Meta-cognition as a Tool for Storytelling and Questioning What Design Is(<Special Issue>What is "What's the Design"?)

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Meta-cognitionas

a

Tool

for

Storytellingand

Questioning

What

Design

ts

Masaki

SUWA

KeioUniversity

11

L

1.

Introduction

People

wlthout experiences

ot

deslgning

do

not

understand

what

design

is,

Donald

Schon

pointed

out

thai

this

is

the

hardest

_paradox

and

_problem

in

design

education

!1];

even

thoughadesignteacher,commentingonastudenVsso[utionto

a

design

exercise

in

aschooL explains what

designing

is

reaily

and

how

it

should

be,

the

student

without

any

experience of

designingsofarisunabletounderstandtherealmeaningofthe

teacher'swords.

What

I

mean

by

''design''

or "designing"

_here

_is

not

just

limited

to

what

is

_being

educated

in

design

schools,

but

also

include

human

constructive activities

in

a

broader

sense, social or

personal,

to

create

thjngs,

states or events

that

do

not exist at

the

moment.

Doing

scientlfic researches,

_producing

new social

systems,

and

planning

social

events are all

design

acts

in

secial

contexts,

Personal

actMties

such

as

changing

the

layout

of

one's

Qwn

room

at

home

and

deliberating

over coordination

of

clothes

in

a

way

that

expresses

onese[f

e[oquent[y

are

design

acts,

too,

An

ath1ete's

exploration

about

how

to

move

his

or

her

body

parts

to

acquire

a

targeted

embodied

skill

is

also

a

design

act.

If

_people

involved

in

these

activities

understand

['design"

_better,

_the

_world

_around

_us,

_socially

_and

personally,

will

_get

better.

None

ot

these

''designing''

activities,

however,

are exempt

from

the

learning

paradox

mentioned

above.

The

reality

is

that

it

is

hard

to

te"

people

how

to

design

and what

design

is

;

those

who are

to

design

in

each

domain

or context

have

to

embark on

designing

without

knowledge

or understanding on what "design"

_is

and should

be.

What

is

it,

then,

that

researches on

design

are able

to

do

to

cope with

the

learnjng

_paradox

and

hopetu[[y

create

a

future

society

in

which more number of

_people

than

now are encouraged

to

"design'i

_in

social or

_personal

contexts and

consequentlyhavebetterunderstandingofwhatdesignis.

First,

let'$

look

at

what

_design

researches

_have

_talked

on what

design

or

designing

is.

Literature

on

design

sketches, such as

in

Schon

[2],

Goldschmidt

[3],

Suwa

and

Tversky

[4],

has

discussed

that

finding

new

teatures

and relations

in

what

ha$

been

externalized

so

far,

e,g. memos, sketches, or mockup

models,

is

one

essence

of

_designlng.

A

design

theorist

Lawson

[5]

argued

that

defining

new

design

probaems

beyond

_given

ones

during

a

design

_process

is

one essence of

designing.

Recent

theoretical

discussion

Qn

design

conducted

by

myself

and

colleagues

[6]

has

explicated a

_generai

structure

of

"designing"

_{as a cycle of acts of}

_current

_noema,

_future

_noema

and

noesis

;

when solutiens

to

some

design

_goals

are

_provided

in

the

world

(acts

of noesis), social

interactions

occur among

the

solutions,

_people's

lives,

and

the

surrounding $ituations.

Those

interactions

often

_generate

new

social

desires

and

new ways

of

seeing

the

world

{acts

of

current noema), which

in

turn

becomesadriving-forcetogeneratenewdesignproblemsand

goals<actsotfuturenoema).Theoreticalresearchesofthissort,

although

having

claritled character]stics

of

designing

aGts,

do

not

_yei

_provide

insight

on

how

to

cope

with

the

learning

paradex

1

amere

lecture

Dn

those

characteristics

to

_people,

if

they

are without rnuch experience of

designing

something, would not $uffice

to

encourage

them

to

"design"

_their

_life

_by

themselves.

What,

then,

could or should we

do

as researchers?

The

present

paper

is

to

_pose

a

challenging

idea

that

one

pos$ible

way of contribution of

design

researches

is

to

_provide

such

fascinating

stories

on

_deslgning

acts

that

encourage

people

to

embark on

designing

eyen a

tiny

aspect

of

th

eir

life.

The

idea

is

based

on a

_premise

that

'Mihat

_desjgn

_is"

_is

notsomething

to

be

taught,

but

a

kind

of embodied experti$e

that

_people

have

to

acqulre

through

_practlces

of

designing

in

their

real

life.

