v=c§J - Memorial University of Newfoundland DAI

3.4 Cognition and the Constellation of Knowledge
As socially bound constructs, the cognitive aspects ofagency and technology are
of utmost importance. The knowledge ofan agent participating in some social act is
analogous to the cognitive framework ofan artisan working on a masterpiece. Like the
artisan, all active agents make decisions that affect the future, based on the social
practices of the past and present. Such decisions range from where pressure should be
applied so a flaked tool is not broken, to which area should be fanned for maximum yield.
The cognitive framework inherent in technology may be further understood
through a "constellation of knowledge" (Sinclair 2000: 196) approach to the concept of
agency. Sinclair develops the notion that technology is a "suite of technical gestures and
knowledge that is learned and expressed by individuals in the course ofsocial practice"
(2000: 196). From this he fonnulates the idea of constellations of knowledge that intersect
everything we do (Figure 3.2). He argues that there is a discemible relationship between
the raw material, implements, techniques and desired end point all technological
endeavours. Each segment of the model is simultaneously governed by stylistic, aesthetic,
procedural and functional considerations (Sinclair 2000).
Such a mapping out ofknowledge may be useful in agency studies, to go beyond
the production ofconcrete products. II could be applied to virtually any situation where
one has to think before one acts. Some processes may be planned out for months or years
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