Ecologists love to praise nature’s design genius.
“If only humanity would stop screwing things up” many of them think — with a certain degree of self-loathing.
When your line of work primes you to interpret human history as an unyielding desecration of paradise, that’s an understandable point of view.
There’s no question, we’ve caused enormous harm to this planet’s natural systems. What warrants some skepticism however is the romanticized vision of earth’s recent past as some kind of garden of Eden.
Nature has many remarkable qualities, but universally enjoyed hedonism is not among them. After all, the natural environment wasn’t shaped by a benevolent deity, but by the frequently cruel forces of evolution which relentlessly, mindlessly, optimize for survival — and nothing more.
Nature isn’t here for joy. Nature isn’t here for beauty. Nature is merely here to be here —a meaningless default masquerading as a purpose.
If design is a quality of things made with intent, it seems that “design genius” isn’t actually what nature does. Evolution’s talent for problem solving is tremendous, but for all of life’s history, it’s been applied without any consciously chosen objective — that is until recently, when something surprising transpired.
After 3.5 billion years, living things (in the form of humans) acquired both the mental capacity to set their own goals, and the physical dexterity to transform their environment. Design was born. The human project (at least that’s what I call it) began.
Alas, the journey has been fraught. Like teenagers trapped between childhood and adult life, we’re eager to take charge of our destiny, but we’re still building the maturity needed to do it safely. It’s plain to see we’re making a lot of mistakes. As parents of adolescents know, this struggle comes with the territory — and it’s often the only route to growing up. If left entirely unchecked however, risk-taking behaviour and errors in judgement can result in catastrophe. This is why smart parents create sturdy guardrails.
Unfortunately for us, we’ve been left to raise ourselves. With the planet beginning to bake, and a slew of new technologies we can hardly control, it appears our inexperience has endangered not only our own species, but the tree of life as a whole.
And so, as designers seeking to make positive change, we’re faced with a difficult decision about the best way to engage with our troubled civilization.
For those looking to obtain a sense of moral relief, there’s probably no easier route than disconnecting your life from the modern system. After all, if you can avoid entanglement with society, you won’t be an accessory to the destruction it continues to cause. The downside is that you’ll miss out on the chance to be part of something larger than yourself.
The more thrilling alternative is to jump on board with humanity’s crazy endeavour to achieve more than existence for existence’s sake. Buyer beware, this path comes riddled with compromise. Pragmatism will be the name of the game, and for some, this may prove ethically uncomfortable ground.
My point of view? Human wrought transformation of nature is both well underway and decidedly irreversible. Rather than try to isolate our way to moral purity, let’s have the courage to seize the opportunity before us. Let’s do what we can to secure the success of this bold new chapter in the story of life.
Will you embrace the human project?
I’m all in.
Designable.blog 