We

believe

that

motivating

_people

toward

_practices

of

designlng

is

whatdesignresearchesarefor.

2.

What

are "good" stories on

design?

What

kind

of stories on

design

attract

peopie

and motivate

them

to

embark

on

"designing"

_in

_their

real

lite,

Typical

stories are novels.

What

kind

of

novel

is

evaiuated

as

"good"?

_First,

novels shou1d

_provide

anew

_perspective

of

looking

at

the

world,

or

draw

attention

to

what normally would

be

unheeded.

I

T'.'i

'yV.

anscn#e

-

Wnatis

'VVhausthe

Dv.sign')

Spe:lallssueofltiF/"meseSo[ietvforthe5[ien:eofDesign

vel.1fi-2/toSZ 200g

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22

Secondly,

if

_people

feel

empathy

_to

a

novel about

the

ways

in

which

its

characters

live

thelr

lives,

it

will

be

ev'aluated as

_good,

lt

is

the

very second

_point,

we

conjecture,

that

seems

to

be

the

key

in

providing

good

stories

on

design.

How

shoulci

or

ceu]d

we

let

_people

feel

empathy

to

stories on

design?

First,

stories should

tell

what

kind

ot

ups

and

downs

were

actually

undergone

during

E;designing"

_and

_how

breakthroughs,

if

any,

came

to

be

realized.

Those

contents

will

serve as

helpful

directions

and

suggestions

to

newcomers

of

designing.

Second[y,

stories should

be

written

as

a

subjective

perspective

of

a

_person

and

about

the

ve

ry

process

in

which

he

orshe"designs"someaspectsinhi$orherrealIife,Thesecond

factor

is

especially

significant

;

an objective observation

trom

an

outside

_perspective

would

not

be

able

to

_go

into

the

details

of something

Iike

subjective ups and

downs.

Storie$

written on

that

observation would

be

hard

to

let

_peopie

feel

empathy.

Storiesfromthesubjectiveper$pectivecontainmanyindividua[

aspects and

thus

are

hard

te

be

_generalized.

However,

what

people

look

for

in

stories

is

not

_generalized

_princlples

or rules

from

the

objective

perspective,

but

a

kind

of

typicality

or

empathy

they

can

turn

to

as

they

embark

on similar

attempts

by

themselves.

TherefoFe,

we

believe

that

stories

possessing

both

tactors

will motivate

_people

to

embark on

designing

and

_give

them

directions

and suggestion$ as

they

undergo

de$igning

in

theirlife.

3.

Embodied

meta-cognition

works

to

provide

"good::

steries

on

design

We

believe

that

the

methodology of meta-cognition

is

suitable

for

providing

stories

on

design,

because

it

is

a

_general

and

powe

rful

means

to

see

a

_process

from

the

endo-system

view,

i.

e.

internal

observation, not objective observation

from

the

outside

[6].

[f

_people

meta-cognitively

feel

and

externaEze,

by

verbalizingandlorwritingmemos,whatthingswentonbetween

them

and

the

surroundings and what

thoughts

and

feelings

came and went

in

them,

it

will

provide

good

basis

for

stories

on

adesignprocess.

Meta-cognition

is,

by

its

definition,

cognition

ofcognition

;

i.e.

an act of reflecting

on

one's

own

thoughts,

_perception

and movements.

What

we mean

by

"retlecting

on" consists of

two

components;

(1)

self-awareness of what we

think,

what we

perceive,

and

how

we move our

body,

and

(2)

thereby

verbalizationofthem.What,thu$,shouldbeverbaiizedinmeta-cognition

is

:

'TV'rf].\EA/vaF.e-Wliails''Vlhnt'stheDesign'?

Spet/iallssuer/Masan:-sleSoc.le',Hyfu//heSciemceotDesLgF.

vol,lci-p"o.s2 ?o"g

e whatonethink$fthought,

-

_how

one moveslmoved

body

_parts

and operates on

the

surroundingenvironment,

e what

one

_perceives

from

the

environment

through

five

$enses,and

e

what

one

senses

though

the

_{proprioceptive}

system

{as

a

resultofmovingbodyparts).

Since

perception

and

body

movements are usually

_performed

without selt-awareness,

it

is

almost

impossible

tQ

verbalize

_the

four

kinds

ofcognition

_pe

rfectly.

lmportant

i$,

however,

that

one should make mental effort$

to

verbalize as much as one can

be

self-aware ofand

thereby

externalize

it

as vocal

tokens.

