TALE: Thematic Triangles and Life Discovery +

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TALE500

11 min readJan 18, 2024

Discover Thematic Spaces of Life Discovery Canvas

TALE (Thematic Analysis Learning Engagement) was launched as a new Knowledge Center for hosting the Thematic Engagement project on Jan 1, 2023.

Thematic Engagement refers to the “Person — Theme” relationship and interaction. The new term “Thematic Engagement” was inspired by the Themes of Practice approach (2019, 2021) and the Project Engagement approach (2021, 2022).

In 2022, I developed a set of tools for Thematic Engagement, you can find more details in The Thematic Engagement Toolkit (v1.0).

The Thematic Engagement toolkit (v1.0) is a collection of diagrams, models, and concepts. Though these tools came from different theoretical approaches, they shared the same theme:

Concept/Theme/Project/Activity/Practice

The Themes of Practice Approach (2019, 2021) considers both the social aspects of themes and the cognitive aspects of themes.

The Project Engagement Approach (2021, 2022) sees activities as projects around the formation of concepts.

In 2023, I worked on several knowledge projects under TALE and produced several books. I also developed the Thematic Space Theory.

In 2024, I will apply some new ideas from the Thematic Space Theory to various activities of thematic engagement.

This post will introduce the concept of “Thematic Triangles” and a related application “Life Discovery +”.

1. Discover Thematic Spaces of a Thematic Matrix Canvas

On Oct 31, 2023, I wrote a long article titled [Creative Diagramming] Graphic Space Affordances, Thematic Space, and Possible Paths.

From the perspective of Thematic Space Theory, a diagram and a knowledge framework are no longer a static knowledge representation, but a dynamic creative territory for exploring, reflecting, and curating.

From my research and real-life experiences, this view can guide us in the following actions:

Explore Graphic Space Affordances
Explore Potential Thematic Spaces of a diagram or a knowledge framework
Explore Possible Connections of Diagram Networks
Explore the Spatial Structure of a diagram or a knowledge framework
Explore Possible Paths of moving between thematic spaces

I’d like to call these actions Creative Diagramming. The picture below is an example of “Explore Potential Thematic Spaces of a diagram or a knowledge framework”.

The above picture was based on the Knowledge Discovery Canvas.

In Oct 2023, I used the Knowledge Discovery Canvas to help a knowledge creator reflect on his journey of knowledge engagement and discover potential creative themes for the future.

However, I didn't officially use the canvas. I placed his creative thematic spaces around the canvas. I didn’t use the canvas in its official way but used its white space for exploring potential thematic spaces.

To keep the client’s privacy, I applied the diagram to my own Creative Life. The above picture shows my thematic spaces on Oct 31, 2023. You can find more details in Creative Life Curation: Discover Thematic Spaces of Creative Life.

2. Thematic Triangles

From Oct 2023 to Dec 2023, I worked discovering potential thematic spaces of the Developmental Project Model.

The outcome is amazing. I edited a possible book titled Mapping Developmental Projects: Life, Stories, and Thematic Spaces.

A by-product of the project was the concept of “Thematic Triangles” and a radical mindset to knowledge frameworks and knowledge canvases.

I used three themes to name a potential thematic space of the Developmental Project Model. For example: The D.I.V.E. Framework is located in the “Theme — Content — Program” thematic space.

We can place more than one type of Developmental Project and related framework in one Thematic Triangle. In this way, we expand the Developmental Project Model into a set of knowledge frameworks. Each sub-framework can be customized for a specific type of Developmental Project.

This is Chapter 2 of the book. You can find more details below.

2.1 [Creative Diagramming] Graphic Space Affordances, Thematic Space, and Possible Paths — 24 min
2.2 The D.I.V.E. Framework for Knowledge Projects — Oct 20, 2023
2.3 The “META” Projects — Oct 22, 2023
2.4 The “ECHO” Projects — Oct 23, 2023
2.5 The “SET” Projects — 5 min (Dec 11, 2023)
2.6 The CLUE Projects — 4 min (Dec 12, 2023)
2.7 The “GAP” Projects — 24 min (Dec 8, 2023)
2.8 Kinds of Project Engagement — 14 min (Nov 3, 2022)

In the past several days, I applied the same idea to discover potential thematic spaces of Meaning Discovery Canvas. For example, the case below shows the “Journey — Challenge — Response” Thematic Space.

