Susan, Klaus, terry, et al
I like Klaus's thinking behind using the word approach to characterize
designing - perhaps because I see it as a manifestation of intentionality.
And I certainly agree with the power of metaphor and the utility of
frameworks. But, I would like to draw everone's attention to a very powerful
"theory" of emergent thought that subsumes metaphor. I refer to the theory
of conceptual blending articulated by Gilles Fauconnier and Mark Turner in
their recent book The Way We Think: Conceptual Blending and the Mind's
Hidden Complexities, Basic Books, NY, 2002 The importance of this concept is
suggested by George Lakoff who wrote in a cover blurb "Over the last two
decades, cognitive linquists have mapped out the basic elements of thought-
image-schemas, frames, conceptual metaphors and metonymies, prototypes,
mental spaces. Now Fauconnier and Turner have filled in the last piece of
the puzzle: conceptual blending, the mental mechanism that blends together
and integrates these elements into complex ideas. The Way we Think is a
dazzling tour of the complexities of the human imagination." It is also
highly readable and will add significantly to the understanding of design
thinking, objectivity and all. It partially explains the mechanism
underlying what I refer to as "formative thought" the focus of
interpretation and expression in design thinking.
Chuck Burnette
|