[Sigia-l] Design and Religion

[tputkey at keypointe.ca]

It's quite interesting, this discussion on religion and IA. I have a degree in
Religious Studies with a minor in Philosophy - it was essentially a study of
cultures from an outsiders perspective - and am now a technical writer/ia
because my degree taught me how to write and how to understand people and their
motivations.

Like Arthur, my personal path gives me a perspective of compassion. However,
I've seen little on the national or international scene discussing how religion
or feminism informs software design. I always thought it would be an extremely
interesting conversation, given the global nature of our world.

You might look at Feminist Geography for an understanding of gendered views of
the world. But Feminist Geography also encompasses non-dominate geographical
points (as in, it looks at things from a different perspective than white,
middle/upper class, colonization (did I spell that right?)) and takes into
account race, class, gender, sexuality and how those aspects inform political,
social, and cultural geography.

Here's a thought: we say that minds don't always understand/see hierarchical
relationships. However, in a hierarchical culture, say Japanese or Chinese,
hierarchical relationships might be easier to understand than associative
relationships. (I'm just postulating, but it's something to think about or
investigate.)