Do you mostly focus on the general image, or the details?

[Kyriakos]

An analysis/synthesis ratio, or something similar..

I used to be very clearly geared towards analysis (details), but by now i am in a better balance, although i still am more fond of analytical thinking. But some synthetic thinking is entirely needed, otherwise one just loses focus of the subject he is examining, a bit like having set out to examine a house as part of a plan to learn about the city, and in the end you only care about a couple of rooms and all else becomes a blur.

 

[Tee Kay]

Details bore me, unless they're interesting and can easily be related to each other and back to the general image by way of a compelling story.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

You won't get far in science without balancing both. But it depends on what you're doing, of course. If you're looking for an apartment, I'm not sure how synthesis would help.

I'm disappointed such a good thread didn't get more replies.

 

[Mise]

I'm a big picture guy. I don't like the details and let other people worry about that stuff. I secretly feel that this makes me better than them, though in reality I'm not sure I'm good at keeping that a secret.

 

[Borachio]

The devil is in the details.

Or perhaps, as I've heard it said, God is in the details.

And isn't the global just the sum total of the details?

Construct me a motor car relying solely on your global view of one, and that will be a car I'm not buying from you.

 

[Gori the Grey]

And the guy who made a bunch of parts, with no global view, has no motor car to sell you.

That said, I think of myself as a fine-detail guy, too. The finer, the finer, in fact.

 

[Borachio]

Absolutely true. You need both the details and the global view.

 

[cybrxkhan]

I'm not sure myself.

Anyhow this reminds me of an experiment done a while back comparing the visual perception of Japanese (or Chinese, forgot which) and (Caucasian, I'm assuming) Americans. They'd put a large picture or something in front of the person, and track how their eyes move to take it in, so to speak. The result was that the Asians would generally try to look at the thing as a whole, while the Americans would go around observing details instead. They then tried this with Asian Americans and found that the Asian Americans' eye patterns seemed closer to that of the (Caucasian?) Americans.

 

[Borachio]

If you want to paint a recognizable picture of something, don't you have to start with the global view and gradually fill in the details?

 

[Farm Boy]

I enjoy cutting fine, but I'm crappier at it than the fuzzier holistic approach. I'll echo the sentiment that they're complimentary concepts though. How the two interact is often the intersection of beauty, isn't it?

“Study without thought is vain;
thought without study is dangerous.”

— Analects 2.15

 

[Thorgalaeg]

Details (or lack of) are really important...

 

[Hygro]

I've moved a lot more towards details because that's where the truth is. The Big Picture Bros are full of posers who don't know what they're talking about, chalk with bad analogies that don't mean anything.

 

[Tee Kay]

I've moved a lot more towards details because that's where the truth is. The Big Picture Bros are full of posers who don't know what they're talking about, chalk with bad analogies that don't mean anything.

Don't get so bogged down in the details you fail to make connections to the big picture.

 

[Hygro]

Honey, I don't think that's possible.

 

[Tee Kay]

In any case, these days being posers with bad analogies get you elected.

 

[Hygro]

Yeah. You have no idea how much that keeps me up at night.

 

[Mise]

Weird, I always saw you as a big picture guy, Hygro. Meant as a compliment!

 

[Valka D'Ur]

You won't get far in science without balancing both. But it depends on what you're doing, of course. If you're looking for an apartment, I'm not sure how synthesis would help.

What would you consider "synthesis" in this case, though? I've rejected apartments on the basis of details such as shoddy maintenance, unsafe stairs, and utterly depressing wall colors (we're not allowed to paint them here), but the place I'm in now was part of a bigger picture).

If you want to paint a recognizable picture of something, don't you have to start with the global view and gradually fill in the details?

That's how my grandmother did it. She was an artist, and worked from the wide view down to the details - and then back to the wide view to make sure things were in balance (she did nature pictures - various wilderness locales in Alberta and British Columbia).

 

[Hygro]

Weird, I always saw you as a big picture guy, Hygro. Meant as a compliment!

Thanks, I do take it as a compliment and, indeed you were right– I am a big picture guy.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

What would you consider "synthesis" in this case, though?

That's exactly my point.