We

have

advocated

that

meta-cognitive verbalization serves as an effective

tool

for

deve[opment

of

one's

own

embodied

expertise

[6,

7,

8].

Why

is

that?

According

to

the

ba$ic

notion

in

ecobgicalpsychology(e.g.[9]),detectingvariablesinownbody

and

the

surrounding environment and

_thereby

finding

new

relations

between

those

variables

are

the

essence

of

leaming

of

a

living

creature

in

the

environment.

Meta-cognition

is

a

means

to

observe,

from

the

endo-system

viewpojnt,

the

interactions

occurring

between

one's

body

and

the

surroundings

as

mentioned

above.

One's

thoughts

and

verbaiization are

_part

of

those

interactions,

Theretore,

meta-cognitive verbalization

it$elf

affects

the

very

interactions

that

occur

between

one's own

body

and

the

surroundings.

What

does

''affecting"

mean

here?

lt

means

that

verbalization changes ways

in

which

to

think,

perceive,

and

do

things

to

the

surroundings, as

the

notion ofsituated cognition suggests,

Thi$

is

why, we conjecture, meta-cognitive verbalization

promotes

detection

of new variab[es and

discoveries

of

the

relations among variab[es.

We

have

accumulated case studies of

development

ot

embodied

expertise

by

employing

meta-cognition

in

many

domains,

which

include

sports, such as

bowling

[6]

and

darts

[8],

and

$inging

a

song

_[1

O],

The

essence of meta-cognitive activities

iies

in

discovering

relations

among variab[es

in

own

body

and variables

in

the

surrounding

environment,

This

means,

in

oiher

words,

that

what one

does

through

meta-cognitive

exploration

is

to

''design"

one's own

body

in

a way

in

which

the

body

fits

the

surrounding

environment.

What

kinds

ofvariables

in

one's own

bodyandthesurroundingsonethinksrelevantandwhatkindof

relations one

thinks

both

fit

in

is

the

rnost signi £

lcant

in

meta-cognjtive

exploratjon,

That

is

the

determinant

of whether or not one

is

abie

to

successfu1iy "design"

_one:s

_body

_in

_a

_way

_that

_tits

NII-ElectronicMbrary

NII-Electronic Library Service

f

the

surrounding.

The

reason why, as

1

wrote

in

the

introduction, various

kinds

of

human

actlvltles ranging

from

what

is

betng

taught

in

design

schools,

to

scientific or social exploration,

to

bnnging

changes

in

_personal

daily

settings, and

to

athletes'

effort

to

acqulre embodied skills

fall

onto [`design"

_in

a

broad

sense.

If

many

people

meta-cognitively reflect on

the

_processes

of

desLgnLng

in

their

own

contexts,

including

ups and

downs

and

breakthroughs

if

any,

we

design

researchers are able

to

accumulate

them

as

inventories

of

stories

on

design

To

be

noted

in

meta-cognitive

act[vities

is

that

the

surroundtng

environment

will

never

_be

the

same, constantly changing

ln

order

forone's

atternpt of"design"

_to

_be

_successful, one should

aim

at

designing

the

own

body

in

a

way

that

a[way3

fits

the

changing envtronment

fiexibly

Consequently,

"design'' isinevitablyanever-endingstory.

We

have

theorized

that

meta-cognition

is

not

just

a means

to

externalizeandrecordwhatlslwasexperiencedinthemindand

body,

but

a[so more tmportantly a

tool

for

exploring unso[ved

problems

and

discovenng

so

far

unheeded relations

between

the

body

and

the

environment.

Therefore,

_peop]e,

even

if

they

recogn[ze

themselves

as

amateurs

of

destgn,

do

not

have

to

be

pressured

that

they

will

have

to

write `'attractive

and

_good"

stories

that

augment

the

understanding

of

what

design

is

in

reader's

minds.

The

amateur

"designers"

have

only

to

come

to

better,

even

a

1itt[e,

understand

what

design

is

atter

having

meta-cognitLvely retlected gn

their

process

and written astory.

Readers

of

these

stories

do

not

start

from

scratch,

being

motivated

by

what ts

told

in

the

_previous

stones and

danng

to

embark

on

designing

tn

their

own

context$.

Consequently,

the

whole society augment

the

understanding of what

design

is

littlebylittle

4.

