good post,
david,
technological forecast and predictions of cultural developments are notorious failures.
i have argued for a long time that the reason for these failures is the presence of acts of designing -- everyday and professional. they ruin most predictions, precisely because design introduces innovations = uncertainties into the determinism that scientific theories need to succeed. (i would say that a design that follows predictions contradicts its basic premise)
designers should be proud of their ability to undo all kinds of determinisms and leave the business of prediction to domains that designers are not interested in.
this is not to say that designers could not advance arguments for their designs and convince stakeholders of the virtue of do something with them. but this takes place on the level of discourse involving people in dialogue or conversations.
klaus
-----Original Message-----
From: PhD-Design - This list is for discussion of PhD studies and related research in Design [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of David Sless
Sent: Saturday, December 06, 2014 7:31 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Environmental determinism
Another way of putting it:
Did the people who invented the typewriter predict what it would be used to type?
David
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blog: http://communication.org.au/blog/ <http://communication.org.au/blog/>
web: http://communication.org.au <http://communication.org.au/>
Professor David Sless BA MSc FRSA
CEO • Communication Research Institute • • helping people communicate with people •
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