tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5634674868533141553.post187987157306072805..comments2018-07-15T19:32:07.851+01:00Comments on New Media Bazaar :: researching interaction design from a visual communication perspective: Self-evident interfaces and perceivable possibilitiesDave Wood is Scouse-Scothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16039677047625968446noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5634674868533141553.post-81637398711948930142007-08-18T12:23:00.000+01:002007-08-18T12:23:00.000+01:00Hi Alec, I take your comment about the danger of t...Hi Alec, I take your comment about the danger of the word "evolution" used in the context of design. I am, as Alec guesses, (he knows me of old), deliberately drawing upon evolution to discuss our ability to use iterative design, and hint we have had that ability for a very long time as a human species.<BR/><BR/>Just to explain to readers the context I am using evolution in is not the common misinterpretation of Darwin as "survival of the fittest" individual. Evolution is the process of survival and passing on of the best genes that are helpful for the continued survival of a species. These genes are usually slight mutations that give an advantage, that over time replicates through the breeding population through natural selection. Each generation in turn passes on the good genes, slowly over a very long period of time, evolving into successful species (or not as the evolutionary case may be).<BR/><BR/>It is in this purer sense of evolution that I draw on in the blog. Our own species of human is a result of our ancestor-species' breeding the genes through to us, homo Sapien. Basic tool-making has been evidenced as a skill known in a 6m+ year old common ancestor between us and our cousins the chimps and bonobos that we jointly inherited, but have developed differently.<BR/><BR/>Our human central nervous system has been our secret weapon in our development over our cousins as we have the ability for abstract thought. We can communicate ideas beyond the immediate and make conceptual links as a result.<BR/><BR/>The process of cultural mediation in creating tools is an ability that is a result of a combination of genes past down from our ancestor-species that culminates over time in us as the ability to learn to make and improve on tools that will make our lives (hopefully) easier. Chimps also have been observed with tribal cultures and so have other non-primates, but it is only observable in humans the ability to think abstractly.<BR/><BR/>Thanks Alec for pointing that out and giving me the opportunity to expand upon what I meant. Alec is a graduate of mine and always keeps me on my toes. (see the Naomi Enami quote opposite).<BR/><BR/><I>A quick note: this is a blog on interactive design and not a Darwin vs Creationism debate so please let's not go off on tangents here. Set up a separate blog if you want to debate these issues. If you want to read two good books on evolution and abstract thought leading to human creativity then I recommend the following: <A HREF="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mind-Cave-Consciousness-Origins-Art/dp/0500284652/ref=sr_1_1/202-2076722-7708667?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1187435034&sr=8-1" REL="nofollow">The Mind in the Cave: Consciousness and the Origins of Art</A> and <A HREF="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ancestors-Tale-Richard-Dawkins/dp/0753819961/ref=sr_1_7/202-2076722-7708667?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1187435099&sr=1-7" REL="nofollow">The Ancestor's Tale</A></I>Dave Wood is Scouse-Scothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16039677047625968446noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5634674868533141553.post-66664455366341806032007-08-18T11:29:00.000+01:002007-08-18T11:29:00.000+01:00I haven't read Gibson's work, so the only comment ...I haven't read Gibson's work, so the only comment I can make might be a trivial one, but I think that you need to be careful when using the word 'evolution'. <BR/><BR/>Perhaps you're deliberately using it in two different ways, but there is a large gap between the blind, random, 'survival of the fittest' physical evolution of a species and cultural development through learning from and sharing the experience of fire/cooking etc.<BR/><BR/>Likewise, although it's possible to talk of the evolution of a design, it's a conscious, controlled progression. <BR/><BR/>As I said, you might be doing this deliberately, but the connotations of the word in its technical sense may not be what you mean to suggest.Alechttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11801922911350833631noreply@blogger.com