A

Story

of

Meta-cognitive

Exploration

of

Embodied

SkilSs

In

Sports

Th

is

section

_pFesents

one story of

meta-cognitive

exploration

of

batting

skil]s

in

basebaH,

a

kind

of"design"

acts,

by

the

author

of

this

article who as a

baseball

_player

has

undergone

ups

and

downsandfinallyabreakthroughtorthepasttwoyears

4.1.

Huge

lmprovement

of

Batting

Average

Fig

1,

shows

hew

my

hitting

average

changed

over

the

_past

two

_years,

the

2007

and

2008

$ea$ons

The

average

is

calcu[ated as

the

rnoving average of

latest

three

_games,

l

p]ayed

in

17

_games

in

2007

and

16

_games

in

2008.

The

hitting

1

'

/

average

in

2007

was

O

103,

i.e.

4

hits

out

of

39

at

bats,

whereas

it

was

O.278

in

2008,

i.e.

1O

hits

out of

36

at

bats,

As

you

see

in

Fig,1,,

the

hitting

average

soared suddenly and remarkab[y

after

the

end

of

July,

2008,

which

is

_proved

by

the

hitting

average

for

the

iast

three

months

thi$

_year,

O,409,

i,e.

9

hits

out

of

22

at

bats.

What

happened

to

my

body

and cognition at

the

end

of

July

this

year7

What

have

1

thought

and

done

actuaily

in

a custom ofmeta-cognitive exploration

of

my

batting

skills,and

howdiditleadtotheremarkabieimprovementthissummerf?

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Lj

Fig

ri

HEtting

Average

in

the2007

and

2008seasons

(moving-averageoverlatest3games}

4.2.

ACustom

ot

Meta-cognitive

Exploration

of

Skills

1

began

to

make

it

a custom

to

write what

l

did,

thought

and

fe[t

by

retle¢

ting

on

my

performance

meta-cognitively since

summer in

2003,

Since

autumn

jn

2005

through

the

end of

summer

in

2007,

1

had

a

coach

_go

to

a

batting

alley

together

and

_give

advice

to

me

_{periodicaily,}

about

once

in

three

months.

What

we

mean

by

meta-cognitive

exploration

does

not

necessarily mean

that

a

learner

is $upposed

to

think

and

do

exploration alone.

Rather,

advice

by

someone

like

a coach who

has

better

_performance

and

knowledge

becomes

signaficant

hint$

for

the

Iearner's

findtng

new vanables and

thinking

of relations among varpables,

that

is,

boosting

up meta-cognitsve actlvltles4.3,

Meta-cognjtion

lets

us

know

that

a

drastic

change

is

needed

Here

1

will

write

my

story,

beginning

to

talk

about

the

2007

season,

because

that

was

the

beglnning

of a

long

Iasting

slump

;

as

_you

see

in

Feg

1.,

itwas

_going

to

take

as much as

one

year

and

a

half

for

me

to

_get

over

the

slump

The

2006

season was relatively a

_good

_year

to

me.

The

average

was

O.265,

i,e.

9

hits

out

of

34

at

bats,

which

was

the

highest

hitttng

average in

the

team

1

belonged

to

[n

sp:te of relattve satisfaction,

1

thought

at

the

end of

the

2006

season

that

1

would

have

to

look

fora

better

way

to

1et

the

timEng

ofmy

backswing

ht

the

pitcher's

motion

in

the

2007

season,

Since

1

had

the

coach's

f/]f)?di.e.E."#e

-

What/s WhaL'bthe[]eS/-/ ?

Sptt",illssLootlapa/]EseSoc/ctyfoFthcSt/pnceo[Dps/gr/

1

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24

advice

_{periodically,}

1

have

come

to

do

backswing

slow]y

in

a way

_that

raises

the

left

leg

largely.

This

revision worked

_good,

leadjng

to

the

relative success of

the

2006

season,

but

l

have

come

to

reaijze at

the

same

time

that

my

backswing

obviously

does

not

fit

the

_quick

motion ofa

few

_good

_pitchers,

At

the

very

beginning

of

the

2007

season

the

struggle

for

exploring

for

a

better

backswing

began,

which would

iurn

out

to

last

Iong,

for

oneyearandahalf.

At

that

moment

there

was

no

_proot

suppoFting

that

1

would

have

to

bring

a

drastic

change

to

the

way of

backswing,

The

2006

season

was

a

relative

success,

and

1

could

have

_gone,

then,

as

[

did

in

2006.

But,

what

1

have

explored

meta-cognitive[y

throughout

the

2006

season

told

me clearly

that

my

body

does

not

fit

_pitchers

who

have

a

_quick

motion

_to

certain

degree.

