Yesterday, at a Design Anthropology lecture, I asked the lecturer this question:
"Do you think that designing products to meet the needs of a consumer causes consumers to rely on comforts and only want these comforts, or better designs, because the products can be redesigned? It seems as though, especially in first world countries, products create culture, rather than supplement culture."
She was deeply confused, could not answer, and another woman in the far back of the room had to automatically chime in to remind her that I had asked her a philosophical question regarding her belief system; to find out who she is.
It is extremely exciting to find out that the people with PhDs only get what they want because they are after the money involved, have no real opinions, and probably went into Anthropology having them. Where these viewpoints go is not for me to know. What I have realized is that if someone cannot tell you their whole-hearted, gut ethical feelings, they only worked hard enough to build clout with their peers. IE: letters of recommendation, public relations, and so on. I on the other hand, have a purpose, and have no need for alienation from myself; I don't EVER want to fit in just to "get ahead", I want to be so outcast that I create unknown worlds in which I am happy, in which no one can figure out why.
Alternatively, and therefore, the lesson I learned, is have hard-working ethics to a degree, but never, never obtain a PhD just to work for a company like Kinkos, Pepsi, or any cell phone company just to "make ends meet".
She said she was "into" health food.
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Ok im not sure why im wasting my time writing this but…
ReplyDeleteWow, what a shockingly arrogant blog post. The woman didn't understand your bizarrely baffling question (which by the way sounds like more like a statement than a question) so you accuse her of having no real opinions and only being in her line of business for the money! and then write about this on the web. It can be very difficult to field questions during a lecture especially when they make little sense, I hope one day you will find this out for yourself and regret ever being so utterly self-absorbed and pompous
I think that it is okay to voice my opinions when someone else's values aren't easily distinguished. If I seem "arrogant", it is only because I have high standards when it comes to not promoting human overconsumption, materialism, and the overuse or manipulation of natural resources, which is in a way, her job to help advocate.
ReplyDeleteShe could not distinguish between her job and questioning what it does to the world around us. I understand communication and public relations are important, but we are also losing our original cultures because of simple devices like cell phones.
I merely hoped that she would say that life is a paradox, or that she has weighed the options of not promoting over-consumptiion, materialism, and the use or manipulation of natural resources, and came to a conclusion about having to promote them.
I am not self-absorbed, I just think without limits.
You are beautiful words and enigmatic letters that follow your style- the very picture of innocent turmoil. Somehow, your summer should be a spirit filled one.
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