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Hi Everybody, I wonder if anybody can point us to research that explores or uses the idea of passion in designing and making or any other field of activity? We have been discussing this is a number of contexts, but particularly learning, and it seems self-evident that something that we might recognise as passion informs people who are prepared to commit themselves to difficult work and arduous tasks. We have also been speculating that this quality might be more easily seen in more mature people. Perhaps teenagers generally seem to be more concerned about conformity whereas passion seems to imply a degree of individualism, a willingness to go further than others in pursuit of an individual goal. If so that might have some implications for how we support young people entering university education. (As the father of a teenager I find this a particularly pointed question) Our debate is prompted by a colleague, Bernd Ploderer visiting us from Melbourne University, whose research explores body builders as an interesting online community. He has concluded that "passion" is the best way to describe the motivation that brings somebody to engage in all-consuming training and undertake activities that risk their health in order to achieve a particular kind of competitive perfection. We also felt that a similar (maybe less extreme) passion distinguishes learners who will keep experimenting and perfecting their work as a way of refining their skills and knowledge. Ironically young children have a natural talent for great concentration, repeating tasks endlessly to master them but we seem to lose that focus as we get into our later childhood. I'm not sure that passion has figured so much in concepts of designing, which we often discuss in quite functional ways, but I'd be glad to be proved wrong. So any sources out there that might show us a way in to this subject? thanks very much Chris Rust (with Nicola Wood and Bernd Ploderer) ...............................................................o^o Professor Chris Rust FDRS Head of Art and Design Research Centre Sheffield Hallam University, S1 2NU, UK +44 114 225 6772 [log in to unmask] www.chrisrust.net Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race. - H. G. Wells