Dear Rosan and others
Although these intangible aspects of the creative process are rather
difficult to pin down and to talk about, I still feel that we are probably
talking about all those non-rationalized, non-verbalized decisions that one
makes based on equally non-rationalized, non-verbalized knowledge. Much of
this content may be summarized as "experience", but in common usage this
term seems to apply more to "know-how" than to "know-that" [1]. "Tacit
knowledge" is a useful expression that emphasizes the "know-that" content
which nonetheless may be non-rationalized and non-verbalized. My interest
in tacit knowledge is the problem of whether it happens to be
non-verbalized, or whether it CANNOT be verbalized, i.e. ineffable [2].
Many practitioners like to claim tacit knowledge is ineffable, whereas it
seems to be the role (for example) of the researcher, the critic and the
educator to verbalize it. One might then object that it ceases to be tacit,
and that response would accord with the notion that research makes explicit
that which was implicit. On the other hand many of the "practice-based
research" community are interested in, and motivated to establish, the role
of the tacit/experiential/ineffable/artefactual... as an integral rather
than supplementary part of the research process. Perhaps this is another
terminological problem, but I believe it also shows how embedded is this
problem of the relationship of words and doing. Having an adequate
explanation of this relationship would allow the community to explain the
role of the artefact and of practice in a research programme.
References
[1] Ryle, G. The Concept of Mind, Chapter 2.
[2] Polanyi, M. The Tacit Dimension, p.17.
Michael
At 11:29 05/11/2002 -0700, Rosan Chow wrote:
>Dear Michael and others
>
>I have nothing to say to the interesting question :"Does knowledge disappear
>as it is converted into action and design, or does it persist as a consitutent
>part of design but perhaps bearing a different name ("tacit knowledge"?)"; but
>I will be delighted if someone esle does.
>
>What I think I can say a little bit more is the potential usefulness of this
>distinction between 'change' and 'movement' for articulating designing. And
>this is where I also like to hear your ideas.
>
>In the course of study, i have come across terms such as 'knowledge
>application', 'knowledge transfer'... and i am not sure if these terms aptly
>describe the process of 'from knowledge to designs'.
>
>My hunch is that the terms 'transfer' and 'application' imply a movement. I
>think 'from knowledge to designs' is a transformation, a change that is much
>less straightforward, less deductive, less matter-of-factly, less certain, and
>less predictable than what 'transfer' and 'application' imply.
>
>I think the distinction between 'change' and 'movement' can be useful in
>putting the discussion of teaching, learning and using scientific methods or
>scientific data (either quantative or qualitative interpreted under any
>paradigm of inquiry) in design in perspective.
>
>Best Regards, Rosan
>
>Micahael said
>
> > ..... Rosan offers an explanation of
> > design in terms of a distinction between two different types of
> > "transformation", i.e. "change" or "movement". I think I would want to now
> > more about that distinction, and I would want to now what explanatory
> > benefit is gained by describing design in terms of one rather than the
> > other. Getting back to the pre-Socratics, one might consider this as a
> > problem of identity and whether a name applies to a "whole" or its "parts".
> > The river can be regarded as a "whole", and that helps us to understand why
> > the river doesn't disappear off the map into the sea. Does knowledge
> > disappear as it is converted into action and design, or does it persist as
> > a constituent part of design but perhaps bearing a different name ("tacit
> > knowledge"?).
>
>
>
>
>
>
>--
>Rosan Chow
>Sessional Instructor
>
>University of Alberta
>Department of Art and Design
>3-98 Fine Arts Building
>Edmonton, Alberta
>Canada T6G 2C9
>
>Tel:1-780-492-7877
>Fax: 1-780-492-7870
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Dr Michael A R Biggs
Reader in Visual Communication
Faculty of Art and Design, University of Hertfordshire
College Lane, Hatfield, Herts. AL10 9AB
United Kingdom
Telephone +44 (0)1707 285341
Fax +44 (0)1707 285350
E-mail [log in to unmask]
Internet http://www.michaelbiggs.org.uk/pub/
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