TALE: Possible Configurations of A Theme Network

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TALE500

15 min readJan 27, 2023

The Dynamics of Theme Networks

In the previous articles (1, 2), I used “a possible configuration of a theme network” to describe the structure of the things inside the thematic space.

A Theme Network is a dynamic complex. We can perceive many possible configurations from a theme network.
If we perceive a configuration and believe it is very useful for the present situation, then we can turn this configuration into a situational framework.
If the situational framework is not only useful for the present situation but also suitable for other situations, then we can turn the framework into solid knowledge for a community of practice.

Today I am going to share several examples of “Possible Configurations”.

It can be Loose Coupling.

It can be Semi-structured.

It can be Highly Structured.

It’s better to see it as a spectrum. You may find “X”, “Y”, and “Z” on the spectrum. If you use a diagram to represent a theme network, then you can use A Typology of Knowledge Diagrams (v2, 2022) as a reference. However, the diagram is the representation of the theme network, the typology of knowledge diagrams is not the typology of “Possible Configurations”.

Also, there is a tendency to “move from ambiguity to precision”.

Inspired by Activity, I consider the process of thought to be an activity that aims to transform ambiguous ideas into precise ideas. This notion is inspired by the principle of Object-orientedness, which means any activity has its motive and goals which point to a final outcome.

Activity Theory doesn’t directly use terms such as Ambiguity and Precision to talk about thought. The “Ambiguity — Precision” Dynamics is based on my assumption that an intended activity of thinking about something tends to produce a definite conclusion.

I think this assumption is useful for discussing the journey of knowledge engagement. In 2021, I also used The “Ambiguity — Precision” Dynamics to discuss the “Diagram — Thought” relation.

Possible, Actural, and Representation

This article doesn’t aim to discuss diagramming, but theme networks.

I will use some diagrams to discuss some examples of theme networks. As mentioned above, a diagram is the representation of a theme network. I have to emphasize the following distinction:

Possible: many possible configurations of a theme network
Actual: a particular configuration of a theme network
Representation: a diagram of a particular configuration

Is “Possible” real? It depends on your philosophical stance on realism.

I see the “Possible (Actual)” structure as a whole and claim it as a reality. You can call it Ecological Formism.

The Ecological Formalism stance sees “Possible” as a Form and “Actual” as Content.

The most important thing is the “perception—action” loop.

How does it work?

We perceive many possible configurations of a theme network…
…then select a particular configuration…
…finally, we make a diagram to represent the particular configuration.

We should notice that there is a gap between “Actual” and “Representation”.

For example, the diagram below is a theme network. Can you see a particular configuration behind it?

The above diagram represents seven themes. You can see the primary theme: “Slow Talk”. Other themes are secondary themes.

However, you don’t know the relationship between these themes if you don’t read the previous article: How to develop a framework for a possible theme called “Slow Talk”?

This theme network has a simple structure: the hammer-nail schema.

What’s the Nail? Slow Talk.

What are the Hammers?

Concept Dynamics
Themes of Practice
Project Engagement
Anticipatory Activity System
Slow Cognition
Creative Dialogue

Also, there are many connections between the secondary themes. In order to keep the diagram simple, I didn’t draw these connections.

In the rest of the article, I will share several diagrams which represent several particular configurations of some theme networks. I suggest you read both diagrams and descriptions.

Loose Coupling

On Sept 5, 2022, I wrote a long article about the Landscape of the “Curativity” Knowledge Enterprise. The diagram below represents the theme network of the knowledge enterprise.

The primary theme of my “Curativity” knowledge enterprise is the concept of “Curativity”.

The secondary themes are “Affordance”, “Activity”, “Anticipation”, “Concept”, and “Diagram”.

These themes are represented as a Loose Coupled Network.

What’s the relationship between these themes?

I have worked in the curation field for over ten years. I was the Chief Information Architect of BagTheWeb.com which was an early tool for content curation (We launched the site in 2010). This experience inspired me to make a long-term commitment to the Curation theme. After having 10 years of various curation-related practical work experience and theory learning, I coined a term called Curativity and developed Curativity Theory which became a book.

The core idea of Curativity Theory is very simple:

In order to effectively curate pieces into a meaningful whole, we need Container as part to contain pieces and shape them.

