Poetic disciplines are those things that cannot be measured.
- Semiotics
- Human Movements
- Law
- Poetry
- Dance
- Art
- Music
- Theatre
- Social Psychology
- Biology
- Performance
- Humanities
- History
- Geography
- Theology
- Metaphysics
- Knowing
- Multimodalities
- Transdisciplinary
Anything that cannot be measured, take love for an example, if you want a measurement in it, or rate a performance in it, you will wreck that love.
Honey, I love you 7 out of 10 today, will not help build this relationship.
So in the workplace when we do things like annual reviews, we give a subjective score, for example, 3 out of 5, and say that is working to the level the position requires, according to the job description.
How can I say that earthmover operator is 3 out of 5? I cannot do the task, have no unconscious understanding of the finesse it takes to pivot on the spot, understand the type of dance he performs with his machine, or the level of skill or knowledge that the operator has.
The operator, see 3 out of 5, the operator is crushed.
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Matt Thorne
Latest posts by Matt Thorne (see all)
- Poetics and Risk Part XIII – Poetic Disciplines - November 24, 2025
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- Poetics and Risk Part XI – Poetics and the Collective Unconscious - November 19, 2025
- Poetics and Risk Part IX: Poetics and the Unconscious - October 13, 2025
- Poetics and Risk Part VIII: Mimesis and Mimetics - October 10, 2025
Rob Long says
Ah yes, how do we DO Poetics? That is the question. By taking up the challenges of knowing language, linguistics and para-linguistics and understanding how these are the foundation of all we do. Everything we do is mediated through language, text, persons as text and text as semiotic.
By understanding that we live in a Semiosphere where all we see, feel, touch, sense and emote affects all of us. This is what Fuchs calls ‘interaffectivity’ and ‘intercorporeality’.
There is no point in talking about trust and care in tackling risk and safety if you don’t know about this foundational stuff. You can’t hope to generate trust or care into an organisation by wishing off the back of a few slogans.
The foundation for generating trust and care in risk, safety, organisations and leadership starts with understanding Poetics and Semiotics. Without such an understaning, nothing will move.