---
layout: post
title: 'Traveling knowledge'
categories: [articles]
excerpt: >
  Knowledge in the head, in the world, in our genes.
related:
  - _posts/2025-07-12-lagging-indicators.md
  - _posts/2026-03-20-human-voices.md
---

#### From the world, to the head

Don Norman, in "_The design of everyday things_", distinguishes between
knowledge "_in the head_" and "_in the world_". A "_PUSH_" sign on a door is
knowledge in the world[^signifier]. How to make coffee is knowledge in the head.

As kids, we start from a blank slate. We acquire knowledge through
experimentation, absorbing knowledge in the world into the head. That is how we
discover that fires will burn us, candies are sweet, and so on.

Every task that we perform will require a mix of "knowledges". We'll carry it
out with different degrees of precision (based on the task and the context). To
do that, we will leverage a mix of knowledge in the head, in the world, and the
constraints that naturally exist in the world or that we have learned through
culture.

#### Design, back to the world

Now, here is where things get interesting.

When we design things, we start from what we _know_ (our understanding of the
task at hand) to design _something_ that will help us achieve our goal. Good
design strikes a balance between "in the world" and "in the head". They reach
that sweet spot where doing the correct thing is _easy_, because we intuitively
understand the tool. "Intuitively" _mapping_ what the tool will do based on
knowledge in our head and the "shape" of the tool itself (its signifiers,
affordances).

When we design things, we are _embodying_ knowledge in our head back into the
world. We advance. _Progress_ begins[^infinity].

For instance, we used to tell time by looking at the position of the sun.
Knowledge of _how_ was embodied in ourselves and we each had to learn how to
read the sun's position. Our head is incredibly efficient at retrieving
knowledge, but has very limited space. And telling time based on the sun's
position required some skills. Instead, we designed _clocks_ and _watches_. That
way, we embodied knowledge back into the world. We don't need to squeeze into
the sun anymore. Instead, we can read the clock hands or its (digital) numbers.

#### Leaving marks

We left our mark. Even thousands of years from now, someone encountering the
clock will understand that it was _produced_ (artificially, instead of being
naturally available). This way, knowledge compounds and it is difficult (if not
impossible) to eradicate. It creates a feedback loop, where someone finding our
watch, tomorrow, will increase the knowledge in their head by figuring out what
it does and how it works. Knowledge that might lead them to design something,
embodying more knowledge into the world.

We humans are unique this way: the knowledge in our head shapes the world around
us, by producing and _replicating_ knowledge.

#### Replicators

Something else replicates knowledge: _genes_.

Evolution variates and then selects genes that fare well against others (i.e.,
they give the bodies hosting them a higher chance of surviving and reproducing).
Genes _encode_ knowledge _from the world_. For instance, a giraffe's
characteristic neck encodes knowledge about tall trees where to find sustenance.
Genes give animals their _instinctive_ behaviour, evolved through hundred years
of selection.

Knowledge in the world, selected based on utility, encoded into genes, producing
designs that fare "well" out there, thrive, and will experiment and evaluate
slight variation. Those surviving will be tomorrow's genes.

#### Good design

Evolution's and design's feedback loop work the same. Working across
generations takes much longer than designing -- producing -- evaluating
prototypes (e.g., in Agile or lean developments). Eventually, both processes
will land to the same result: designs that are
[very hard to vary without compromising their function](2023-10-27-do-the-evolution.md).

That is what I like to think of as "good design". One hard to vary, with the
right mix of required knowledge in the head and in the world[^magic]. "Good
designs" result from iteration and selection. Through them, we test the quality
of our knowledge. Good knowledge will produce good designs, that will embody
that knowledge back into the world. And allow us to continue progressing to
infinity.

That's all for this time, thank you for reading! 👋

#### Footnotes

[^signifier]: Technically, it is a _signifier_.

[^infinity]:
    I noticed the connection between good design and good knowledge
    while reading David Deutsch's "_The beginning of infinity_". The amount of
    progress we can achieve tends to infinity.

[^magic]:
    That's how to turn this quote into reality: "_any sufficiently advanced
    technology is indistinguishable from magic_". Magic is based on
    expectations (in our head) about what we can do and how technology enables
    us to do that without taxing us with excessive knowledge in the world (e.g.,
    manuals).