Wolfgang,
<snip> but we may turn to 2nd order cybernetics, which I find more
appropriate</>
Second order cybernetics is now a bit old? It is from the same stable that
generated 'reflective practice' , learning loops, intrepreted theory,
including the researcher as participant, constructivism, anthropology,
ethnography..
Useful, but the cutting edge moves on.
There are some advantages in seeing humans as animals and interpreting them
similarly - ethological analysis is helpful. Understanding the framing
effects on modelling human understanding and behaviour of better knowledge
of brain mediated sub-strates is helpful. Perhaps most radically helpful
(except that the idea is a few thousand years old) is regarding
taken for granted ideas such as 'mind', 'sense of self', 'personal value',
and 'individual creativity' as secondary and incidental artefacts of our
development as animals - illusions!- rather than regarding them as _central_
to researching and theorising about human activities such as design. This is
the new edge of research in this area in other domains.
It's culturally and personally a tough challenge to regard ones' sense of
self as illusory and irrelevant - about as difficult perhaps as realising
the universe doesn't rotate round the earth.
Dropping the longstanding romantic obsession with the illusion of 'mind' and
sense of self as central to understanding design activity is helpful. It
also busts apart much of the basis of many of the ex-cutting edge approaches
such as 2nd order cybernetics, reflective practice and many other approaches
that have become dear to heart.
Feelings - thoughts?
Reflectively,
Terry
____________________
Dr. Terence Love, FDRS, Bootscooter
Design-focused Research Group, Design Out Crime Research Group
Associate Researcher at Digital Ecosystems and Business Intelligence
Institute
Research Associate, Planning and Transport Research Centre
Curtin University, PO Box U1987, Perth, Western Australia 6845
Mob: 0434 975 848, Fax +61(0)8 9305 7629, [log in to unmask]
Visiting Professor, Member of Scientific Council
UNIDCOM/ IADE, Lisbon, Portugal
Visiting Research Fellow, Institute of Entrepreneurship and Enterprise
Development
Management School, Lancaster University,Lancaster, UK,
[log in to unmask]
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