On Monday Jasmine’s short and sharp entrance into the fold was as interesting as it was a touch brief for herself and Elliot. Her speculations on What Is Not Yet To Be and how such notions are appropriated in science-fiction certainly complimented the Matthew Ward reading beautfiully. I’ve always thought of my mind as one that is missing the acute ‘creative’ element, prefering to analyse in hindsight rather than forecast and conceive patently new ideas. Jasmine’s intervention and Wards postulations seemed to starkly bring into focus an idea that appears critically important and useful, and something that in my life and learning has been unregistered or perhaps underrated.

The ablity to conceive futures, speculate on how they will work, and contend with reason on what life would look like if they come to pass is what I took from The Jas and ‘Design Fiction as a pedagogic practice’, and they appear as inherently useful tools in a modern landscape with seemingly more infinite possibilities than ever (if there could be levels of infiniteness).

The notion of Design Fiction as a pegadogic practice interested me as it appeared to show up education models that I have known and thought were oak, and knowledge in this area would now be such a utility in any practice or effort I undertake. But all is not lost, for we have The Jas.

Why I think it would be so handy is because it totally reframes and recasts the notions of critique, analysis and rationlisation myself and perhaps others have been plying these methods to. I speak of The Essay, The Science Phenomena, The Langauge Analysis etc. These are things that Are and we see them as such, and scrutinise them as a marker and reflection on our intellect as the all important ablity to analyse.

But rather than doing as such to What Is, Design Fiction as a pedagogic practice made me think that perhaps we could have been implementing these rules and expanding them by speculating on what could be. The benifits seem manifest:

. Developing the ablity to speculate on futures that are benifical society and could progress the world.

. An ability to adress the intermiediary steps and vehicles to realise these.

. Develop the ability to develop rational and justifiable cause-and-effect thought mechanisms. See things before others etc.

.Also see and speculate on the advent and consequences of new technolgy when it comes to be.

Conceiving and comparing contingencies and debating why is one better than another could have perhaps been as useful as any essay I’ve ever done. The ablity to speculate on what could be and why is a practice of rational and imaginative reason that appears underrated as a pedagogic practice and a method I don’t think I ever came across in my learning to date. I wish I was more strictly challenged to abstractly create at SOME (not total) expense of analysing Shakespeare or Salinger…in any future endeavour I feel like that trade off would have been handy.