This week we read Chapter 8: Manifesto from Artful Design. We’ve finally made it to the 💛 of the book. And the end :’)
This chapter conveys (what I perceive to be) the undercurrent of all of our lectures, and is a wonderful touchstone for many of the themes and real-world examples we’ve been exposed to throughout the course. On the ever-climbing escalator of technological progress, where are we going and to what end? No matter what, we’re going somewhere. But if we aren’t conscious of these questions, we might not like where we end up. As Ge says, “What kind of world do we want to design?” is inextricably tied to “What type of people do we want to be?”.
Having studied Symbolic Systems in undergrad (and now missing it as a Computer Science coterm), I have a particularly soft spot in my heart for anything at the intersection of technology <> consciousness <> morality. And despite the fact that I feel like we’re already living in a dystopia, I love how hopeful this chapter felt. The overall feeling I got reminded me of how I felt reading one of my favorite books, everyone’s a aliebn when ur a aliebn too by jonny sun. (also beautifully designed. if you want a copy lmk!).
Honestly I teared up a little reading this. The call to action here is so earnest — for us to each embrace our own humanity, and to realize things that acknowledge what makes us human. To do the right thing because it is good in itself. To strive for the transcendent, and to try to bring that feeling to the world. To use italics in every sentence, because you’ve been reading a comic book every week for the last 2 months.
I particularly loved this part: “People will not tell you that their need is ‘something that brings me joy’ or ‘delight’ or to ‘comprehend the loneliness in my life.’ You have to infer and internalize these types of things. There has to be an artistic leap, on the part of the designer, that results from seeing and feeling the world at large.” Because that is what it’s all about, isn’t it? Seeing something beautiful, pointing to it, and asking someone if they can see it too.
Anyway, thank you for reading this and for creating this course. Prior to starting the year, and certainly at many points this quarter, I’ve had lots of feelings of self-doubt about my own abilities and what I’m even doing here. I just quit my first job, didn’t really expect to go back to school, not really sure what I’m doing next. Many of my friends (certainly my family lol) were very confused. But even just having made what I’ve made so far, I am so grateful for having taken this class— for all of the hundreds of hours I’ve spent coding, I don’t think I’ve ever coded something just because I wanted to. I don’t think I’d ever made something as an end in itself. I’m so glad I did.
