Harmonious Living
“Every living thing struggles to exist at the expense of another life.”- The Island
We, humans have destroyed nature to build our cities and homes. We keep nature at bay constantly because if we weren’t here to keep it under control, it would over take the cities we created so carefully while destroying the geologic nature of the earth. Yes, we have nature preserves, but those are so minuscule compared to what nature was before we took over. Is there a way to live more harmoniously with nature?
The laws of Robotics states:
- 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 to 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.
Can we apply this to how humans should think about nature and other living things?
As we begin to understand the earth and all its different processes, we can start to think of new ways to live and occupy the planet in less destructive ways. All living things play a huge role in the geological process and chemical transformations on the Earth. We need to start designing in ways that stop destroying our natural resources because, as stated in Making Geologic Now, “The human species can’t get along without the geologic but the geologic will continue on in some form or another long after we have ceased being part of it.” So, no matter what we do to the earth, it will survive in some way or another, but we might not.
Technological Networks
“The island was unencumbered by technology, but it had survived, it had out thought civilization.”- The Island We talked last week about how we might destroy ourselves as technology advances. One has to wonder if it would be better to live with less technology and to be more low-tech. I think we’ve gone too far with our technological advances for us to stop now. Also mentioned in The Island, “The things we know change and we have to change with them.” So as technology advances we have little choice but to keep up with it otherwise we would fall behind. In a way, though, technology allows us to connect with the world in ways we couldn’t even imagine before they were introduced to us. All the social media: facebook, twitter, reddit, ect., keeps us constantly connected to one another no matter how physically far apart we are. In the book The Things, the alien comments on how humans aren’t networked together. Biologically speaking, yes that is true, we are all separate entities, but socially speaking, that is false, we are interconnected through social medias. It’s hard to imagine a world without social media now a day. It’s become such a large part of human life and human interaction, so much so that some might argue that it’s starting to replace actual physical human interaction. So where is the line between the benefits of social media and the faults with it? And do the benefits outweigh these faults?
Adaptive Architecture
“The more you change, the more you can adapt; adaptation is survival; it’s axiomatic.” – The Things
The alien in the book The Things could morph into a better species to adapt to any environment it was in. It was confused that humans could not do the same, that we are stuck in maladaptive skins. I believe our architecture is our adaptation to the environment. We design, or at least should design, with the climate of our site in mind.
