Segal Design at the Intersections: Reshaping Consciousness: Evolutionary Basis and Design Tools to get to Better Selves and Collectives
Join Segal Design Institute for the fourth talk in the "Design at the Intersections" series, featuring Malcolm MacIver, professor of biomedical engineering and mechanical engineering, and Haoqi Zhang, associate professor of computer science and Allen K. and Johnnie Cordell Breed Junior Professor of Design.
This discussion will be held as a hybrid workshop, with participation welcomed both in person and via Zoom. Please choose one of the registration options.
In-person registration: https://forms.gle/1bchzqciaHGC4Z728
Zoom registration: https://northwestern.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJcpde-gqTwjGtxkmsrU5z3qF8....
Abstract
The avocado is an evolutionary anachronism: It is a fruit that lures animals to eat it, but yet the pit and its transport in the animal to a new good place for an avocado tree are not possible because no animal can swallow it. Ten thousand years ago this was not true, when megafauna roamed; these disappeared roughly around when humans arrived on the scene. A core aspect of consciousness, our ability to think ahead in time, imagine, and plan, is similarly an evolutionary anachronism attuned to an ancestral environment that has long since disappeared. While no pit on which to choke exists, there is a set of behaviors leading to equally dismal outcomes in the long term. It is imperative we understand these anachronistic tendencies of our mind, and at the same time devise systems in which we allow designers to foreground these anachronisms so that their participants do not simply reproduce non-sustainable approaches the anachronisms (unchecked) result in.
We will share an example of such a system for addressing climate change, and the design of a learning environment for college students to learn about their own work process and metacognitive patterns as they grow as people. Moving beyond these specific examples, we will engage the audience in a broader discussion of the opportunities and challenges in rethinking design for evolving our individual and collective consciousness in the modern world.