You can find the series of articles about Meaning Discovery Canvas below:

10/25/2023 — Situational Note-taking: The Thematic Matrix Canvas and Meaning Discovery Canvas
12/19/2023 — The “Moment — Present — Future” Thematic Space
1/5/2024 — The “Object — Self — Other” Thematic Space
1/16/2024 — The “Thing — End — Means” Thematic Space
1/16/2024 — The “Perspective — Opportunities — Resources” Thematic Space
1/16/2024 — The “Connection — Uniqueness — Relevance” Thematic Space
1/16/2024 — The “Journey — Challenge — Response” Thematic Space
1/17/2024 — The “Framework — Context — Situation” Thematic Space
1/17/2024 — The “Communication — Content — Message” Thematic Space

Meaning Discovery Canvas was based on a meta-canvas called Thematic Matrix Canvas.

A meta-canvas is an abstract canvas that doesn’t tie to any domain. The goal of designing a meta-canvas is to highlight a unique spatial structure for designing domain-specific canvases.

I use abstract terms such as “area”, “dimension”, “block”, and “theme” for the meta-canvas.

The Thematic Matrix Canvas is not a simple 2x2 matrix for building a typology, but a multiple-dimension model for visualizing a holistic view to sense-make a dynamic meaningful whole. You can find more details here: The Notion of Thematic Spaces.

The Thematic Matrix Canvas’ spatial structure is designed with the following aspects:

Four Significant Areas
Four Dimensions
Two Subspaces: Inner Space and Outer Space
Eight Pairs of Blocks
A Primary Theme

See the details in Situational Note-taking: The Thematic Matrix Canvas and Meaning Discovery Canvas.

Now we can consider “Potential Thematic Spaces” and “Thematic Triangles” as its new aspects.

In this way, we add a new layer to Thematic Matrix Canvases. The new layer is used to connect Materials and Models.

Materials are pieces of experiences from real-life events for case studies.

Models refer to a particular Thematic Matrix Canvas and other knowledge frameworks that are used to understand a particular Thematic Triangle.

The new layer turns a Thematic Matrix Canvas into a powerful workfield where we can set thematic spaces and adopt more knowledge frameworks for situational discovery and continuous curation.

This is what I call “Thematic Matrix +”.

3. Life Discovery Canvas

Now we are going to apply the idea of “Thematic Triangles” to the Life Discovery Canvas.

In Feb 2022, I worked on the Life Discovery project which aims to develop the Life-as-Project approach. The Life Discovery Canvas was part of the outcome of the project.

The Life Discovery Canvas is not a simple 2x2 matrix, but a multiple-dimension model for visualizing a holistic view. The 2x2 matrix is a subset of the canvas.

There is a deep analogy between the Knowledge Discovery Canvas (It was originally called Thematic Space Canvas) and the Life Discovery Canvas.

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 considered both “Developing Tacit Knowledge” and “Life Discovery” as Activities. From the perspective of Activity Theory, the Knowledge Discovery Canvas and Life Discovery Canvas are both Mediating Tools.

I divided the Life Discovery Canvas into four areas from the view of the 2x2 matrix:

THINK: What should I Think for myself?
SAY: What should I Say to others?
LEARN: What should I Learn for my life?
DO: What should I Do for others?

The THINK area echoes the THEORY area of the Knowledge Discovery Canvas. For the Life Discovery Activity, I consider two pairs of concepts for the THINK area:

Supplies — Demands
Aspirations — Situations

The LEARN area echoes the PRACTICE area of the Knowledge Discovery Canvas. For Life Discovery Activity, I consider two pairs of concepts for the LEARN area:

Skills — Knowledge
Themes — Contradictions

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 life development. The process of discovering new insights for life development is a process of Developing Tacit Knowledge.

