I think clever design is clever because a few seconds after encountering it, something sinks in, grabbing you by the jugular making you blurt out, "Holy crap, how cool is that?" We need clever design because it certainly wouldn't hurt to think more about things, have your mundane sensibilities torqued a little, if even for a few seconds...have a good "Whoa" fix. I am a designer and one of my greatest challenges is dealing with the paradox in creating good design solutions. Often good design makes life easier, and often it makes things pretty, which is all fine, I guess. But ironically, when we consume good design, that's when we stop thinking. That's because people like me have solved all the big and little problems for you, and made things gorgeous to boot. But as a result, you don't need to think anymore, you don't really need to ask any more questions because you're feeling so good because of what designers have done for you (they pride themselves as being customer-centered, people-centered). So, how does one design something that is simultaneously lovely AND circumspective, especially when design is mostly paid for by clients who only have the agenda of Capitalism on the brain? (Sic, "Produce more. Consume more. Make profits. Life is good. Repeat.") It is an uncommon occurence, but I've seen some unforgettable examples of clever design, often in concepts (but not always)...so, yes, it is indeed possible. As long as subversive geniuses walk amongst us, there will be clever design.
I think my interest in global economic phenomena stems from my realization that Man is a selfish monkey, and most of what is bad in this world stems from this truth. But here's the rub, Man can't help it. Man has been designed to get hungry after a while. When we hunger, we hunt. There are billions of us hunting, there isn't enough food, and we do not have any natural predators seeking us out as prey. The limits of our hunting ground are so very obvious, yet we insist on continuing to prosper and multiply...in fact, we are obsessed with it. And I don't see our strained planet getting any bigger or better to accommodate all this consumption-oriented expansionism. Like many other folks who aren't in denial, I feel that there will surely be some kind of global "game-over" moment, a monumental depletion point that is a regrettable inevitability, all due to our insatiable appetite for the life of plenty. The social science of macro- and micro-economics is the qualitative and quantitative study of all the bizarre things that happen when 1) we're utterly self-interested, 2) we're always hungry, 3) we keep procreating, 4) there isn't enough food (or resources, if you will), and 5) we tend to hoard when possible, which is all the time. No, I take that back, we're not monkeys. Embarrassingly, we're pigs.
I think dogs and humans enjoy the best kind of symbiotic relationship. A dog's repertoire of characteristics (loyalty, intelligence, curiosity, unconditional love, protectiveness, tolerance... the list is long) are but a subset of a human's (intelligence, loyalty, curiosity, etc, PLUS capacity for evil, dishonesty, materialism, avarice, murder...this list is even longer, unfortunately). That being said, I think a dog's subset of characteristics is the richest and best subset. Being around dogs is like always being around the best parts of yourself. Kick a dog, and you are kicking your loving and in-the-present self...that's a kind of self-loathing I don't understand at all. Love a dog (or any animal for that matter) and you remind yourself that you, too, are mammal, and the centrality and supremacy of Man is an egotistical cultural delusion of gigantic proportions. In my humble opinion, being at the top of the proverbial food chain means responsibility and stewardship - for each other, for all living organisms - yet, disappointingly, our collective actions and the scale of our collective actions speak the total opposite (see above about insatiable self-interest). Living with and caring for dogs is one sure way to keep this problematic "Homo Sapien-centrism" in check, something important I have gleaned in life with my canine companions over the years. But really, the best part is that doggies receive unlimited yummy morsels to nosh on in what is a most exquisite, perfect symbiotic bargain between the human and canine species. To love the soul of a dog is to love your own, and by extension...the souls of all living things.
I think adopted children (or to put it bluntly...orphans) are very special beings. They were born from a womb like the rest of us, but then, for any number of justifiable or non-justifiable reasons, they were abandoned, discarded, lost - which makes no sense whatsoever because kids are so universally cute you just want to put 'em in your pocket and take them everywhere you go. Their lives will always have the spectre of abandonment and/or loss haunting them. This spectre can either destroy them or give them strength. My role as a parent of an adopted child is to help show the the way to becoming and staying strong in spite of her tragic personal circumstance. What is particularly challenging about this, however, is that I myself don't exactly know how to do what is required of me. I am totally winging it, and the responsibilities inherent in any type of parenting are enormous enough without this added layer of somber complexity. What will my exact words be when Willow is old enough to ask me THE QUESTION, "Why did my biological parents abandon me?" I think I already know the difficult answer, but explaining it to her young mind and heart in a way that she does not lose faith in all of humanity is a much harder nut to crack. Her biological mother, who will forever be unknown to me, had extreme circumstances to reckon with, and I am certain the choice she made was a devastating one, one that she lives with even to this day. These are highly charged, complicated, and permanent life choices to make...to give up a child, to adopt a child. All parties involved, the parents former and new, but especially the innocent child, must deal with mysteries that may never be solved, questions that are most likely unanswerable. I think it takes a special kind of courage to live one's life in the naked, dark shadow of a giant question mark.
So, what do all these things have to do with one another? I am not entirely sure, but that doesn't necessarily mean that connections don't exist. Surely they must. It's like I've been handed a compass to navigate life with, but it's got 4 hands instead of only 1. How confusing is that? Very.
Thanks for listening,
Gong Szeto
Santa Fe, NM
May 2008
N.B. - This is the fourth iteration of my blog. For those who have been subscribing, thanks for putting up with me changing my mind all the time about what I want to blog about. Since I evolve, it makes sense that my blog does, too.