A Sense of Design: The Embedded Motives of Nature, Culture, and Future - Principia Designae: Pre-Design, Design, and Post-Design - page 45

humans. We can identify these strong environmental motives as tendencies toward
sustainable design. A question that has yet to be addressed is whether we can apply
our design knowledge (obtained in the past century) to design a future society that
protects nature.
4.2.2 Social Motives for Design in Nature
“Sustainability” is an example of a social motive derived from a design perspective
based on critical issues related to design and nature. We can follow the process of
social events and design discussions related to this issue. The concept of “sustain-
ability” is the clearest sign of an advanced society; in the past, this was an intangible
concept. The critical issue is how the shift from intangible to tangible occurred.
Additionally, academic contributions to this shift must also be confirmed, as they
represent “social motives” and have the power to change design directions.
Young people are largely responsible for the strong movement toward social
motives that privilege sustainability. “I am fighting for my future.” Severn Suzuki's
unforgettable speech at the United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro stirred
the emotions of people from many countries in 1992. Nobody could respond to her
simple, but difficult, request: “If you don't know how to fix it, please stop breaking
it.” She concluded that “parents should be able to comfort their children by saying
that 'everything's going to be all right. It's not the end of the world. And we're
doing the best we can.' But I don't think you can say that to us anymore.”
Twenty years later, we are reminded of her request while we reconsider the
actions made to address her call.
To respond to her call, a future-orientated view of design—one that considers
our children's future—is needed. To understand the embedded problems of our
society and to become enlightened by overcoming the “ego,” each individual must
engage in careful self-investigation and become a deep thinker. Such awareness
underlies design thinking, “deepening” it so that it can contribute to an advanced
society.
Extinction is the sacrifice of design, that is to say, the result of human creativity.
“Lonesome George,” who died June 24, 2012, was the last Pinta Island tortoise
(“Geochelone nigra abingdoni,” a type of Galapagos tortoise). Certainly, the tor-
toise did not need the name bestowed upon him by humans as much as he needed
the company of another tortoise of the same species. The WWF promotes the
conservation of the natural environment and all animal species by using the living
planet index (LPI), an indicator of the state of global biological diversity based on
trends in vertebrate populations of species from around the world. Specifically, wild
animals (e.g., tigers) have been suffering in recent years. In 2012, there were 28%
fewer animals than recorded in 1970.
On the other hand, the press has reported new types of viruses, bacteria, and
other microorganisms as the result of mutation: drug-resistant mutations like
“NDM-1” (New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase 1) exist because of these mutations.