Hi all,
I am fascinated by the use of the notion "natural" by some of the contributors to this list. Is it "natural" for beavers to build dams, but not for humans? Would it be "not natural" if beavers started making cars? Should we then try and prevent them from doing so, because we find it is "not natural" behaviour? Or should we just call it "evolution"?
People ask children not to bounce on the sofa, because it will wreck the damn thing (imagine the environmental damage of replacing a sofa!). Jinan, you ask us not to expose children to bright colours, because it supposedly wrecks these poor creatures. Would it be better for kids to sit still on a beige sofa or to bounce on a bright pink one? I'm curious to see where 'the wrong path' will lead us, but I'm sure it'll be an entertaining journey!
"No waste in nature" is another interesting one. Michael Braungart and William McDonough perfectly showed to understand the appeal of this argument and their book Cradle to Cradle and the accompanying certifications company must have turned them into millionaires.
If I may suggest some literature, read The Nature and Aesthetics of Design by David Pye, written in 1978 and still relevant as can be.
Melle
melle zijlstra (phd researcher | university of bath | department of computer science)
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On 15/07/2016 01:06, Jinan K B wrote:
Friends
I am sorry that i have posted the mail with out re reading and hence
have posted a completely opposite message.
The sentence - Production of waste is the first anti nature activity
invented by man
as there is 'waste' in nature!- is wrong as i missed one - no. please
see the correction below.
Production of waste is the first anti nature activity invented by man
as there is NO 'waste' in nature! There nothing called 'waste' in
nature.
And coming to issues raised by Fernando
The 'toy' that you saw in the paper is made by children because they
'see' car in their context.
One of the most important misunderstanding in our modern consumerist
society is about what is toy and its connection with 'learning' the
world (their respective contexts)
Play is also similarly misunderstood and hence 'learning'.
Children are playful and hence they play with almost everything they encounter.
When children sit on a soft sofa they bounce. So sofa becomes their
'toy' at that moment. But most 'educated' parents would 'teach' the
children manners and ask the child to sit 'properly'. this they do
with almost everything they encounter. They slide the moment they see
floor that are slidable. all this will happen only if children have
'freedom'.
So what i am trying to say is that children has a way of responding/
exploring/ imbibing what ever is happening in their contexts. so it is
adult who is responsible for the formation of the child. Children do
not need toys but freedom to explore/ experience the world they are
in. But the consumerist society won't let this happen. (Many well
meaning designers want to 'help' children by making toys!)
Toy as a product teach the child to be a consumer. Toy as a self
initiated/ autonomous process helps the child to understand how the
world works!
Take the example of how modernity constructs gender. In indigenous
communities there is no gendered play at least till they are 7 years.
Both girls and boys play same games/ make similar toys etc
In modernity even from the time of birth they are made to segregate by
putting them into blue and pink rooms. Then all the 'toys'
manufactured only promote this awareness of difference.
Children liking bright colors is another strange idea being promoted
and hence everything they have is bright today- their room, bed
sheets,cloths, toys, books and even food and their underpants! We are
yet to address color pollution unlike sound pollution! (impact of
bright color on humans- may be over excitement in children has
something to do with this bright colors!)
We have come a very long way travelling along the wrong path. This is
true of sustainability as well as our understanding of the existential
needs of children/ life.
Jinan
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