The theory built a brand new ontology called “Whole, Piece and Part” and adopted James Gibson’s “Affordance”, George Lakoff’s “Container” and Donald Schön’s “Reflection” as epistemological tools. To test the theory, I wrote several case studies and one of them is titled Knowledge Curation.

In March 2019, I finished a 615-page Google doc file which is titled Curativity: The Ecological Approach to General Curation Practice.

After March 2019, I continuously worked on revising Curativity. For the direction of Curativity Theory, I am looking for practical applications, for example:

Knowledge Curation
Action Curation
Life Curation
Platform Curation

In August 2020, I started the Knowledge Curation project and the first sub-project is the Activity U project. The journey led to the following secondary themes:

Affordance
Activity
Anticipation
Concept
Diagram

You can find more details in Mapping Thematic Landscape (Curativity, 2019–2022).

Why do I tell the story behind these themes?

Because the Thematic Engagement project aims to explore the “Person — Theme” relationship and interaction. The Thematic Engagement approach is supported by the “Themes of Practice’” approach and the “Project Engagement” approach.

We don’t only consider the semantic relationship between themes, but also the genetic relationship between them. While the semantic relationship is associated with the part of “themes”, the genetic relationship is associated with the part of “practice” which means the real historical development of projects.

The term “Loose coupling” is inspired by Karl E. Weick who is an American organizational theorist. If you visit Wikipedia, you can pay attention to the following paragraph:

Loose coupling in Weick’s sense is a term intended to capture the necessary degree of flex between an organization’s internal abstraction of reality, its theory of the world, on the one hand, and the concrete material actuality within which it finally acts, on the other.
A loose coupling is what makes it possible for these ontologically incompatible entities to exist and act on each other, without shattering (akin to Castoriadis’s idea of ‘articulation’).
Orton and Weick argue in favour of uses of the term which consciously preserve the dialectic it captures between the subjective and the objective, and against uses of the term which ‘resolve’ the dialectic by folding it into one side or the other.

Thematic Engagement is both subjective and objective, the “Loose coupling” model is a typical configuration of a theme network. In this way, we can have the necessary degree of flex between the semantic relationship and the genetic relationship.

Let’s see another example. I used the diagram below to describe a theme network about horizontal domains for the Activity Analysis project.

There are two types of practice domains: horizontal domains and vertical domains.

Horizontal domains refer to general functions in society such as “organization, strategy, and innovation”.
Vertical domains refer to specific industries, for example, farms (agriculture), buses (transportation), and movies (entertainment).

The Activity Analysis project will focus on horizontal domains and expand to vertical domains. Inspired by the naming approach of Academy of Management’s Divisions and Interest Groups (DIGs), I set six Learning Interest Groups (LIGs) to represent horizontal domains about knowledge works.

The necessary degree of flex is very important for the early stage of any project because the primary focus of the early stage is about conducting meaningful anticipation for further performance. If you want to know more about the “Anticipation — Performance” complexity, you can visit this article.

Semi-structured

Some configurations are “Semi-structured” because we want to add explicit order to a theme network.

We might make a diagram with semi-structured order for self-reflection or for communication with others.

In 2021, I developed several knowledge frameworks in order to test some meta-theories and meta-frameworks. In order to test these frameworks, I also worked on several independent research projects with diverse methods such as Ecological Observation, Participatory Research, Thematic Analysis, and Theory-based Reflection.

One project is called Once Upon A Whiteboard which is about digital whiteboard platforms and related social practices.

Though my original intention is testing my theoretical concepts and frameworks, I changed my mind and embraced multiple aspects of objects. I used the Sub-project method to capture some aspects I want to explore.

I created the following 10 sub-projects for the Once Upon A Whiteboard project:

Sub-project 1: Milanote (BACK TO W.E.C.)
Sub-project 2: Structural Engagement Theory (SET)
Sub-project 3: Digital Space Affordance (DSA)
Sub-project 4: Boardle (Social Diagramming)
Sub-project 5: Platform Supportance
Sub-project 6: Prezi v.s. Miro
Sub-project 7: The Knowing-for-us Practice
Sub-project 8: The Kanban Practice
Sub-project 9: The Miro Classroom
Sub-project 10: Platform Curativity

What kind of aspects of virtual whiteboards do these sub-projects refer to?

