Functional pretence: what makes humans designers - a foundational perspective for design and design education

Almost everything in our modern world is artificial, from cruffins and fish flops, to penicillin and computers. Why is it that humans make these things? And why don’t we see other non-human creatures (like chimpanzees) making these things? In this theoretical paper, we synthesize across anthropology, cognitive science, and developmental psychology to suggest that humans engage in what we describe as functional pretence, an intentional process where one interacts with what one (or another) imagines as real. Functional pretence is more than pretend play, it is the capacity to treat imagined states, communicated through declarative language, as grounds for real action. It’s this capacity which enables humans to interact with an artificial world which contains all the information and knowledge generated by other humans. It removes the requirement for direct experience, and enables humans to take a faithful leap toward the novel and the unknown. By exploring the arguments which lead to functional pretence, we explore what is fundamental to the design process that leads to all the things in our modern world. We then apply this foundational perspective to design education, illustrating through classroom scenarios how functional pretence already operates in design learning and where interventions could improve outcomes.