On Oct 16, 2009, at 8:29 PM, Ken Friedman wrote:
> The word “research” means to search thoroughly for the
> purpose of answering a focused question or understanding and solving a
> problem even though we have not been able to focus our question at the
> start.
>
> To me, this includes the future as much as the present or the past. It
> is only by having a sense of where we want to go that we can
> understand
> our research problem. It is thus an orientation toward the future that
> guides our inquiry.
Ken et al, I offer this as food for thought. We live in the present
and recognize our needs and desires here. This present is informed by
our past experience and relevant knowledge. It is not until we attend
to the anomalies that arise from interpreting the present in light of
this experiential knowledge that needs and desires arise to motivate
us to address them. That is how our intentions are born and informed
according to at least one theory of design thinking quite familiar to
me. Intentions are always future oriented. The present looks both to
the past and the future. Research is literally a search for relevant
knowledge both to recognize the anomalies in a problematic situation
and to inform their future resolution. I think orientation to the
present or future is an important distinction regarding how to view
relevant knowledge. What do others think?
Chuck
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