Taitology

French designer Philippe Stark presented at TED this year, giving a talk on the reason that he designs. Laden with analogies and symbolism, Philippe takes you on journey to his bigger picture.

Philippe offers that the further you understand (past and present) and envision (future) the evolution of humanity, the more important you will be to civilization. The deeper you understand the goals and the effect of your actions, the more you can contribute to our change. Our evolution. Our history. Our survival.

Philippe describes the evolution, or progress of society as a jagged line. We move from light to dark; civilization to barbaria. In barbaria, there is no need for beauty or design; there are other priorities. Despite the constant see-saw motion of forward progress and setback, the general trend is towards an increase in human advancement. Society presses on.

The beautiful story of civilization is our evolutionary mutation. For 4 billion years, our world has been changing physically and spiritually, in information and organization. Yet, we have gotten only as far as you see today. Ironically, every generation thinks they are the one; the final man and the end of this evolution. Philippe jests “We have mutate 4 billion years before, but because it’s me, we stop.”

The legacy we leave to the next generation are the tools produced in our lifetime of progress. When your story comes to a close, the next generation gets a blank slate and the freedom to write their own story.