I saw a great presentation at the “Design Science: Nature’s Problem Solving Method” Symposium  today. “Design Science” was coined by Buckminster Fuller for an ambitious process where individuals or teams can “make the world work, for 100% of humanity, in the shortest possible time, through spontaneous cooperation, without ecological offense or the disadvantage of anyone.”  This Synergetics Collaborative symposium was held at RISD this weekend in collaboration with The Edna Lawrence Nature Lab.

The Keynote presentation that struck me was by Zann Gill, called “Design Science as Anticipatory Sustainability via Worldgaming.” Another presentation of Zann Gill’s can be found here:  

Zann Gill thinks that Design has something to teach Science and specifically Evolutionary theory. Some evolution theorists see evolution as a random set of gene permutations that periodically shift because of mutations or a change of environment; but others understand it as also being a collaborative convergent process, where in gene pools "conspire" in taking advantage and surviving.  Zann Gill, a designer in her own right, who studied architecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, worked for Buckminster Fuller, built tensegrity structures (those structures composed of perfectly balanced opposing forces of tension and compression),worked at NASA, was a student of Evolutionary Biologist, Stephen Jay Gould, studied briefly at RISD, understands the “organic nature” of the creative process. There are many forces at work in navigating the creative process that drives it more than a random set of processes occasionally shaped by  a context of circumstance:” human will, desire, sensibility, intuition, an uncanny anticipatory sense to form associations and connections,  to name a few. But the creative process is also not completely deliberate, not a result of achieving a pre-defined goal where intention precedes process. This understanding distinguishes her observations and work from the creationist’s movement, called, “Intelligent Design.”  Intelligent Design is not only a mis-representation of science, but a mis-representation of design. It presumes a designer that sits in a higher authority “above and outside the system He designs.” At RISD, we understand how thought and action are one, how function follows form as frequently as form follows function, how ideas emerge through making, and how intentions can grow out of the creative process.

Her life’s experiences have brought a deeper, salient and timely return to Bucky Fuller’s idea of The World Game Theory.  Gill believes that the self organizational nature (not from a top down superior being) of design can play a key role in the next stage of Game Theory. The unique approaches of many individuals spread across the globe can be networked in forming a “group mind” of a kind in playing a collaborative role, (instead of only being a competitive one) in our own evolution.  Her perspective can offer a portal for our work at RISD in addressing the BIG problems that our world is facing today.

At the beginning of 2010, two of Zann Gill’s books will come out: What Daedalis told Darwin: Darwin’s Dilemma & Designing Intelligence and If Microbes Begat Mind: Origins of Life & Emergence of Intelligence. span>  http://zanngill.com/home.html