> How many design researchers does it take to change a light bulb?
The phrasing of your question belies your ignorance of ontological considerations of bulb theory. Since "bulb" has its roots--a literal and figurative use of the word--in the Latin for onion, we need to consider each layer individually. These layers are primarily linguistic but when Ludwig Wittgenstein said that "A new word is like a fresh seed sown on the ground of the discussion" he was ignoring vital considerations of biomimicry throughout the history of design.
How can we build sustainability into complex systems if plant propagation methods are confused? If our field weren't at such an infantile stage, this sort of mistake would not be so common. PhD supervisors need to assure that onion studies are a basic part of high school education, so we can move on to more fertile areas of consideration. Terry is sadly mistaken if he thinks the number of feedback loops on a tractor is central to this discussion.
Eduardo noted that the phrase "papel casca de cebola" relates to directly drawing but so-called onion skin paper is not only an anachronism but an indication that he confuses onionicity with cebolatude. This ground has been covered by Martin Heidegger but design research has been so completely co-opted by agribusiness interests this entire list is stuck in Lunch2 development, obsessing on the onion and avoiding the relationship between the hamburger and the bun.
The Platonic ideal of burger analysis still stands and, I'm afraid, if you think anything has happened since 4C BCE, you are sadly mistaken. I would continue but I have a very important meeting and, frankly, you wouldn't get it anyway.
Gunnar Swanson
Esteemed Associate Professor
East Carolina University
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