Regarding the terms wayfinding and waymaking, they are just terms. Still, there are differences.
Here is how I’ve thought it through:
We are always making way. By being alive, we are making way. Once we realize and accept that we are making way, we begin to find way. To make way is the most basic definition of being alive. Even before we become aware of ourselves, we as life make way. ‘Finding’ implies awareness.
The term ‘wayfinding’ is used very specifically in neuroscience to mean ‘navigating to a goal location in a known environment’ but sometimes we do not have explicit goals or know the landscape, as in when we first come into the world. Wayfinding as a term is also heavy in the work of Gibson (a big influence, which I will discuss in further posts):
That said, there is no real difference between the overall notion of the words. It's just that Wayfinding (as a term) has specific meanings in geography and neuroscience which is one reason I have to be careful with it in academia.
Though my use of Waymaking began from that academic decision, I’ve found that accepting life as making way, that this ‘is’ what life IS, can be powerful. It is beyond the idea of self. Long before our consciousness of ourselves as subjects, we’re making out way. Staying alive and trying our best in whatever landscapes we find ourselves. As we come into awareness and observe all of this, we can find and make new paths together from another scale.
I wonder if this distinction is clear. What I will say is that some readers and viewers have recently written to recommend Tim Ingold, a person I have been aware of for some time, I have not yet read deeply into his work. I will do this soon, however, and should have already. I realize he also uses the term wayfinding and I am sure I will learn a lot and have more ephiphanies after reading his work as well. He seems to be a big influence on so many that I respect.
there is a chasm between way finding and way making in their initial intentions and seeking - yet they cross each other at various spaces of our own becoming, neither hold anchorage to the past or lured by future both held completely in the now ... untethered and detached from their actual 'way' more designed by their desire to find or make ...
Thank you Cari. That’s helpful. Always good to look into the differences of words. I’ll give the general answer the way I have through it through first, then the one from cognitive science.
Here is how I’ve thought it through:
We are always making way. By being alive, we are making way. Once we realize and accept that we are making way, we begin to find way. To make way is the most basic definition of being alive. Even before we become aware of ourselves, we as life make way. ‘Finding’ implies awareness.
The term ‘wayfinding’ is used very specifically in neuroscience to mean ‘navigating to a goal location in a known environment’ but sometimes we do not have explicit goals or know the landscape, as in when we first come into the world. Wayfinding as a term is also heavy in the work of Gibson (a big influence, which I will discuss in further posts):
That said, there is no real difference between the overall notion of the words. It's just that Wayfinding (as a term) has specific meanings in geography and neuroscience which is one reason I have to be careful with it in academia. Though my use of Waymaking began from that academic decision, I’ve found that accepting life as making way, that this ‘is’ what life IS, can be powerful. It is beyond the idea of self. Long before our consciousness of ourselves as subjects, we’re making out way. Staying alive and trying our best in whatever landscapes we find ourselves. As we come into awareness and observe all of this, we can find and make new paths together from another scale.
Does that make sense? Thanks so much for helping me unpack it.
Regarding the terms wayfinding and waymaking, they are just terms. Still, there are differences.
Here is how I’ve thought it through:
We are always making way. By being alive, we are making way. Once we realize and accept that we are making way, we begin to find way. To make way is the most basic definition of being alive. Even before we become aware of ourselves, we as life make way. ‘Finding’ implies awareness.
The term ‘wayfinding’ is used very specifically in neuroscience to mean ‘navigating to a goal location in a known environment’ but sometimes we do not have explicit goals or know the landscape, as in when we first come into the world. Wayfinding as a term is also heavy in the work of Gibson (a big influence, which I will discuss in further posts):
That said, there is no real difference between the overall notion of the words. It's just that Wayfinding (as a term) has specific meanings in geography and neuroscience which is one reason I have to be careful with it in academia.
Though my use of Waymaking began from that academic decision, I’ve found that accepting life as making way, that this ‘is’ what life IS, can be powerful. It is beyond the idea of self. Long before our consciousness of ourselves as subjects, we’re making out way. Staying alive and trying our best in whatever landscapes we find ourselves. As we come into awareness and observe all of this, we can find and make new paths together from another scale.
I wonder if this distinction is clear. What I will say is that some readers and viewers have recently written to recommend Tim Ingold, a person I have been aware of for some time, I have not yet read deeply into his work. I will do this soon, however, and should have already. I realize he also uses the term wayfinding and I am sure I will learn a lot and have more ephiphanies after reading his work as well. He seems to be a big influence on so many that I respect.
hmmm - this is what rose in me....
there is a chasm between way finding and way making in their initial intentions and seeking - yet they cross each other at various spaces of our own becoming, neither hold anchorage to the past or lured by future both held completely in the now ... untethered and detached from their actual 'way' more designed by their desire to find or make ...
Thank you Cari. That’s helpful. Always good to look into the differences of words. I’ll give the general answer the way I have through it through first, then the one from cognitive science.
Here is how I’ve thought it through:
We are always making way. By being alive, we are making way. Once we realize and accept that we are making way, we begin to find way. To make way is the most basic definition of being alive. Even before we become aware of ourselves, we as life make way. ‘Finding’ implies awareness.
The term ‘wayfinding’ is used very specifically in neuroscience to mean ‘navigating to a goal location in a known environment’ but sometimes we do not have explicit goals or know the landscape, as in when we first come into the world. Wayfinding as a term is also heavy in the work of Gibson (a big influence, which I will discuss in further posts):
That said, there is no real difference between the overall notion of the words. It's just that Wayfinding (as a term) has specific meanings in geography and neuroscience which is one reason I have to be careful with it in academia. Though my use of Waymaking began from that academic decision, I’ve found that accepting life as making way, that this ‘is’ what life IS, can be powerful. It is beyond the idea of self. Long before our consciousness of ourselves as subjects, we’re making out way. Staying alive and trying our best in whatever landscapes we find ourselves. As we come into awareness and observe all of this, we can find and make new paths together from another scale.
Does that make sense? Thanks so much for helping me unpack it.
thanks for sharing your unpacking