Excellent points Heidi.
Professor Thea Blackler
Discipline Leader for Industrial, Interaction, Visual Communication and Fashion Design (Acting)
Queensland University of Technology
2 George Street Brisbane QLD 4001
Australia
Phone: +61 7 3138 7030
Mobile: +61 410 736494
Web: https://research.qut.edu.au/designlab/
Eprints: http://eprints.qut.edu.au/view/person/Blackler,_Alethea.html
Orcid: orcid.org/0000-0002-9406-2645
-----Original Message-----
From: PhD-Design - This list is for discussion of PhD studies and related research in Design <[log in to unmask]> On Behalf Of Heidi Overhill
Sent: Tuesday, 11 December 2018 3:15 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Non-anthropocentric design research
Surely the issue here is anthropometric hubris, for which "non-anthropometric design" is merely one proposed remedy — and a remedy that still operates inside the framework of hubris, by imagining that we humans have the god-like power of being able to understand and facilitate the desires of other creatures. In Greek mythology, the excessive pride of hubris is inevitably punished by nemesis -- the retribution of the gods -- which in our case seems to be taking the form of climate change. Maybe the central point of anthropometric hubris is not how we act in our arrogance, but why we feel it. This might be traced to that old Cartesian chestnut: the separation of mind and body. When people talk about ourselves, we always seem to over-estimate the importance of brain, discounting mere body -- and worse, to further over-estimate the seemingly-immaterial influence of transcendent intelligence.
Perhaps we don't properly appreciate our own bodies, let alone those of other living creatures. Minds desire corporate profits, but bodies need clean air. If we properly acknowledged our whole selves, we would design for the animals we really are, rather than for the brains we imagine ourselves to be. This might be an excellent starting point for acknowledging the needs of other animals as well.
Heidi
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