Dear Klaus and all...
If theory is to predict the future from past observation: what is design
theory to predict?
Maori peoples have a *whakataukī *or ‘proverb’ that says:* Kia whakatōmuri
te haere whakamua*: ‘I walk backwards into the future with my eyes fixed on
my past’... (Rameka, 2016)...
Well, if we understood past as one of several paths what are in front
of us something
that indigenous peoples are very aware of, and if we assume that we walk
backwards into the future (towards the posterior times and the posterior
part of our bodies), perhaps when we walk forwards into the past or look to
the past... (towards the anterior times and to the front way of our
bodies), depending on into what past we choose to look at, and what meaning
we decide give to it... taking into account that in a Krippendorffian
way *design
is make sense of things* (to me, here being the past, that thing we are
making sense of), depending on in what way we can make sense of the past,
and what kind of past make sense for us in a specific time... new futures
can emerge (we will continue walking backwards into the future but not the
same one. in other directions, into other futures), so... some futures can
become futures that past (futures that stop showing up), when we start
looking in different pasts. And when we let that the future be inspired and
shaped by and from other pasts, which we thus turn into future pasts, pasts
that we will be considering tomorrow, then we would some pasts stop being
in our future, transforming them into pasts that pass, and we place others
there as pasts to come, pasts that we put in front of us to observe and
propose different possibilities.
Beyond the apparent pun, I doubt the unique linearity of time, the
uniqueness of the future, and the uniqueness of the past ... and by the way
those of design and theory, too. In fact the disposition sometimes
overflows the prefiguration. We know that in proposing possibilities when
designing, paradoxically we expect the unexpected result, as Nelson and
Stolerman say, but we only know for sure that when designing we expect
something to emerge, and we try to achieve it, but it always escapes us, to
some extent, to know exactly what is going to emerge. Well, as you stated
Klaus, in your Semantic Turn: "Often, declarations come in the guise of
predictions that, if believed true and acted upon, create the reality they
state"... so depending on the pasts you decide to observe, and believe as
true, and also to predict from it, likewise the futures also would change.
Of course that's not what it is, just what I think... on your provocative
challenge.
-----
Rameka, L. (2016). Kia whakatōmuri te haere whakamua:‘I walk backwards into
the future with my eyes fixed on my past’. *Contemporary Issues in Early
Childhood*, 17(4), 387-398.
Warm regards, to you all.
Alfredo
On Sun, Jul 5, 2020 at 10:57 AM Krippendorff, Klaus <
[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Intent is certainly not the same as agency.
>
> Why do you think agency is useless in design theory?
>
> Related question.
>
> If theory is to predict the future from past observation: what is design
> theory to predict?
>
> Kkaus
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> > On Jul 5, 2020, at 3:31 AM, Terence Love <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> >
> > Hi David,
> >
> > The activity to 'do' is NOT restricted to people either in its
> etymology, technical definition or common use.
> >
> > Similarly to 'decide' is NOT restricted to people either in its
> etymology, technical definition or common use unless one is from that
> subset of people that assumes that it is.
> >
> > Ditto for to 'act' or undertake an 'activity' or 'action'
> >
> > Ditto for to make a 'plan'
> >
> > Ditto for to create a 'design'
> >
> > All apply as much to the acts of non-human objects as they do to humans.
> >
> > I'm not finding any reference sources where any of the above are
> defined as purely referring to human actions.
> >
> > If you have such a reference , please tell me.
> >
> > Best wishes,
> > Terence
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: PhD-Design - This list is for discussion of PhD studies and
> related research in <[log in to unmask]> On Behalf Of David Sless
> > Sent: Sunday, 5 July 2020 2:48 PM
> > To: [log in to unmask]
> > Subject: Re: The uselessness of 'agency' in design theory
> >
> > Hi. All,
> >
> > A small distinction might be useful.
> >
> > I, like all of you make decisions, take actions, plan etc etc. This is
> what people do. Only people do these things and we can talk between us
> about these things without getting confused.
> >
> > Sometimes we observe other organisms—my dog for example—doing things.
> When I make such a claim I am creating and using a metaphor. The same with
> machines, however complex. Machines don’t do things simply because they are
> not people, But there is nothing preventing us from applying metaphors to
> make sense of machines to say that they act AS IF they were people in some
> way doing things.
> >
> > Our ubiquitous use of metaphors can be illuminating, even inspiring. It
> can also be profoundly misleading. Abstract nouns are often the carriers of
> such confusion (I am, of course using a metaphor. Abstract nouns don’t
> carry anything.)
> >
> > We were recently on this list talking about “need”. Without getting into
> any confusion I can tell you that I need food to survive. But something
> goes terribly wrong when a psychologist tells me that I have 'A FOOD NEED’.
> To prove the truth of this statement scientifically, the psychologist must
> find the locus of this NEED and develop a theory about the nature of this
> need and its mode of action, alongside all the other NEEDS I have. In one
> sentence we have moved from a simple statement to the creation of a mental
> object. Need is being treated AS IF it were an object. This AS IF is a
> wonderful way for us to create new ways of looking at things. But we get
> into lots of trouble when we insist that these metaphorical usages are
> themselves real.
> >
> > Please try to use metaphors for what they are: fictions we create.
> >
> > David
> >
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