It

means,

it

1

use

scientifjc

terminology,

that

my

body

did

not

fit

_the

environment

when

it

_fa"s

onto

a

specific

_pattern.

The

meta-cognitive recognition of

this

phenomenon

is,

generally

speaking,

a

_good

sign

that

tells

one

that

one needs a

drastic

change.

If

one

begins

to

explore

for

a

drastic

change,

it

wil[necessarily

destroy

the

current way otusing

body

and

lead

to

aslump,

Although

being

stuck

in

aslump scares, one

has

to

dare

to

_plunge

into

it

if

one really wants

to

_get

over

the

phenomenon

of

being

unable

to

fit

body

to

some

specific

patternsoftheenvironment,

4.4.

A

Period

of

Groping

in

the

Dark

4,4.1.

Backand

forth

between

different

thoughts

i

thought

that

the

reason

the

timing

ofmy

backswing

does

not

fit

to

pitchers

with

quick

motion was

thaY

was unable

to

do

a stable

backswing.

This

made me

begin

to

explofe a way of stable

backswing.

One

big

characteristic of my

backswing

was

to

raise

the

left

leg

largely,

taking

ample

time.

First,

tor

some

period,

1

conceived of and actually

tried,

in

the

batting

alley,

starting

backswing

by

raising

beth

arms

a

little

first,

then

conveying

the

motion

through

the

body

trunk,

and

finally

raising

the

left

leg,

because

1

_thought

that

_backswing

is

not

just

a

problem

of

legs

and

thuslhave

to

use

the

whole

_body

in

a

coordinatedmanner,

Then,

for

the

subsequent

_period,

l

changed

thoughts,

trying

to

create a rhythm

by

both

legs

in

away

that

makes

it

ea$y

to

find

acue

for

raising

the

lett

leg.

Being

able

to

find

a

proper

cue

in

one's

body

js

highly

necessary

for

moving

the

whole

body

easily, naturally, and

in

a relaxed

manner.

Throughout

the

whole

_period

of

_groping

in

the

dark,

1

would repeatedly verbaiize onomatopoeia

to

make

the

rhythm of my

t'.F.r).#i"ee,,tsitt.･/

･

Whntit,

'What'stheDeslgn''?

Spedallss//e-f.IHpaneseSocictyfo/'theSciemceofD2s[gm

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backswingfittopitcher'smotion,

After

these

_periods

my

thoughts

would

flip

back

and

forth

amongthe$ethreethoughtsdifferentfromeachother.

4.4.2.

Approach

to

the

core of

the

_problem

Soon

l

realized

from

the

tailure

in

some

_games

that

merely

creating

a stable

backswing

does

not

suffice

to

solve

the

problem

ot

fitting

my

backswing

to

the

_quick

_timing

of

some

pitchers.

The

real

_problem

was,

l

came

to

think,

that

the

time

1

tooktromthebeginningtothecompletionofbackswingwastoo

long.

1

thought,

"Just

because

1

use

ample

time

for

the

completion ot

backswing,

_]

cannot

fjt

_pitchers

with

_quick

motion.''OnJuly12`h,2007,1wrote

",...

_1mportant

_is

_how

₁

shou]d

_put

the

whole weight on

top

of

the

right

hip

joint

without

taking

much

time.

If

1

intend

to

_put

my weight on

top

of

the

right

knee,

1

_guess

that

it

takes

more

time...J'

But,

the

effort of

_putting

the

weight on

top

ot

the

right

hip

_joint

quickly

was

_going

to

be

a

failure,

neither

_producing

even a stable

back$wing

nor creating a rhythm

{o

make myselt

fit

to

pitcherswithqtiickmotion.

If

[

Iook

backward

from

the

current

(the

2008

_year)

perspective,

the

fact

that

1

conceived of

making

backswing

complete

in

a

_quick

manner

was

an

approach

to

the

essential

core

of

the

problem,

But,

my solution at

that

time,

i.e.

_putting

weightontopoftherighthipjoin

±,wasnotsuccessfu1.

4,4,3,

Bringing

adrastic change

in

amore

fundamental

_part

Ahalfyearwentbywithoutanysuccessinexpioringawayof

making my

body

fit

to

_pitchers

with

quick

motion.

That

made me

question

if

faising

the

left

leg

largely

may

be

the

fatal

cause really,

[

have

taken

the

large

motion of

the

left

leg

tor

_granted,

so

this

_question

turned

out

to

be

the

beginning

of a

dra$tic

changeinamoretundamentalpartofthebodymovement,

How

large

one rai$e$

the

left

leg,

_generally

speaking,

depends

upon

one's

innate

rhythm

of

the

whole

body.

