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Biological first principles for design competence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 October 2010

Andy Dong
Andy Dong
Affiliation:
Design Lab, Faculty of Architecture, Design and Planning, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
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Abstract

This paper interprets the concept of biologically inspired design as understanding design based on the biological evidence. Borrowing its concept of design competence from Chomsky's definition of linguistic competence, the paper reviews biological evidence from fields including evolution, genetics, and animal behavior from the perspective of design research to propose that design competence is the product of an evolutionary history during which five key developments in cognitive evolution came together: conception unbounded by sensory perception, symbolic manipulation at a level of metarepresentation, theory of mind, curiosity, and mental time travel. These cognitive capabilities were derived from the biological evidence based upon the criteria that they are presumed to be unique to humans (Homo sapiens), they may be lost because of neurodegenerative diseases or they may fail to develop because of neurodevelopmental disorders, and they are not immediately present upon birth and develop as a child's brain matures. Based on these five capabilities, the paper concludes by discussing how computation may provide a useful way to understand the origins and evolution of design competence.

Keywords

Biological EvidenceBiologically Inspired DesignComputationDesign Competence
Type
Special Issue Articles
Information
AI EDAM , Volume 24 , Issue 4: Biologically Inspired Design , November 2010 , pp. 455 - 466
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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