(Disclaimer: all questions are asked to aid understanding and they are mainly a
reflection of Rosan's cognitive disequilibrium).
Hi Tim, Dick and all
Thanks for your help.
When I said 'design knowledge', I was aware of the distinctions among design, as a
product, a cognitive process and a professional practice. However, the 'design
knowledge' to which I was refering was none of these. It maybe close to what Bruce
Archer called the design with the big "D", but I am not sure if it is that either. At this
point, I resist to replace it with another word for fear that it may limit what it can be.
In my mind I was imagining a particular type of knowledge that is not scientific (nor
speculative like Philosophy) and I just convinently called it 'design knowledge'.
We know that the aim of scientific knowledge is to explain, predict and hopefully
control. But we know that being able to explain and predict doesn't necessarily lead to
control. And incidentally design is about control (in its loosest sense). So I was thinking
that if scientific knowledge is not 'enough' for
control/manipulation/intervention/change/design, then we must need another way of
obtaining knowledge to fill the gap to design the design in design.
And I guess that designers have been filling the gap by using tacit
knowledge/intuition/the black box. But I also guess that if knowledge gained by Ph.D.
resesarch needs to be an original contribution, it has to be different from this type of
knowledge as well.
And I also related this 'no name' knowledge less to the questions of What, How and
Why but more to the question of What If? In my mind, what and why are favourite
questions of scientists and philosophers and how is a favourite of engineers, and what if
is the favourite question of designers.
On the one hand, if my future dissertation will result in knowledge that answers what,
how and why, then I should be getting a Ph.D. in science, philosophy or engineering. On the
other hand, if I can get a Ph.D. in design by using tacit knowledge (plus scientific
knowledge even) to design something, then I believe that other professional designers should
be getting an honorary Ph.D. if not a Ph.D.
I have this strange notion that this 'no name' knowledge is not to be known but to be
designed. I know that it sounds crazy for 'know'ledge is to be known, but ... has it to be?
Rosan
Rosan Chow
Graduate Student
College of Design
North Carolina State Universityv
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