Understanding, Design, Models, Dialogue: The Orienting Role of Language

Language operates on two tracks: the descriptive (or representative) track and the orienting (or injunctive) track. Understanding involves thinking and thinking involves language. Vigilance with respect to the orienting track of language opens up new possibilities for thinking and hence understanding, as well as for designing, modeling, and interacting with others. In this commentary, I keep an eye on the orienting track of language while trying to map my own vocabulary to that of Michael Lissack in his two-part article "Understanding is a Design Problem: Cognizing from a Designerly Perspective." My hope is that differences in how terms are used and ideas formulated could serve to generate new insights on how we might address complex societal issues together.