« With the arrogance of youth, I am determined to do no less than to transform the world with Beauty. If I succeed in some small way, if only in one small corner of the world, amongst the men and women I love, then I shall count myself blessed, and blessed, and blessed, and the work will go on. » - (William Morris, The Well At The World's End)
I will compose my reimagined world as I approach the design of a product. Before developing any idea we must assess the resources available to us : the materials, tools and constraints. The way I see it, the abundant material is the human race, the tool is our gift of consciousness and the constraint is our current reality. For this suggested utopia to be relevant, it needs to be reflective of our human experience and nature, because for there to be any hope for a brighter future, we need to be realistic and most of all brave.
First, we start by analyzing the properties of our material. What constitutes a human ? We are animals with common personality traits that we as a species have categorized as virtues and sins. Each culture interprets them in their own way but there is a global consensus. I chose a list of virtues widely promoted in Buddhism called the Pāramitās or perfections and they translate as : generosity, proper conduct, renunciation, wisdom, energy, patience, honesty, determination, compassion and equanimity. Counterbalancing we have the seven deadly sins that, according to the Bible, are : pride, envy, gluttony, greed, lust, sloth, and wrath. It happens to be, coincidently, an accurate description of the American dream, of our very own capitalist consumerist culture. At this time it becomes obvious that life as we know it, with the current mentality driving the systems in place, will not sustain us much longer and we will ultimately fail as a civilization. For that reason we have to seriously reconsider our perspective of Life on earth. The ultimate tool that can help us shape that new perspective is our collective consciousness, a gift so great its power overwhelms most of us. To be conscious is to be aware of reality and give it value, true meaning. Nietzsche would say that our meaning must be discovered within ourselves and for ourselves as individuals and that an outsourced meaning beyond ourselves is avoiding meaning altogether. Instead of outsourcing our God, we should each look to attain our own divinity from within. It is the only way to lead a potentially meaningful life here on earth. I dream of a future where we are all Supermen, all men who outdo themselves, who transcend themselves, who becomes conscious of their nature, because if God exists, it is within us. (Nietzsche, Ainsi Parlait Zarathoustra)
To create a Second Nature, in other words a balanced human nature, I would rely on Mother Nature’s primary example. No other system works in better harmony than that of our ecosystem and grand universe. Everything in nature evolves, it transforms over long periods of time, so in order to be in sync we need to have a mindset that is flexible and that also evolves over long periods of reflection. Archetypal ideologies are a dangerous thing as they are meant to control masses instead of guiding them. We need to rely on reason, our common logic, and good sense to train our spirits to be intelligent. With that in mind, let’s define the fundamentals of Nature and consequently of Society. Mother has four main elements around which all her family depend : Air, Water, Fire and Earth. Those elements can represent basic concepts of human life such as Health, Economy, Education and Culture. Biomimicry should be the main philosophy behind our developments. Each sector would call upon a certain type of individual. Just like the animal kingdom, we live amongst a tapestry of personalities. Even though we are all human, as a race we are all so different and beautifully complimentary. In an ideal world we would embrace that reality. Nature has not distributed its resources identically everywhere on earth and that concept of diversity applies to our species as well. Everyone would assume their roles, and there would be harmony as long as each understands and respects their contribution to the grander scheme of societal life. I prefer to think of our system as a circle rather than a pyramid, because there is no hierarchy, for each link to the chain is equally vital to its whole. Each culture has different strengths and interests and so it leads a variety of individuals on separate but nevertheless valuable paths to fulfillment and happiness. To adopt a new human ecology, one in which we start to reconstitute our conception of the richness of human capacity and true meaning of life, we need to study Art. The only way to salvage the proudly corrupt spirit, according to Nietzshe (Ainsi Parlait Zarathoustra), is by exposing it to Art : Music, dancing, drawing, sculpting, etc. Whatever creative activity that permits us to indulge in fantasy and dream. Art is beauty, it is what arouses our deepest emotions and moves us. “Beauty, which is what is meant by art”, Nature through which God speaks to us, “is, I contend, no mere accident to human life, which people can take or leave as they choose, but nevertheless is a positive necessity of life” (William Morris, The Beauty of Life). We should be teaching our children the art of contemplation rather than of competition. It is the ideals we teach children that are meant to take us into the future, by giving them the tools to face the unknown, what we can’t yet grasp. For that reason Creativity is as important in education as Literacy. Furthermore, it is crucial to master and canalize our energy positively, to be sensitive, compassionate and art unveils all those emotions, it refines us as a species. Art is a tribute to life, it expresses our gratitude, our love for Existence. Those who are on a perpetual quest for beauty cannot possibly tolerate horror. Beauty comes from our conscious reflection and experience, from our minds and our hearts. It is influenced by our collective knowledge, our learnings, our honor towards our culture. Schools should first invest and assemble choirs and orchestras just as much any sports teams. A Berlioz symphony is beautiful art, it is research and development of beauty and the result is a masterpiece.
