1. Introduction

This article is inspired by the Kaigi on Rails 2024 closing keynote, “WHOLENESS, REPAIRING, AND TO HAVE FUN,” though its content is different. It discusses Christopher Alexander, Gilles Clément, Hiroki Azuma, the Ethereum Foundation, and Robert Pirsig.

Through these ideas, I consider three themes: a moving-garden approach that repairs systems and creates new harmony, distributed systems that allow flexibility and diversity for sustainability and correctability, and the harmony between technology and aesthetic sense as the key to repairing the world.

2. A Moving Garden Approach

Christopher Alexander proposed pattern language as a method for architecture and urban planning. He argued that spaces where people feel comfortable share patterns, and that combining those patterns can create an environment that is harmonious as a whole.

The core of Alexander’s thought is to see the whole system as an organic existence, where elements relate to each other and create new order and harmony. Rather than optimizing parts, we should aim for whole-system optimization. This is also useful in software, where pattern language influenced software patterns and works such as Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture.

This connects deeply with Gilles Clément’s concept of the “garden in movement.” Clément saw a garden not as a fixed aesthetic object, but as a dynamic existence that changes over time. He advocated respecting the spontaneous movement of nature while humans accompany and care for the process.

The important view is to see the world, the planet itself, as one organic system, a moving garden. Humans then have a role in continuously repairing that garden and creating new harmony. In an age of environmental and social problems, coexistence with nature and restoration of the environment are essential themes.

3. Sustainability as Correctability

To build a sustainable model, the system must remain correctable. Hiroki Azuma’s “Philosophy of Correctability” argues that knowledge and systems should not pursue fixed truths or absolute values, but should remain flexible enough to be reviewed and updated.

Combining this with the previous discussion, sustainability can be described as correctability, as continuing to create new harmony, or as an infinitely moving garden. A system that can be corrected can respond to new information and changing conditions.

Ethereum also fits this model. Ethereum is a decentralized platform based on blockchain technology, and its ecosystem is designed so anyone can participate and contribute improvements. It is not centrally controlled, but evolves through the cooperation of the whole community.

The Ethereum Foundation even calls its vision the “Infinite Garden.”

Our vision for Ethereum is the Infinite Garden. Ethereum is more than a technology, it is a diverse ecosystem of individuals and organizations that build and grow alongside a protocol.

In this way, a distributed system that accepts diversity and flexibility is an important element for building a sustainable model.

4. Technology and Aesthetic Sense

To continue repairing the world, it is important to understand and pursue the “quality” at the foundation of a system. Here, Robert Pirsig’s “Quality” and Christopher Alexander’s “Quality Without a Name” matter.

Robert Pirsig, in “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance,” saw quality as something beyond the dualism of subject and object. Even in a seemingly technical act such as motorcycle maintenance, there are deep spiritual and aesthetic elements. Pursuing them leads to human happiness and fulfillment.

Alexander’s “Quality Without a Name” refers to a deep beauty or harmony in spaces and designs that cannot be fully defined in words but can be intuitively felt. Both ideas point to a quality that humans can sense deeply, even if it cannot be fully explained.

Pirsig focuses more on the inner life of the individual, while Alexander focuses on external spaces and environments. At the root of both is harmony among humans, nature, technology, and aesthetic sense. In other words, the harmony of technology and aesthetic sense within human nature leads to happiness and fulfillment for both the world and the individual.

5. Conclusion

The ideas of Alexander, Clément, Azuma, the Ethereum Foundation, and Pirsig share themes of repairing systems, creating new harmony, sustainability, and quality. The technology for repairing the world is not merely a tool or means. It is the pursuit of harmony among humans and nature, technology and aesthetic sense.

By caring for the world as a moving garden, pursuing technology and aesthetic sense, and continuing to create new harmony, we can build a sustainable future.