Sense of IT and my silly old sensibilities

During a meeting this week a man from IT said that he wasn't interested in the look, the words or the usability of a product, just the functionality. If A led to B led to C then engaging copy and the right shade of pink could go hang. And if people were confused at how to use it that was their problem.

When I disagreed with this I continued a debate that's been going on for centuries: science versus art, reason versus emotion.

I'll take you through the years with four big hitters.

Plato thought we appreciate music because we get the maths (the patterns, the intervals in harmonies and so on) rather than because as individuals we just happened to dig it. Ratio versus sensus in his terms.

Austen in sense and sensibility gives us two sisters, one who suppresses her her emotions for greater responsibilities and another who is a whimsical old loved up dreamer.

The book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (Pirsig 1974) says everything comes down to classic versus romantic. These terms are more commonly known for music and architectural periods. You knew what would happen when in Mozart's classical structures but Wagner might lead you up an odd sounding horny helmeted path for hours breaking lots of musical rules.

To build a symmetrical columned building, with correct (Fibonacci) proportions, in the Roman and Greek style was classical. Later to be frilly and turreted (think Disney castles or The Palace of Westminster) was romantic.

In 1959 C.P. Snow argued that Two Cultures existed. The divide between science and humanities was a barrier to our progress.

This divide will be familiar to all teens being asked to choose three science or three humanity A-levels. To the engineer student unable to get off with the floaty-minded girls who do drama. To me trying to make web content that doesn't baffle.

I don't think you can lump things or people into one of other category. Everything is a bit of both. People are complicated individuals and most things are more nuanced. I fall into both camps.

But it does keep coming up doesn't it?

Have I just had Plato's perfect day? Leaves and lunch.

Having learnt some leaf types from the wonderful Memrise website, I managed to get a bracing run in and enjoyed a nice lunch.

Unremarkable. Though adding parsley to the lentil and carrot soup was a masterstroke.

For Plato though this is as good as it gets. For all I know he had no interest in leaves or jogging but what he did like was dividing things into threes.

You had to cater for your mind, body and soul. So learning things, exercise and enjoying yourself would tick his Hellenic beardy boxes.

It's 'all work and no play' really but I like the balance in it, I like the justification for pleasure.

Also applied to the state

He also extrapolated this idea to society as a whole. It needed three types of people. Philosopher (mind), soldiers (body) and those who produce things (ok it falls down here but it's still three things).

So take heart! When you are pulling on a nice pint with the paper in a comfy chair, Plato would approve. As long as you've schlepped up a hill first and written your blog having read up on the subject first.

Your author may be excused the last bit!