On this week's episode of This American Life (haha that's my Ira impression) -- A well told story about the stories we choose to tell about ourselves, and how those stories "rhyme" with our world view. Emir Kamenica is a Bosnian refugee, who has always been very lucky, and has had his life changed by the kindness of complete strangers. Or at least that's what he thinks.
without thinkin, uh huh
without thinkin, mmm hmm
of the time, of the time, when I've been loved
Probably one of the sweetest songs ever written. I heard it first on a Joan Baez record, but it was written by Donovan. Heres a live version with Pete Seeger on the banjo.
Just read a very thoughtful article over at Brain Pickings. It begins with a quote from an American educator and thinker named Abraham Flexner.
"Now I sometimes wonder whether that current has not become too strong and whether there would be sufficient opportunity for a full life if the world were emptied of some of the useless things that give it spiritual significance; in other words, whether our conception of what is useful may not have become too narrow to be adequate to the roaming and capricious possibilities of the human spirit."
Flexner wrote these words in 1939, and they still ring true today. Too often do we limit ourselves to the pursuit of things that we feel will have practical, useful applications. We remember that as humans there are things we know, things we don't know. But we often forget that there are things we don't know we don't know. If we view the body of human knowledge as complete and rigid we deceive and limit ourselves. Maria Popova speaks to this in her introductory paragraph, stating,
"I frequently worry that we are leaving little room for abstract knowledge and for the kind of curiosity that invites just enough serendipity to allow for the discovery of ideas we didn’t know we were interested in until we are, ideas that we may later transform into new combinations with applications both practical and metaphysical."
Also, both Flexner and Popova remind me that usefulness is actually a subjective term. What one may perceive as being useless another may see as being invaluable. It seems to me Everything has a use, if you just stop and thing about it for a second. Some thing that many dismiss as useless actually serve a great purpose to delight and give us pleasure. And as Charles Eames said, "Who would say that Pleasure is not Useful?"
I had the honor of being one of Law Alsobrook's students when I studied at VCUQ in the spring of my sophomore year. Although it's been two or three years since then, there are things I haven't forgotten about him. He was always full of energy - never in one place for too long, quick to draw a diagram or to scribble notes on the whiteboard. The classes he taught with Leland Hill always seemed to hum with anxiety, excitement, and laughter. Law had high expectations for us students. We had to be dedicated to research, iteration, and making things with intentionality. I look back at that semester now, and I see it as a time when I cut my teeth and began to understand what design is and how it works.
I remember one day Law talked me through a moment of self-doubt and despair. I was designing postage stamps and I wanted so badly to make something meaningful, beautiful, and good. At a certain point in the process I got so stuck and twisted up about these tiny stamps that I broke down. I was beginning to seriously doubt if I was capable of being a designer.
Law told me to trust the process and to not be so hard on myself. He reminded me that they were just stamps, and not the Mona Lisa. He also explained to me that there are naturally going to be moments when you doubt your process and capabilities, and that founduation-shaking mega-existential meltdowns happen from time to time. I remember leaving the studio that day feeling humbled, relieved, and at peace.
Law was one of the first to help me understand what design is and how it works. Here he is again, reminding me and everyone of design's power, intensity, and importance.
Hey all fellow quiet ones, take solace in this stuff:
There seems to be an interesting conversation cropping up all over the world wide web about the relationship between creativity and solitude. I remember being at Scout one day and I was talking with Charley and Angeline (the two brains / designers behind Scout) about how they were planning on restructuring their space so as to facilitate more group conversation and to allow for a more open, collaborative atmosphere. Charley had recently read an article in the New York Times (read it - it's good!) and was rethinking this a little bit. It turns out that a lot of people are their most creative and productive when they are given time and space alone. The group dynamics that are so popular in today's thinking about creative problem solving ("groupthink", the excessive use of the word "collaboration") may have some negative aspects that we didn't think about.
A group situation can very easily distort and transform an individual's thinking. In groups we often find ourselves mirroring the strongest, most magnetic personalities. A lot of other fears come along with group environments, like the fear of distraction and the fear of social judgement. Charley said that although an open space is important, its also important for there to be little enclaves where people can retreat to. Now that I think about it, a little enclave where I could just put my head down and really WORK sounds very nice.
As Susan Cain explains in her talk, This is not to say that team work and the serendipitous exchange of ideas that occurs in open environments should be abolished. It is only to say working environments also need to accommodate those who are more introverted by creating more private spaces as well. After all, the accommodation of introverts is in a company's best interest. Psychologists have found that most creative breakthroughs have occurred in solitude, when one person has had the head space and focus to combine disparate ideas into a new, innovative whole.
I came across this video somewhere on the indexhibit page, and I found it really powerful. I love how he says we are called to action, and action alone. We aren't called to act in order to receive benefits. We are just called to do. The motive does not lie in our own advancement, it lies elsewhere.
On this week's episode of This American Life (haha that's my Ira impression) -- A well told story about the stories we choose to tell about ourselves, and how those stories "rhyme" with our world view. Emir Kamenica is a Bosnian refugee, who has always been very lucky, and has had his life changed by the kindness of complete strangers. Or at least that's what he thinks.
