Hi all,
I'm a doctoral student at the University of Art and Design Helsinki
(focusing on conceptual creation of ideas in social interaction), and
I've been following the list with a great interest. And I also did
follow this thread until it exploded into a debate between the
confines of design vs. engineering.
To get back on track, I shall return to the very important question
that Alireza outlined: "where are we going in this field?"
Essentially the fact seems to be that we simply cannot get a solid
picture of the field unless we defined it so abstract as it would
completely silence the uneasiness that motivates a closer look on
where we are heading. The thread, so far, has contained several
important contributions both to EXPAND our picture of the field and to
DEFINE the field. Less voiced are the WAYs in which these two things
are now achieved, i.e. through a debate in an e-mail list, and, how
these ways actually have a great impact on how we come to perceive
where we are.
Research fields, so far, have been defined and expanded through
journals, conferences, other publications, and public debate (you may
add here more traditional ways if you wish). As a rather young
researcher I have been grown in the era of computers (also graduated
from that field), and seen how the developments in the means of
exchange has dramatically influenced how we conceive things. Networked
computers are now providing us with unforeseen pace at which to
explore material, relate things together, and deliver understandable
stuff in front of our eyes. I claim that through these means we have
now some decent assistance to keep us updated with where we are (on a
level that we may feel helpful).
The uneasiness about where we are heading will most certainly not be
resolved by "networked calculation". My point is to make us
increasingly aware that any static definition of our field will
eventually fail, or will prove fundamentally uninteresting, and that
we are getting new ways of keeping us informed.
And, let's keep trying.
Kind regards,
Salu Ylirisku
Doctoral student in design research
University of Art and Design Helsinki / School of Design
PS: If you are interested in what is going on at the moment, you could
for example take a look of the www.siri.com. It underpins the most
interesting technological developments currently (if you look deeper
into how the system comes to understand what you say - not just the
superficial fact that it is actually understanding something with the
particular device).
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