Finding

(see heart, abduction and other key terms)
(See 'Artifical Intelligence', 'research').
Loosely speaking, whereas classical science was based on a search for dependable 'laws' that form the basis for a predictive grasp of reality, artists are often more interested in flukes, exceptions and anomalies than in experimental repeatability (c.f. Ljubec, 2022). As Picasso put it, "I do not seek, I find". As Freud said: "It is obvious that in cases of losing, the object is already provided; in cases of finding, it first has to be looked for”. In the absence of a clearly defined purpose, human ‘browsing’ for ideas works by eliciting unconscious and tacit concerns and gestures rather than following explicitly formulated goals.

Researching

In academia the term research is more commonly used than 'search'. It comes from the Middle French word "recherche", which means "to go about seeking", the term itself being derived from the Old French term "recerchier" a compound word from "re-" and "cerchier", or "sercher", meaning 'search'. The earliest recorded use of the term was in 1577. Although, in reality, the concept of 'research' is often co-creative and even radically innovative, the prefix 're' suggests that it is a post hoc activity. Science's eagerness to establish evidence-based data is useful in formulating predictable forecasts or 'laws' of physics. Hence, we can review records from the past and make observations in the present but it is hard to derive evidence from from the future.

• Research often means evaluating, or quantifying the evidence gathered by searching.
• It also refers to data gathering via instruments.
• In this regard it can be seen as an indirect process, as the data becomes information via machines.

Search

• (see also abductive reasoning)
• Whereas academic research may last days, months or years, search is usually quicker.
  • (it may last only milliseconds, seconds or minutes).
• Unless used in a technological context (e.g. text search) it is frequently a more direct process.