The Big Picture

If we are to believe that design can affect positive social development, the theory of Organic Multiplicity is an attempt to create self-sustaining systems of economically and culturally dynamic coexistence. To this extent, Organic Multiplicity strives to understand and practice design in a manner that integrates and harmonizes with the systems and cycles of nature, rather than the abstract and isolated notions of human ambition and arrogance. Our continued existence will be contingent upon the sustainable nurturance of our environment and economy, while accepting, and indeed celebrating, our cultural diversity.
A benevolent and multifaceted orientation toward design, industry, and the global community and environment will help us successfully overcome the looming ecological and social challenges that are an inescapable part of our shared future.

A Break from the Past

Until modern times, we have always struggled to survive within a challenging and hostile environment, filled with creatures and environments beyond our complete control. As such, the traditional relationship to our world has always been confrontational. We desired to conquer and tame nature, in order to build a more hospitable and accommodating environment, suitable to our liking and ease.

With the advent of industrialism and modernism, humankind gained the ability to tame our environment. We have proven ourselves to be quite adaptive and have we have spread ourselves widely upon the planet, consuming and manipulating nature as we go. But we have failed to fully realize or appreciate our interconnectedness and dependence to the very natural systems we have chosen to combat.

By rescinding our traditionally anthropocentric, adversarial, and exploitive relationship to the earth, Organic Multiplicity promotes a more holistic and supportive perspective to human achievement. In order to secure our long-term existence on this planet, we must find ways to coexist in relative balance or parity within our environment and our cultural diversities. By acknowledging the necessity of harmonious and sustainable existence within our environment, we will be able to create a truer form of modernism, more contextually appropriate to realities of the current condition of humanity.

A General Understanding

If we are to be completely open in our minds we must accept the fundamental
reality that the earth is a closed system. Every action taken with respect to the environment or a social/cultural condition does indeed have corresponding reaction. By accepting the finite nature of our environment and the cultures that reside within it, we must embrace certain intrinsic ramifications.

As our global culture and information technology progress, it is not unreasonable to foresee us as an essentially globally interconnected society. Added to this condition is the realization that there will surely be almost no untapped natural resource nor any naive "cheap" labor force left available. Forced to thrive in a closed, finite system, industry will be required to develop sustainable methods of production and consumption, within an economic environment of nearly uniform labor costs and globally interconnected financial systems and institutions. To this extent, we must find ways of developing systems of relative economic parity and sustainable consumption.

Realizing Opportunities

By retooling some of the fundamentals of our relationship to the environment, we will enable a much-needed retooling of "old-world" industrial and capitalist systems toward sustainable consumerism. Those that take up the challenge of sustainable consumption will benefit from the independence of self-determination in a more open, less compromised environment that will be available later.

By striving to see the subtle wisdom in the complex fabric of natural systems and phenomena, we may gain insight into developing our technology to be less intrusive and yet more functional and effective. In essence, we look to nature to find inspiration for progressive and constructive human evolution.

Each of the multitude of micro-environments of the earth contain environmental and social conditions that affect the contextual nature of human existence. By understanding and validating the many diverse cultural perspectives and insights of humanity, we are able to obtain a deeper, more open wisdom of our world, simultaneously admiring human adaptability and individuality while embracing our common threads of reason and emotion. In accepting this holistic view, we are able to recognize the gestalt value of self-expression and identity in creating more vibrant and dynamic human culture.