You can find more details in the links below:

Life Discovery Canvas (v1.0) didn’t consider thematic spaces. Now we can add it to the canvas.

4. Discover Thematic Triangles of Life Discovery Canvas

The Life Discovery Canvas was designed with 8 pairs of concepts. I identified 8 aspects of life experience. By connecting them, I created 8 thematic triangles.

We have to notice that each pair of concepts could connect to more than one aspect of life experience. See an example in Meaning Discovery: The “Journey — Challenge — Response” Thematic Space.

In other words, we could discover more than 8 thematic triangles around the Life Discovery Canavs.

4.1 The “Stress — Demands — Supplies” Thematic Space

I selected “Stress” as an aspect of life experience for the “Demands — Supplies” mapping.

4.2 The “Drive — Situations — Aspirations” Thematic Space

I selected “Drive” as an aspect of life experience for the “Situations — Aspirations” mapping.

4.3 The “Perspective — Opportunities — Resource” Thematic Space

I selected “Perspective” as an aspect of life experience for the “Opportunities — Resources” mapping.

You can find the “Perspective — Opportunities — Resources” Thematic Space in Meaning Discovery Canvas too.

4.4 The “Relevance — Results — Contributions” Thematic Space

I selected “Relevance” as an aspect of life experience for the “Results — Contributions” mapping.

4.5 The “Object — Problem — Solution” Thematic Space

I selected “Object” as an aspect of life experience for the “Problems — Solutions” mapping.

4.6 The “Objective — Ideas — Concepts” Thematic Space

I selected “Objective” as an aspect of life experience for the “Ideas — Concepts” mapping.

4.7 The “Project — Contradictions — Themes” Thematic Space

I selected “Project” as an aspect of life experience for the “Contradictions — Themes” mapping.

4.8 The “Mindware — Knowledge — Skills” Thematic Space

I selected “Mindware” as an aspect of life experience for the “Knowledge — Skills” mapping.

The term Mindware was initially coined by the Harvard cognitive development psychologist David Perkins in the 1995 book Outsmarting IQ: The Emerging Science of Learnable Intelligence. Later, the cognitive scientist Keith E. Stanovich adopted the term for his books and his model of cognitive architecture. According to Stanovich, “The knowledge, rules, procedures, and strategies that can be retrieved and used to transform decoupled representations have been referred to as ‘mindware’…The mindware available for use during cognitive simulation is, in part, the product of past learning experiences.” (2016, p.34)

You can find more details in #TalkThree 09: The Art of Intelligence or Mind.

5. Life Discovery +

I have introduced a three-layer structure to understand Thematic Spaces for the Creative Life Curation project. See the details in Creative Life Curation: Discover Thematic Spaces of Creative Life

Creative Life Story refers to an interesting real-life story from a person’s creative life.
Creative Theme refers to a theme behind a creative life story. Each story is associated with a theme that defines a thematic space.
Knowledge Model refers to a knowledge framework for understanding the thematic space.

We can apply this model to Life Discovery Canvas and build the Life Discovery + Toollit. See the example below.

The above diagram shows the “Stress — Demands — Supplies” Thematic Space.

To understand the thematic space, we can adopt some knowledge frameworks as heuristic tools. The above diagram shows the following two frameworks:

The “Being as Doing” Framework
The “Coping Activity as Mental Tuning” Framework

In March 2022, I developed the “Being as Doing” Framework for the Life Discovery Toolkit (v1.0). See the diagram below.

The above diagram is my intuitive idea about a dialogue between Humanistic Psychology and Activity Theory.

Activity Theory: Doing means delivering “Value” as Offers for others.
Humanistic Psychology: Being means maintaining “Equilibrium” as Order for self.

If a person wants to offer values to satisfy others’ demands, he or she should keep a good order for internal equilibrium to maintain the supply system. You can find more details in Life Discovery: The “Being by Doing” Principle.

The “Coping Activity as Mental Tuning” Framework was inspired by Richard S. Lazarus’ approach to emotion and adaptation. See the diagram below.