Presearch is the use of design as a tool to create ideas and theories, and more generally to prototype instruments of knowledge. It's speculative philosophy. I set it against philosophy as sanitation.
How the word moved
In Feb 2019 I laid out a triad: research is scientific understanding, postsearch is sanitation, presearch is my kind of philosophy. In Oct 2019 I defined it properly and gave it a first task, working out how to run the earth, i.e. Geocracy. In Feb 2024 I put it bluntly: a presearcher is a philosopher and presearch is speculative philosophy.
In my words
"Presearch is the use of design as a tool to create ideas, theories and more generally, to prototype instruments of knowledge."
from Presearch, 14 Oct 2019
"If scientific understanding is research, sanitation is postsearch and my idea of philosophy is presearch."
from 2019 Newsletter 2: Bija Mantra, 8 Feb 2019
Related
- Inherited from Dunne and Raby - what I take from Dunne and Raby is Speculative Everything.
- Related Geocracy - Geocracy was its first task.
- Related Knowledge Studio - presearch needs a studio.
- Related Cosiety - cosiety came out of 30 months of presearch.
Still open
In 2024 I promised a specific presearch programme. It hasn't shown up in the archive yet.