Changing

it

wa$ a

big

challenge at

that

time.

1

had

to

look

fora

wayofmovingthewholebodyinwhichthedegreeofraisingthe

left

leg

ls

reduced and

the

rhythm of

the

whole

body

still

ho[ds

comfortable.

Soon

]

happened

to

find

that

rotating

the

toe

of

my

right

foot

a

little

reduces

the

flexibility

of

the

right

hip

_joint

in

the

initial

stance,

and

that

the

reduced

flexibility

not only makes me comfortable even without

large

raise of

the

[ett

leg

blit

also

enabiesputtingweightontopoftherighthipjointquickly.

In

spite efcomfortableness,

however,

it

turned

out

in

the

real

game

that

the

new

backswing

without

large

raise of

the

leMeg

NII-Electronic Library Service

F

could not

produce

a

powerful

swing.

I

came

to

theorize

that

the

new

backswing

was

to

keep

the

source of

the

_power

only around

the

r[ght

hip

joint,

not

using

all

the

_parts

of

the

lower

body,whichshouldbefarfromadesirableform.

This

way,

the

2007

season

ended

with many

trials

and

failures,4.5.

Meta-cognition

serves

the

role ot

setting

upan antenna

forcruciatvariables

ln

January,

2008,

when

I

had

an

opportunity

to

_participate

in

Mr.

Hiroto's

workshop on

how

to

use

body

in

sports.

He

is

famous

for

his

book

about a

theoty

on

4

stances

[1ll.

He

theorized

from

the

experience of

_practicing

as

a

professional

trainer

that

there

are

typically

fourtypes

ofreasonabie stances.

His

theory

amazed me

in

that

i

belong

to

a

type,

cailed

A

1,

and

should

make

the

axis of

body

rotation on

the

Ieft

side separately

from

the

weight

_position

during

backswing

{i.e,

right

side),

At

the

workshop

i

tried

to

make

the

rotation axis on

the

left

side of

the

body,i.e.aroundtheverticallinepenetratingthroughthelefthip

joint,

and

_quickly

had

a

_{proprioceptive}

sense

that

this

way of

backswing

fits

me comfo

rtably.

At

the

same

time,

1

realized

that

all

I

did

through

the

2007

season was

to

make

the

rotation axis

on

the

rightside

of

my

body.

That

was

the

reason why

l

could not shorten

the

time

taking

from

the

cue of

backswing

to

its

completionlnarelaxedmanner,

"Rotation

axis'dwas a new variable

_given

by

him

that

1

had

never

thought

of.

In

that

sense

his

advice

about

this

variable

helped

a

lot.

Based

on

hjs

advice,

1

wa$

able

to

completely

grasp

the

role of

the

new variable

and

thereby

_quickly

theorize

how

1

should

_quickly

shift

to

the

completion

of

backswing

and adjust

the

rhythm of my

body

to

any

type

of

_pitchers

by

keeping

the

state

ot

backswing

stably.

At

that

moment

1

dld

not

have

to

raisetheIeftleglargelybecauselwasabletoshjftqujcklytothe

completion

of

backswing,

AIi

things

I

had

explored

so

far

were

then

coordioated

around

"'rotation

axis on

the

lett

side ot

the

body",

lt

was

thanks

to

the

meta-cognitive

exp[oration

for

the

past

year

even

without any success

that

the

whole

theorization

attheinstantmomentwasmadepossible.

This

part

of

the

story sugge$ts

that

e meta-cognitjon serves

the

role of setting

up

an

antenna

tocatchthemostcrucialvariables,

-

attention

tD

asmail number of crucial variables sufflces

to

quickly

create a

theory

of

how

the

whole

body

should

work,

if

the

_person

js

_in

_the

custom

of

meta-cognitive

exploration,

e _{crucialvariablesdependonpersQns,}

e

the

_{proprieceptive}

sense

about

the

comfortableness

of

the

whole

body

tells

one what are

crucial

variables

for

on$eself,

4.6.

Meta-cognition

tor

refined

theorization

around

a

small

numberotcrucialvariables

Making

the

rotatien axis on

the

Iine

_penetrating

through

the

left

hip

_jojnt

is

Ethe]'

crucial variable

to

me.

Aithough

1

was

_quickly

abletotheorizehowlshouldmovemybodybasedonthisbasic

principle,

l

still

had

to

keep

on

meta-cognjtive exploration

to

obtain

a refined model of

how

to

form

backswing

and

then

actually

swing,

and

to

tind

a

way

to

actually

control my

body

to

carryitout.