Changing perspectives means redefining the relationship between individuals and their environment. William Morris, a designer at the time of the second industrial revolution, a novelist and activist for the British Arts and Crafts movement once said : “If you want a golden rule that will fit everybody, this is it: Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful” (William Morris, The Beauty of Life). Design is above all an effort to improve reality. Conceiving an object begins with considerations for its function, then defining who needs it, following with which materials can best suit its context and finally attributing it an aesthetic appeal by touching it with beauty. The harmonious formation of these considerations will create a sustainable Object. As a designer I encourage that Objects stimulate all of our senses : touch, sight, hearing, smell and taste. The sensing organs associated with each sense send information to the brain to help us understand and perceive the world around us. So ultimately our physical environment shapes our perception of Life. If our environment is stripped of its rich diversity, so will our spirit. Bachelard’s study, “The Poetics of Space”, explores our relationship with the most fundamental construct, the home. The house is the quintessential phenomenological object, meaning that this is the place in which the personal experience reaches its epitome. Bachelard sees the house as a sort of initial universe. He asserts that "all really inhabited space bears the essence of the notion of home" (The Poetics of Space, p.5) and that the home is the ultimate manifestation of the soul inhabiting it. It is the most intimate space. The house has both unity and complexity, it is made out of memories and experiences, its different parts arouse different sensations yet it brings up a unitary, intimate experience of living. Such experiential qualities are what Bachelard defines as poetry. Household objects are charged with mental experience. A cabinet opened is a world revealed, drawers are places of secrets, and with every habit we open endless dimensions of our existence (The Poetics of Space). For this, in the future, we must restore the notion of importance of a household, of having a nest, a given property for each family.
We are social animals. Our very lives depend on our relationships with people which is why it is so pointless for us to compete. We need to eliminate our individual pride and think as a whole. Pride is one of the seven deadly sins and I’ll note that Dante made it foundational to all the other deadly sins within purgatory (Dante, L’Inferno). To think for Society we can draw inspiration from Socialism and “... by Socialism I mean a condition of society in which there should be neither rich nor poor, neither master nor master's man, neither idle nor overworked, neither brainslack brain workers, nor heartsick hand workers, in a word, in which all men would be living in equality of condition, and would manage their affairs unwastefully, and with the full consciousness that harm to one would mean harm to all—the realisation at last of the meaning of the word commonwealth.” (William Morris, Art under Plutocracy) Ideally the system would encourage social ownership of the means of production and workers' self-management of enterprises because private companies create oppressing monopoles. The reality in which we live today has drowned us in a sea of garbage. Simplicity of life, even the barest, is not a misery, but the very foundation of refinement. You must not buy into debt, but buy with your means and for your needs. The world has never been so rich in resources and yet maintained such poverty at the same time, because some take more than what they need, so much more! But do we really need it? What exactly is essential ? Breathing clean air, eating good food and sleeping with both eyes closed is pretty elementary and yet not everyone on earth has that. Ensuring that right should be the only goal of our Economy. Our financial system should be one based on barter rather than loan. Debt is what makes entire countries crumble. It is what happens when we give into greed, bewitched by Publicity to buy goods we cannot afford. Publicity is the life force of a capitalist culture. Capitalism survives by manipulating the majority to buy into a false standard of what is, and what is not desirable (The Language of Things). Our sinful envy is exploited. But if we think with our virtuous generosity and compassion, we realize that an exterior party will always have something we want, something useful, that we are