In a world where connectivity claims to be at an all time high; where your post can now reach more people and your phone alerts you to your schedule; why is their such a sense of disconnect? Why do so many of us feel alone, trapped, scared and unsure of the unknown? Unsure of their direction, yet all the directions are only a few navigational touches of the smart phone screen away. Unsure of who they are meant to be, and who they need to be. This sense of connectivity brought to us has had an unforeseen design consequence which is, disconnectivity. Polar opposite ideologies with very contradicting natures.
Nature, is a wild and raw place. Words such as connected, circular, nurturing and savage seem like plausible descriptions portraying the wide scope of nature itself. We have one earth, one being the keyword. Without our world life as it currently exists could not exist. We have one chance, it is simple. Ethics and values shape the way we perceive the world, from consciousness humans gain understanding. From this understanding every being forms their own unique lenses, a perspective on the world around them. From this most humans either believe in the mechanistic paradigm or the systemic paradigm. When thinking ethics and values I resonate with topics such as, connection, equality, environment and balance. Based on these feelings and the lenses through which I see our world I believe in a systemic paradigm, interconnectivity is the core value of this concept. The ideology that interfering with the system at one point may have effects on another part of the system; at times in unknown ways. This way of thinking embraces the unknown and prefers to synthesis as opposed to analysis. Our universe is indeed connected, energy cannot be created, nor destroyed; therefor no life truly comes to an end. What our universe needs right now, is the pluriverse. Our universe holds the unforeseen, intangible and unpredictable, a wicked problem perhaps. Complex, chaotic and challenging.
As designers how do we conduct ourselves when wicked problems arise; the key is to think, think simple, think interconnectedness, think trust and think plurality. Designers shape the world around us, they configure artifacts and settings, in turn they shape cultures and movements. Much like life keeps living, from one organism to the next. Design keeps designing. One from design another is born and so on, design much like our world is an revolving cycle which simply will never end. However our limited resources will end and our current exports on the environment will eventually result in the destruction of our beautiful space. Poising the concept that now and in the future designers need to design for the Pluriverse. The Pluriversal Planetary design perspective combined with the principles of Biommicry, can only lead to a positive future. Where beings can be, life can continue living and designers can continue to design.
Design into the future needs to be for the pluriverse; William James speaks of the pluriverse, he stated the following; it is “more commonly known as the “multiverse”, to express what it meant to start one’s thinking about the world (universe) from a pluralist rather than a monist perspective” (Hutchings, 2019). This thinking is the key, for designers stepping into the future, the unknown, it will be vital to remain critical and observant. Unforeseen design consequences will always be part of design process, this is a given. However a shift focus from the artefact to the environment and the design consequences should be a step to a more positive future, a future where life can continue.
Hutchings, K. H. (2019) Decolonizing Global Ethics: Thinking with the Pluriverse, Vol. 33(Iss. 2)P. 1, DOI:10.1017/S0892679419000169, https://www.proquest.com/docview/2236067951?accountid=13380&pq-origsite=primo
