Functional Pretence: Why Chimpanzees Don’t Eat Cruffins—Perspectives on Design Learning

Almost everything in our modern world is artificial; from cruffins and fish flops, to penicillin and computers. But why are there some-things, rather than no-things? Why is it that humans continue to create things, and is this an inevitable run-away process? In this paper, I explore whether the design process (which leads to all the artificial things in our modern world) is unique to humans, alongside the key attributes which separates humans from non-humans creatures.I suggest that humans engage in what I describe as functional pretence, an intentional process where one interacts with what one (or another) imagines as real. Functional pretence enables humans to interact with an artificial world which contains all the information and knowledge generated by other humans (similar to Popper’s Third World). Access to this world is what gives rise to all the artefacts and all the artificial in our modern worlds. Functional pretence removes the requirement for direct experience, and enables humans to take a faithful leap toward the novel and the unknown. As our modern world contains more knowledge and technologies than ever before. It is valuable to understand what has led to this, alongside what can be done to encourage certain artefacts to be born into existence.