Good point
David'
By pointing to metaphors.
You are correct to warn of their misleading entailments, especially when abstractions expressed by nouns are claimed to be the cause of something.
Undoubtedly they can be helpful in understanding something not to clear, even lead to innovations. But this does not mean they have agency
Klaus
-----Original Message-----
From: PhD-Design <[log in to unmask]> On Behalf Of David Sless
Sent: Wednesday, August 05, 2020 10:27 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: On Characterization of Agency
Hi Mark,
A comment I have made before on the notion of agency, plus an additional footnote. Most, if not all of your extensions and that of others in the use of the term ‘agency’ are metaphorical.
Metaphors need to be used with care. Metaphors illuminate, but the new object, the subject of the metaphor referred to, cannot take on all the characteristics of the original usage. Herein lies the challenge of metaphorising, as it were. There is also the problem of ‘intention’.
Abstract nouns are not things. If they were, I could open up someone’s head, or the programming of a yet to be invented computer, and find the locus of their intentions. Intentions are one of the ways we describe agency, but that is another matter…
My footnote is in the form of a question: I have found Chaos Theory useful in providing some insights into our information design work and the role of our agency. I wonder if this is the case with anyone else on this list?
David
> On 6 Aug 2020, at 10:56 am, [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> Thank you, Fernando Mendes. Following you, I have discovered this thread. And it looks like a fascinating place of vivid discussions. Thanks to Lars, Ken, Francois, Klaus and many more for sharing your thoughts.
>
> The possibility of ‘designing with agency’ sparked my curiosity a couple of years ago. At that time I was working as a service design practitioner. Since, it led me to engage in the PhD I am doing now at Kyoto University. Which is to say I am fairly new to the realm of design theory!
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