"The present is the past rolled up for action, and the past is the present unrolled for understanding". ~Will and Ariel Durant

Artifacts are "what is left behind" and/or what are the symbolic objects resulting from what went before, as objects that are verifiable data.

In discussing artifacts @F-L-O-W, we are looking at the metaphorical wake left behind culturally scaffolded behavior, as there is no other kind.  I have found that by examining the artifacts we can move to a different position on the developmental GPS.  This position, as all others need to be evaluated by e5, in the least, reviewing the artifacts for content, context, conditions, code, culture, and core that are symbolized in the artifact.

Artifacts are not the end all, they are just what is representative of what was occurring in the behavior that produced the artifact.  Like everything else, the meaning needs to be unpacked by sense-making practices, which we are evolving here multidimentionally @F-L-O-W.

Often artifacts can be helpful in determining what was possible under the scaffolding.

They can also tell us, in many ways, what was the design and complexity of that scaffolding, giving us another set of data points to identify capability and its application under load, under the current design.

In terms of who is accountable and responsible for scaffolding and thus the emergence of the artifact is often a much more complex question and most usually must be unpacked.  Yet, it’s important to value the artifact for what it is, and that is what was possible under the circumstances.

Even Einstein’s theories were artifacts of the current scaffolding, even if he was alone at the time of his creation of his relativity theory.  Scaffolding the present more than likely produced the external pressure for him to forge the theory in the first place, being pressure prompted by nature.

Helpful Hint: Artifacts present us with verifiable data that can be unpacked to understand the capability that produced the artifact, the KSEs involved, the values present, and perhaps even more detailed looks at the scaffolding and design at the time the artifact was produced.

Action Step: Identify artifacts in your own life that have resulted from the wake of your own behavior.  Piece them together in a puzzle of your own story about your capability, and your future potential.