Diagram Explained: Concept System, Diagram Network, and Knowledge Frameworks

Oliver Ding
Curativity Center
Published in
14 min readJan 31, 2024

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The complexity of knowledge and its representation

Yesterday I applied the Ecological Formism Framework to explain the “Hierarchy” of knowledge diagrams. Today I will move to the theme of “Network” and discuss the complexity of knowledge.

The above diagram is an example of a “Network” of knowledge. It is very complicated!

Now we see the row of “Diagram” in a 6*4 table. The Ecological Formism framework is an epistemological framework that frames six units of analysis from four types of knowing. Since our primary focus is Diagrams and Diagramming, we could see the 6*4 table as the context of discussion.

What’s the relationship between the row of “Diagram” and other rows?

They both use the “Variant > Quasi-invariant > Invariant > Invariant Set” schema to define four types of knowing. However, there is no strict one-to-one correspondence between each row.

The “Concept” level is about the transformation between themes and concepts.

The “Framework” level is about the emergence of knowledge frameworks.

The “Diagram” level is about the External Visual Representations of knowledge frameworks.

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Oliver Ding
Curativity Center

Founder of CALL(Creative Action Learning Lab), information architect, knowledge curator.