I used the diagram below to organize a theme network for the project.

I listed two groups of aspects of virtual whiteboards and related platform-based social practices.

The Blue group is about the theme of “environment” and the theme of “activity”. I pay attention to the environmental aspect of virtual whiteboards. I also considered “using virtual whiteboards” as a work-type activity.

The Green group refers to the spatial aspect of virtual whiteboards and related social aspects, especially knowledge-related user experience.

Sub-projects are divided into two groups too: the Grey group refers to theoretical concepts or frameworks while the Yellow group refers to real examples. Some sub-projects refer to several aspects of virtual whiteboards and related social practices.

You can find more details in The “5A” Slow Cognition Model.

The "5A" Slow Cognition Model

What I learned from the Once Upon A Whiteboard project In 2021, I developed several knowledge frameworks in order to…

www.activityanalysis.net

To be honest, I didn’t make the above diagram in 2021. I made it on Oct 12, 2022 in order to represent my thoughts for the article.

Did I have the “Semi-structured” configuration of the theme network for the Once Upon A Whiteboard project in 2021?

Yes, but the “Semi-structured” configuration is tacit because I didn’t make an explicit representation of it.

The “Semi-structured” configuration of a theme network is dynamic too.

I’d like to share an example of growing a theme network with a “Semi-structured” configuration.

On Jan 9, 2023, I made the diagram below for the Thematic Engagement project.

I roughly define two types of themes for the Thematic Engagement project and TALE. You can find more details in TALE: Find 100 Novel Themes and their Communities.

While Knowledge Engagement is about the interaction between a person and a knowledge theme, Cultural Engagement is about the interaction between a person and a cultural theme.

While Knowledge Engagement aims to produce Knowledge Innovation, Cultural Engagement aims to produce Cultural Innovation.

Why did I make this diagram?

In the past three years, I worked on the Knowledge Curation project which aims to connect THEORY and PRACTICE. The outcome is pretty amazing! I made 18 possible books and a series of tools for knowledge curation and knowledge creation. You can find more details in A Journey of Knowledge Engagement and 18 Possible Books (Oliver Ding).

I will continuously work on the Knowledge Engagement project. Also, I will explore something new in 2023: Cultural Engagement.

In fact, I didn’t share the above diagram. The diagram below appeared in my articles.

I also consider three aspects of Thematic Engagement:

Creativity
Curativity
Activity

The aspect of Creativity refers to Knowledge Creation and Cultural Creation.

The aspect of Curativity refers to Knowledge Curation and Cultural Curation.

The aspect of Activity refers to concrete projects of Knowlege Engagement Projects and Cultural Engagement Projects.

Moreover, some of my knowledge frameworks can be used to study these aspects:

Creativity: The Creative Life Curation approach
Curativity: Curativty Theory
Activity: The Project Engagement approach

So, this theme network is a connection between PAST and FUTURE, A bridge between THEORY and PRACTICE.

I also repeated this technique on Jan 20, 2023. See the diagram below.

PAST: Knowledge Curation
FUTURE: City Curation
PRACTICE: City Curation and City Engagement
THEORY: The Infoniche Framework and The Creative Life Approach

You can find more details in Find 100 Cultural Themes for City Curation.

Highly Structured

Finally, we reach the hard part: the “Highly Structured” configuration of a theme network.

In Jan 2021, I worked on writing a book about the newest development of Activity Theory: Project-oriented Activity Theory. The book follows Andy Blunden’s 2010 book An Interdisciplinary Theory of Activity and develops a series of tools for applying his ideas “Project as a Unit of Activity” and “Activity as Formation of Concepts” to practice.

In order to understand the internal structure and dynamics of Projects, I propose the concept of Zone of Project which is inspired by Lev Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development and Roger Barker’s Behavior Settings theory.

This is a thematic dialogue between Activity Theory and Ecological Psychology, especially the notion of “Zone” and “Project”. It is a complicated conceptual curation.

How did I cope with this challenge?

I made a “Highly Structured” configuration of a theme network. See the diagram below.

The diagram below also offers more details of a part of the above diagram.

This “Highly Structured” configuration guided me to write a long article. You can find more details in Activity U (XI): Process, Position, and Zone of Project.

Sometimes we can use knowledge models to build a “Highly Structured” configuration.

