CALL for DIVE #2: How to Develop a Theory of Your Life
Let’s apply the Art of Prestudy to Life Discovery.
CALL recently launched a new program called CALL for DIVE which aims to encourage you and other passionate knowledge creators to run a 100-day knowledge challenge.
The program was launched with an independent website with some tools and resources for the journey of knowledge engagement. You can find it at https://www.callfordive.com
This article aims to give you a challenge about Life Discovery.
Life Discovery Canvas
The above Life Discovery Canvas was developed based on a meta-canvas called Thematix Matrix Canvas. You can find more details about it in the following links:
- The Life Discovery Canvas (v1.0) — Part 1: Theoretical Background
- The Life Discovery Canvas (v1.0) — Part 2: Spatial Structure
- The Life Discovery Canvas (v1.0) — Part 3A: Concepts (THINK and LEARN)
- The Life Discovery Canvas (v1.0) — Part 3B: Concepts (SAY and DO)
- The Life Discovery Canvas (v1.0) — Part 4: Inspiration
I also used the Thematic Matrix Canvas to design a canvas for developing tacit knowledge: the Knowledge Discovery Canvas.
There is a deep analogy between the two projects, see the diagram below.
This deep analogy is based on the basic model of Activity Theory: Subject — Mediating Tool — Object. You can find more details on the Activity Analysis website.
I consider both “Developing Tacit Knowledge” and “Life Discovery” Activities. From the perspective of Activity Theory, the Knowledge Discovery Canvas and the Life Discovery Canvas are both Mediating Tools.
Moreover, what I found is that “Life Discovery” can be understood as a subcategory of “Developing Tacit Knowledge” if we consider the target of knowing as a person’s own life development. The process of discovering new insights for life development is a process of Developing Tacit Knowledge.
The difference between Knowledge Discovery Canvas and Life Discovery Canvas is that I used a set of concepts for “Developing Tacit Knowledge” about “Life Development”.
Knowledge Discovery Canvas
The Knowledge Discovery Canvas is designed with the THEORY — PRACTICE dimension and the END — MEANS dimension. I also consider the ENTER — EXIT dimension and the INDIVIDUAL — COLLECTIVE dimension. The canvas also has two nested squares which divide the thematic space into two sub-spaces: INNER space and OUTER space. For Developing Tacit Knowledge, the inner space is all about personal knowing activities while the outer space is related to social interactions.
Based on the above settings, I generated a series of mapping between OUTER space and INNER space:
- Approaches — Tastes
- Concepts — Notions
- Events — Projects
- Domains — Works
- Perspectives — Views
- Frameworks — Insights
- Methods — Guides
- Heuristics — Skills
You can find more details in Knowledge Discovery (Book).
The Art of Prestudy
One month ago, I used the Knowledge Discovery Canvas to represent Richard Swedberg’s Theorizing in Sociology.
Richard Swedberg uses two different stages to develop a creative method for going from facts to theory. The first stage is named Prestudy, and it is “characterized by theorizing based on empirical material, with the aim of making a discovery”.
The second stage is about the context of justification. Swedberg uses Main Study to name this stage, “This is where the research design is drawn up and executed. From this point on, rigor and logic are crucial since the data to be used have to be collected in reliable ways and also presented in this way to the scholarly community”.
You can find more details of the difference between Prestudy and Main Study in the table below.
Swedberg develops some rules for the Prestudy phase. See the picture below.
I use the Knowledge Discovery Canvas to represent the process of Theorizing. See the diagram below.
You can find more details in Themes in the Field: The Art of Prestudy.
A Knowledge Challenge for You
How to develop a theory of your life by attaching the Art of Prestudy canvas with the Life Discovery Canvas?
