Transcriber: Elena Patarini Slawinski Reviewer: Denise RQ
Perhaps you've heard it said before
that the world's oldest profession is that of prostitution.
Prostitution is thought to be by a lot of people
the world's oldest profession.
I don't think so.
I do know that prostitution is all about trading sex
for things of value.
But before you can trade things of value for anything,
you have to have things of value.
So when we think about the very first humans,
very first humans on this Earth,
for them, things of value were literally found in nature,
all around them, on the ground.
They were sticks, and stones, and bones, and antlers,
and minerals, and for some, shells,
and others, obsidian, volcanic glass.
In time, people learned to think of modifying these found objects,
and they did just that.
So they took their sticks, their stones, their bones,
and all the rest,
and they cut them, and carved them, and drilled them,
and sharpened them, and pointed them;
they did all kinds of things
to make them more useful and more valuable.
In time, people then realized
that they can actually join these things together,
these found, modified objects.
And they did just that.
And, perhaps, I am sure all of you have seen in museums,
examples of stone arrow heads
that had been attached to wooden shafts to make arrows.
Or maybe you've seen larger spear points made out of stone or obsidian,
and attached to larger, stronger, straighter shafts of wood to make spears.
Early people, of course, used these to hunt and to defend themselves.
In time, people also learned that they could fabricate things of value;
that is to take things from, just literally, all around them,
just raw materials,
and make things that would be useful to them.
For example, they took clay and fire and made ceramics and pottery.
They learned how to take grasses and weave them
and make sandals, and mats, and baskets.
Now, if we stop just for a minute and think about this,
because I am trying to remind you
that we are talking about early human beings,
some of the first people on Earth,
this sequence of found, modified, joined, and fabricated objects of value
in and of itself, it's quite extraordinary.
And these people were as well.
But frankly, that's just half the story.
The other half of the story has to do with the fact
that they brought extraordinary cognitive skills
to this sequence I've just described.
First, they learned how to make observations,
and they got really good at making observations
because before long,
they learned that not only were they making observations
but they were been observed.
And so, as part of their making observations,
they learned that they could identify
voids, and problems, and challenges, and opportunities.
They then conceptualized, they visualized,
they gathered materials, and they made models,
and they tested them through trial and error,
and they assessed them, and they refined them,
and ultimately, these early humans produced an extraordinary array
of designed images, designed objects, and designed spaces.
Spaces being places they could occupy.
Now, if we stand back and look at this sequence of behaviors,
this sequence of methodology that is making observations,
identifying opportunities, conceptualizing, visualizing,
modeling, testing, assessing, refining
and ultimately, producing something of value that's original,
in these terms, today, we would call that designing.
And that's why I think
the world's oldest profession is that of designer.
I think designing is really the world's oldest profession.
I have no clue as to when prostitution was really invented.
I can only guess as to how.
And my guess is that, early on, there were people in Africa, in a cave,
sitting around the fire, men and women,
and I think there was a male, a man, a guy, a dude, go figure,
who looked around and identified a female that he thought was attractive,
and he stood up, and he said these words for the very first time,
"Wow! I've got an idea."
(Laughter)
Now, I really value this phrase, "Hey! I've got an idea!",
because I am a designer, and I've designed products for 48 years,
and I can only hope that every day of my life
I have reasons to get up and say, "Hey! I've got an idea."
But not all ideas are good ideas,
and prostitution certainly brings with it
lots of problems, and issues, and questions.
So, few observations of my own
about these early designer hunter-gatherers;
"designer hunter-gatherers", I like that.
Number one observation
is that we've had designers all through human history.
Secondly, we self-select ourselves to do this work.
No one makes us do this.
What we do is we look around, and when the culture says to us,
"Who's going to create these images, and objects, and spaces?",
a few of us always raise our hands.
We're not doing this because we are heroic,
we do it simply because designing is exciting, challenging, wonderful,
hard, difficult, challenging
- I think I've already said that -
fun, and important work.
Third observation has to do with the fact
that we have always, as designers,
we've always had a three-part point of view.
And that is to say that, throughout time,
designers have always oriented themselves to have these three points of view.
One is we're concerned and aware of what was,
we are concerned about what is,
and we're really preoccupied with what can be.
And so the what-was part is obvious, I think;
the more we know about history, our human history,
the more informed our designs will be.
I don't want to design things that have already been designed,
solve old problems yet again, make the same old mistakes.
Frankly, I'd rather make new mistakes and learn some things.
But basically speaking,
the more we know about human history, the more informed our designs are.
As far as being aware of what-is,
we designers live in the same world you do,
and so, every day we get up, go to work, and raise our families,
and we think about things
that are happening locally, and nationally, and globally,
and those things too inform our design work.
But it is this third category that is most intriguing to us,
those of us, again, who are designers.
And that is this area of being preoccupied with what can be.
I get up every day thinking
about what can be, what isn't, what could be, what should be,
and that's why I am a designer.
My fourth observation has to do with methodology.
It seems to me that it's extraordinary, it's really extraordinary,
that the same methodology that I use,
that we've all used, all designers have used throughout time,
has essentially stayed the same.
Now, circumstances have changed, technologies have changed,
consequences and contexts have changed,
- as a matter of fact, everything has changed -
but in fact, we use the same methodology.
So today, we still make observations, we identify opportunities,
we conceptualize, we visualize, we model, we test, we assess, we refine,
and, hopefully, we produce objects, and images, and spaces
that are of use to you.
Another observation has to do with magic.
If I had magical powers, then I could simply stamp my fingers
and make, literally, remove from our lives
a redesigned image, and a redesigned object,
and a redesigned space; just take it from us.
You do realize we all would be sitting here, right now, naked in the dirt,
just like those people in the cave.
So, last observation.
Creativity is not just for designers.
Creativity is about being human,
and that's about all the invitation you need.
So, I'll leave you with a challenge,
a challenge for each and everyone of you:
if what you are doing, if what you are thinking,
if what you are about to do,
doesn't at least attempt to inform, and advance, and refine
what it means to be human,
then don't do it.
Thank you.
(Applause)