In addition to consuming a wide range of media, I think it’s helpful to surround yourself with physical objects that remind you to think about how things and the humans who have designed them work. For myself and my young daughter, my apartment includes many such objects. Occasionally, we’ll open up the player piano or turn on the vintage miniature carousel. Several robots (from Kickstarter campaigns, mostly), line a counter, fully charged.

Streets lined with Starbucks and Chipotle, office spaces of cubicles, and homes full of Ikea furniture provide plenty of normalcy. I am not a minimalist.