:

a) Matti’s reply (on the the previous post) and his reminder of an “old” reflection of his about the same term. (Thank you for your input Matti !! )

b) The Document “Report of State of the Art in Personalisation common Framework” from the ePerSpace – IST Integrated project, even that it presents a more technical approach, it clarifies at least 8 different user- contexts. I said at least, because sill I believe this is a reflection from a very specific point of view, and perhaps from another perspective another classification might appear with other number of possibilities.  However this is a thoughtful and clear document.

Then after some brain digestion, my pre-conclusions about how I had used this noun “context” can only be partiality respond by understanding why (probably) is it used?. From my personal opinion  sees two main reasons:

a) Getting lazy and in a comfortable zone

b) The increasingly speed of events and information is forbidden us to have a clear and deep reflection. Without this, it makes more difficult to even express our thoughts.

Let me elaborate:

One can’t live the life or have the experiences of someone else except oneself. One can’t have direct control over the thoughts of someone else, neither over his/her understanding. We only can have theories of how things work, in addition that there is much more than what we actually know (that is why we keep on researching and learning).

However one can make an effort to draw in detail one’s ideas or reflections. By making connection with all the relevant information and circumstances that have an impact to the specific description we are pursuing to do, instead to lock all all this information and understanding in one noun.

With this effort  one can support a clear understanding (of oneself and of others) about our own thoughts, reflections and experiences.  All these can be done by avoiding the noun: “context” and attempting to a richer communication. However this implies: a lot of effort in different levels and a considerable amount of time.

Well written and thoughtful books, specially the no-technical ones, are good examples for improving the understanding of a phenomena and all what surrounds it, before and after it. The clarity of a message in a “long” paper of 8 pages, can’t be compared with the clarity of a  book of 300 pages. (assuming that both are quality exemplars)

And do not get me wrong, make summaries or  be able to synthesize is a relevant skill to have (it is not a trivial skill). However,  one should take care of the quality of this summarizing process while writing it, as one should be critic and aware that a full and clear message can’t be delivered in a 8 pages “long paper”.

My personal advice:

– Never stop reading:  books, conference papers, journal articles, etc.

– Be critic and understand the meanings of the information in written form (or any other type) by going beyond the words itself of the content of specific domains. In few words make the knowledge mine. This might need a lot of extra effort and time.

Perhaps, I had been stuck in this issue of: context.  Perhaps because this noun of 7 letters has enormous implications in my way of thinking if it remains blurry or unmanageable. Then, at this moment it is a must for myself to learnt to situate my own thoughts and ideas in a manner that I can express them clearly. In addition, if I want to convey my message to others and with this create a constructive dialog, then better start to clarify things.

Much to learn regarding the basics: writing and reading.