straight lines
There are no straight lines in nature, but why?
Why do straight lines appear in human constructions?
Maybe it is because of the inexhaustible desire of the human spirit to understand, to abstract, and to know. The line contains a minute amount of information when compared to any natural form. Start point, endpoint. That is it. In the desire to understand and operate within the world, we construct our own worlds which we can process completely. They must be constructed of straight lines, as nothing else bears the simplicity necessary to fade into the background.
Why are skyscrapers devoid of human-scaled massing?
Because doing so would result in such a tremendous aggregation of information that the structures couldn't be understood at a glance. A rectangular prism, however, is easily understood.
Why do straight lines appear in human constructions?
Maybe it is because of the inexhaustible desire of the human spirit to understand, to abstract, and to know. The line contains a minute amount of information when compared to any natural form. Start point, endpoint. That is it. In the desire to understand and operate within the world, we construct our own worlds which we can process completely. They must be constructed of straight lines, as nothing else bears the simplicity necessary to fade into the background.
Why are skyscrapers devoid of human-scaled massing?
Because doing so would result in such a tremendous aggregation of information that the structures couldn't be understood at a glance. A rectangular prism, however, is easily understood.
But are these lines really straight?
There are no straight lines in the world at all. Each line that represents two data entries at the human, coarse-grained scale is infinitely complex under the microscope. If not there, any element above absolute zero vibrates, meaning the line can never be straight across the temporal dimension. The only absolute straight line would be that which is formed at absolute zero - at absolute death.
There are no straight lines in the world at all. Each line that represents two data entries at the human, coarse-grained scale is infinitely complex under the microscope. If not there, any element above absolute zero vibrates, meaning the line can never be straight across the temporal dimension. The only absolute straight line would be that which is formed at absolute zero - at absolute death.
A future humanity will have to (and already does to some degree) contend with the embedded complexity of their abstractions. What was done for the necessity of survival will have to be unlearned. We will confront chaos directly and see into the eye of existence.
procedural design
Procedural design (based on a process that creates form as opposed to an agent consciously creating form) is but a reversal of the straight line. While the forms it creates are seemingly more complex, the conscious agency of the designer is directed towards a process that is just as simple, or even more simple, than the two points of the line.
Similarly, the human brain is often able to abstract this process and render the form with the same simplicity as the process.
The real aim of procedural design is to create true complexity that does not hide in the shadow of abstraction - a difficult task that is possibly beyond the capacities of the single designer (but not the swarm?).
subset
We live in a subset of the real world
A lie evolution has constructed for us out of pure necessity
meaning
Treat life as if the
very fabric of the cosmos
yearns for your contribution
Treat every person as if
they matter
Treat everything you do as if
it matters
Treat each moment as if
it matters
Because the funny thing is
All you have to do is believe
And it will
truth
The lie all believe is the truth
We live in a subset of the real world
A lie evolution has constructed for us out of pure necessity
meaning
Treat life as if the
very fabric of the cosmos
yearns for your contribution
Treat every person as if
they matter
Treat everything you do as if
it matters
Treat each moment as if
it matters
Because the funny thing is
All you have to do is believe
And it will
truth
The lie all believe is the truth