lacking and want to acquire. We need to practice mutual aid collectively to survive as a species. Being sustainable is our only way to an everlasting or “after” life. Some communities, for example, may specialize in clothing and textiles, others in metal or wood manufacturing, some in computing and programming. Food and medicine production should be more centralized to each community, because it is the most essential and to rely on outsourcing it can limit access. Health care and education should be free and the maintenance would be cared for by our tax contributions. Exactly like it should be in Canada today, minus the corruption. Resources should belong to the people populating and cultivating the earth on which it is available. Nationalisation of resources for each country is noble because it permits fair exchanges. If Costa-Rica has avocados and Germany has cars, they can exchange their goods for the benefit of both parties. Deals between two partners involve these parties only, everyone has a right to privacy as long as everyone has good intentions. My example might seem childish, I am simply using an image to describe the general idea. The concept of bartering does not necessarily eliminate money. It is the concept of debt that needs to be eliminated, of loans and virtual money. That sacrifice will reconstitute balance amongst us all trade.
Our generation is gifted with the discoveries of modern technology. It is a gift, if used as a tool to strengthen our capacities, rather than a weapon to enslave us and tempt our sloth. “Will robot teachers replace human teachers? They should not, but they can complement their mentorship. Moreover, they could be sufficient in situations where there is no other alternative, for example, to enable learning while traveling, or while in remote locations, or when one wishes to study a topic for which there is not easy access to teachers. Robot teachers will help make lifelong learning a practicality. They can make it possible to learn no matter where one is in the world, no matter the time of day. Learning should take place when it is needed, when the learner is interested, not according to some arbitrary, fixed schedule” ( Donald A. Norman ) Regardless, a robot cannot replace the exchange a student has with their mentor. Humans should learn from other humans, otherwise an inferiority complex will arise. In other cases, for example with augmented reality, technology can be used by artists to exhibit their products when in times of crisis like with today’s pandemic, when galleries and museums are forced to close. It should not be used to create a virtual reality in which the artist's hand work is abandoned. We need to use technology with virtue not with malice, by having technology at our service and not being at its service. Asimov’s laws of robotics state just that ( Isaac Asimov, I, Robot ) :
A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the first or second law.
If we adopt those laws, technology can be a blessing not a curse. The reason they are not yet adopted is because we use robotics for weaponry. But if we imagine living in unison, as John Lennon once hoped, we won’t need armies and weaponry will cease its manufacturing. We need to establish more specific criteria determining the quality of new materials and manufacturing processes resulting from modern technology. Imagine if technology could produce a type of polarized metal that would be used in transport design, so cars and motorcycles would naturally keep a distance due to the opposing magnetic forces. That way we eliminate collisions between any type of vehicle altogether. Technology is a tool to fix problems, never to create some. Petroleum, for example, is not an acceptable resource to exploit at this extent. Its damages surpass its benefits and its use in manufacturing is harmful to the environment and to Mankind. Not everything we discover, we should use and not everything we can do, we should do. Our morality, our reason and common sense, is what should guide our decision making in everything we pursue.
At the dawn of the Second Industrial Revolution, William Morris deplored : “So long as the system of competition in the production and exchange of the means of life goes on, the degradation of the arts will go on; and if that system is to last forever, then art is doomed, and will surely die; that is to say, civilization will die.” (William Morris, Art under Plutocracy) Remember, nothing in life is absolute and may the dawn of today's industrial revolution lead us all, as members of a united family, to a more sustainable future.
