Leyla Acaroglu
The human brain is a complex mass of energy designed to respond to the world around it, and more specifically, designed to make effective decisions about how to survive. Our species has evolved in its entirety on this simple premise; from times of limited resources during the era of hunting and gathering to now, where there is obscene abundance available (to some anyway), the brain has endured the steadfast responsibility of moving humans forward by working to escape pain and move toward pleasure, or, still true in many cases, basic survival.
With all this rapid post-industrial revolution growth and technological advancement, we are beginning to see the fall-out of the avoidance of a singular question: how does what we design, design us? I’m thoroughly fascinated by the cognitive implications of what we create. It’s no doubt that design and technology have radically changed humanity in extremely positive ways — we live in one of the safest times in human history. But, is the rapid rate of technological growth superseding our ability to cognitively understand the implications?
In part three of this series of reflections on how design designs us, I am exploring some brain-provoking arenas of design and technology ethics as well as exposing the conundrum that we currently face as a species.
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