At 02:32 PM 8/30/2000 -0400, Rosan Chow wrote:
>
>One of my greatest fear of taking up a Ph.D. study is to see myself
turning out to be a part of the hegemonic apparatus. (Yes, I believe there
is one). My struggle has been this: I am a designer, visualization is my
language, a language that is not that valued in our education, so most
knowledge production and dissemination has been through words and numbers.
What do I do when I want more knowledge? I have to read. What do I do when
I want to share my ideas with a bigger audience? I have to write. Then I
ask myself if by reading and writing, am I not joining the group to further
marginalize the place of visualization in knowledge building or in life?
>
>Same difference: when design knowledge can only be recognized by the
validation of traditional ideas of what research, knowledge, etc. is, what
kind of design knowledge will we end up having and how original can this
type of knowledge be?
>
Do not worry, Rosan,
Science is about generalization, and generalization is achieved through
abstraction. If you want to work in the field of Science, you need to
conceptualize in abstract terms. Visual language is poor for concepualizing
and communicating abstract ideas. If you do not like verbalization, the
solution is simple -- find an area where visualization is most productive.
However, if you want both to work in science and use a visual language,
then this is your hobby. Do not requiest that the scientific community
embark on your way. I see no reason for talking with pictograms when doing
research. I use visual language for desing. Each media has its own
advantages and disadvantages and our aptitudes will not change the
"natural" laws of the real world. The problem of current scientific
community is not that it is not visual -- the problem is that it is too
much positivistically minded. However, I don't see concern in your post
with science paradigms; rather, it is an attemt to shape science like design.
Regards,
Lubomir Popov
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|