Becauselhad

a

serious

injury

in

the

waist at

the

end of

January,

200B,

and

had

to

spend

three

months

on

rehabilitation,

it

was

gt

the

end

of

April

that

1

started

playing

in

the

game,

lt

took

three

months since

then

tor

me

to

both

complete

the

retined model and

flnd

a

_good

way

to

carry

it

out

in

my

body,

lt

was at

the

end of

July

this

_year,

as

1

mentioned

in

the

section

4,1,

that

1

finally

_got

out of

the

long

Iasting

slump and

kept

the

high

hitting

average, more

than

O,400,

forthe

last

three

months ofthisseason.

The

first

problem

I

encountered

in

_games

and

during

practices

at

the

batting

alley was

the

following;

too

much attention

to

making

the

rotation axis on

the

teft

side ot

the

body,

i.e.

the

side

of

the

_pitcher,

cau$es

stiffness

of

the

usage

of

the

upper

body.

1

set

up an

aim

of

removing as much strain

of

muscles

in

the

upper

body

as

_possible.

Then,

1

encouniered

a

book

written

by

Michizo

Noguchi

[12],

My

meta-cognitive

antenna

caught

two

notions

in

the

book;

one

is

that

one

has

to

breatheouttheairlnordertorelax,andtheotheristhatonehas

to

stand

by

bones

only

without using

the

strain of muscles

in

order

to

relax.

This

_quickiy

made me nQtice meta-cognitively

that

I

had

breathed

in

during

backswing,

1

was

_going

to

carefully

control my

breath

at

bat

so

that

1

can clearly

breathe

out at

the

timing

of

backswing.

As

far

as standing

by

only

bones

is

concerned,

I

_quickly

came

to

realize

that

1

should stand still

at

bat

by

tocusing

attention only

to

the

_pit

of

the

stomach, whlch

according

to

Mr,

Hiroto's

theory

is

the

most

important

_part

fora

person

belonging

to

A

1.

Since

then

1

was

going

to

explore a

better

way

to

remove strains

of

the

upper

body

during

backswjng,

focusing

attention

to

two

things

only;

one

is

to

breatheoutandtheotheristostartbackswingbyshiftingthepit

of

the

stomach right

downward

toward

the

toe

of

the

right

toot,

rvCyV-scRff-E-Whabs'What'stheDesign''?

Spe[lallssueoflapameseSoclety[o/LheScien[eofDesigm

voLT6-2noE2200g

NII-Electronic Library Service

26

where all

the

weight was

_put

on

during

the

backswing.

A

_quick

completion

of

backswing

that

1

kept

exploring

for

during

the

2007

season

in

vain

is

stillone of

the

most

important

things

to

be

done.

Fecusing

attention

only

to

the

way

of

shifting

the

_pit

of

the

stomach worked well.

Further,

standing straight with

_the

width

of

both

legs

being

narrow and without

bending

knees

enab[ed

completing

backswing

_quickly

and

keeping

it

for

1onginarelaxedmannertoadjusttoanytypeofpitchers.

Another

irnportant

variab]e,

1

found

during

the

_period

of

retinement,

was

the

movement

of

the

lett

Ieg

during

backswing.

As

mentioned above,

keeping

the

rotation axis on

the

left

$ide

of

the

body

is

a

must-do

principle.

In

order

to

keep

it,

the

left

leg

necessarily needs

to

be

located

far

left

to

compensate

the

shift

of

the

body

trunk

(around

the

_pit

of

the

stomach)

toward

right.

This

seemed

to

me a

logical

conjecture.

Since

the

Ieft

leg

is

near

the

rightone at

the

initiai

stance,

the

lett

leg

should move

toward

the

left

side as

the

body

truck

shifts right,

Consequently

thewholebodystretchesoutdiagonallyfromtherighttoptothe

left

bottom.

This

is

the

end

of

my

story

as1went

through

a

long

Iasting

slump,

exploring

a

better

way of

backswing,

and

tinally

experienced

a

huge

breakthrough.

This

is

an

act

of`'designing"

my

body

in

a

way

that

fits

the

surrounding environment of any

types.

5.

Conclusion

Everybody

who

has

embodied experience of

designing

in

hi$

or

her

real

lite

understands well

that

"design"

_is

_an

_endeavor

_to

bring

a new

_perspective

to

see

the

world, and

that

C`learning

design

mind''

is

to

acquire

it

as embodied

experience.