We don’t have to invent every thing for our cognitive activities. Sometimes, we can use existing knowledge models to build a “Highly Structured” configuration. For example, Venn diagram.

In 2021, I wrote a book titled Platform for Development: The Ecology of Adult Development in the 21st Century. The term “Platform” refers to a new concept: Developmental Platform.

Though the original inspiration of the Platform for Development framework (P4D) is digital platforms, I don’t want to limit the scope of the framework inside the domain of digital technological platforms. The P4D framework is expected to apply to various domains such as Startup Ecosystem, Brand and Communication, Community Engagement, Content Curation, Theoretical Traditions, Knowledge Platforms, etc. In other words, I need an interdisciplinary definition of “Platform” for this framework. Thus, I defined a new concept called Developmental Platform in order to avoid misunderstanding.

As an interdisciplinary concept, the term Developmental Platform refers to a social environment that could strongly support adult development in various ways. There are three keywords in this definition:

social environment
strongly support
adult development

The term “social environment” is a rough term. It can refer to traditional social structures such as organization and community. I also consider emergent social contexts such as digital platforms as social environments.

The term “strongly support” divides social environments into two groups from the perspective of strongness. Any social environment could support people, however, there are only a few social environments that could strongly support people. Thus, we can consider some strong social environments as platforms.

The term “adult development” is a solid term in developmental science. Thus, the Developmental Platform highlights the perspective of developmental science.

Do we need such a new concept? In order to answer this question, I used the following Venn diagram to find a creative space for the Developmental Platform. You can find more details here.

I consider the Developmental Platform as an intermediate concept that aims to connect theory and practice.

The above two examples also indicate the purpose of building a “Highly Structured” configuration of a theme network. Since it is a hard task, we have to do something meaningful.

Do you spend time on meaningless hard tasks?

The Meta-terms of Structured Theme Network

There is an issue behind a “Highly Structured” configuration. How do we build a structure for a theme network?

A simple answer is:

We rely on a deep-level structure to build a surface structure.

In fact, we can claim that there is a deep-level structure behind all possible configurations.

Loose Coupling: the deep-level structure is rough and tacit
Semi-structured: the deep-level structure is clear, but tacit sometimes
Highly Structured: the deep-level structure is rigorous and explicit

Let’s see an example of an explicit deep-level structure of a “highly structured” configuration.

On Jan 5, 2022, I wrote a post titled The Notion of Thematic Spaces and talked about the theme “Thematic Spaces”.

In the article, I also introduced a diagram called “The Structure of Thematic Space”. See the diagram below. Later, I used it as a canvas for Developing Tacit Knowledge and wrote a book titled Knowledge Discovery.

On Jan 5, 2022, I didn’t know I would edit a book titled Knowledge Discovery: Developing Tacit Knowledge with Thematic Space Canvas on May 19, 2022.

On Jan 5, 2022, the notion of “Thematic Spaces” is a theme. I associate it with a set of other themes. See the diagram below.

The notion of Thematic Spaces is part of a large knowledge enterprise that contains the following ideas:

Curativity Theory > Cognitive Container > Knowledge Curation
Curativity Theory > Themes of Practice
Life as Activity > Creative Life > Slow Cognition
Mind as Play > Diagramming as Practice
Mind as Play > Developing Tacit Knowledge
Mind as Play > Themes of Practice

You can find details in the diagrams below.

I used dark red to highlight some meta-terms and used light red to highlight themes.

“Theory”
“Method”
“Instrument”
“Phenomenon”

The above four terms are Meta-terms that are used to describe some aspects of themes. You can call Meta-terms Metadata too.

These Meta-terms are really useful to organize knowledge works. Scholars have been using similar meta-terms for hundreds of years.

Moreover, you can find Dates on the diagram. The date is a special type of metadata.

In Jan 2022, I focused on the Thematic Space Canvas, the notion of “Thematic Spaces” is an operational concept.

However, it transformed from an applicational concept into a significant theoretical concept from Jan 2022 to June 2022.

You can find more details in [Slow Cognition] The Development of the concept of “Thematic Spaces”.

I also often used the Slow Cognition approach to guide me to reflect on the development of some significant concepts. It’s important to record and reflect on the process of developing a theme and a concept.