Philosophy What actually is the process of 'design'?

[Blobbenstein]

I'm not an intelligent design proponent, but I have often wondered what the process of 'design' was.
When someone designs something, what actually is happening?
I think may be the process of design is actually an evolutionary process, whereby thoughts, and ideas emerge in a process of fittest survive, in a designer's mind. And then you have a bunch of thoughts and ideas, that you test out and see which may be the best one.

I think maybe patterns in the brain have to try to survive in an environment of other ideas, and information, and memories; and those patterns evolve, and change, maybe combine, and that is part of the process of thinking, and being concious. Neural network stuff, where pathways, and structures become stronger or weaker, leading to who we are.

Discuss

 

[Amy SF]

This subject is not an easy one for me to think about, but I'll throw this out: When someone designs something, they have a twofold purpose:

1. To create something functional
2. To create something aesthetically pleasing.

Since I also believe in evolution, I would suggest that designs found in nature evolved that way for the benefit of the flora and fauna featuring those designs. The fact that they may also be aesthetically pleasing to us may be an accident. Beyond that, I don't know.