However,

these

are

to

_be

[earned

only

through

embodied experience,

i.e,

embarking

on

a

designing

act

by

oneself.

lt

is

almost

impossible

to

teach

what

design

is

by

explaining

theoretical

notions

or

the

general

structure

ot

designing.

AII

that

design

researches can

do

is

to

motivate

people

toward

designing

even

if

they

do

not

havesufficientknowledgeaboutwhatdesignis.

We

have

argued

that

meta-cognition

is

usetul

in

two

ways

in

the

context of

design

teaching.

First,

if

design

researchers

and

designers

meta-cognitively reflect on

their

_process,

they

are able

to

write stories

from

the

_perspective

ot

_persons

as

they

design,

i.e,

internal

observation

from

the

endo-system

view,

Just

because

those

stories

_provide

an

internal

view ot

the

very

person

who

designs,

it

can

_possibly

motivate amateur

people

toward

designing

and

_give

directions

as

they

design.

This

is

a

fttY/x?rmSljE-i-Whatjs''WhaL'stheDesipn'? Spedallssueof.)npnneseSocietyfortheScienceofDeslgn

voL'1 6-2 no.62 2009

1

torm

of

teaching

what

design

is

through

story-telling, not

by

conceptualexplanation.

Secondly,

meta-cognition,

due

to

its

innate

nature of

internal

observation

that

affects

interactions

between

the

body

and

the

surrounding,senvesasatooltodiscovernewaspects.Ifpeople

including

designers,

researchers and even amateur

designers

reflect on

their

design

_processes

meta-cognitively,

it

will necessarlly augment

understanding

ot what

design

js.

Meta-cognition seems

to

be

an effective methodology,

too,

for

questioning

what

design

is,

References

1

.

Schon,

D.

A.

(1990)

Educaimg

the

Rei7bctive

PractiIV'oner:

Tbwatd

a

NeMt

Design

lor

Tbaching

and

Leaming

in

the

Fhofessions

Jossey-Bass.

2.

Schon,

D.

A.

_{1983)

The

Refective

RtactitiOne4

Basic

Book$,NewYork.

3.

Goldschmidt,

G.

(1

994}

On

visual

design

thinking

:

the

vis

kids

ofarchitecture,

Design

StUdiea

15,

158-174,

4.

Suwa,

M.,

Tversky,

B.

(1997)

What

do

architects

and

students

_perceive

in

their

design

sketches? :

A

_protocol

analysis,

Design

Stuctea

18(4),

385-403.

5,

Lawson,

B.

(1990}

Ht,Mt

Designets

77iinkL

Butterworth

Architecture,Oxford.

6.

Nakashima,

H.,

Suwa,

M.,

Fujii,

H,

(2006)

Endo-system

view

as

a

method

for

constructive

science,

Proc.

of

the

5th

intematiOnai

Conterence

on

CognMve

Sa'ence,

ICCS

2006,

63-71,

7.

Suwa,

M.

(2005)

Meta-cognitive

verbalization as a

tool

for

acquiring embodied expertise,

Joumal

of

the

tapanese

Society

of

Attificial

lntelLigence,

20<5),

525-532.

{in

Japanese),

8.

Suwa,

M.

₍₂₀₀₈₎

A

Cognitive

Model

of

Acquiring

Embodied

Expertise

Through

Meta-cognitive

Verba[lzation.

hansactiOns

of

the

.Lapanese

Society

for

ArtZficiel

lntezaigfenca

23(3),

14t-150.

9.

Gibson,

J.

J.,

Gibson,

E,

J.

₍₁₉₅₅₎

Perceptual

learning:

differentiation

or enrichment?,

Fls)chologicaf

Rew'etac

62,

32-41.

10.Suwa,

M.

₍₂₀₀₄₎

Does

the

_practice

of

meta-cognjtive

description

facilitate

acquiring expertise?,

Proceect'ngs

of

Twenty-sixth

Annuai

Conierence

of

the

Cognitive

Science

Society;

Cognitive

Science

Society,

40.

11.Hiroto,

S,

(2006)

Are

you

Avtatsui

or

ichiro?

Baseball

innovatiOn

with

4

Stance

7heotx

lkeda

Publisher.

(in

Japanese).

12.

Noguchi,

M,

₍₂₀₀₃₎

Human

Being

as a

Mmortu'ai

Living

Cneature

-

A

theo(y

on

IVoguchi

E>rercise.

Iwanami.

_(in

Japanese).

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