Design Problem-Solving in the Anthropocene

Abstract

Before we start the 20 minutes, because I know there’s a clock up here, I want to say thank you—thank you to the Society for having me here. I fear I might be the comic relief, if not the village idiot. You’re all incredibly intelligent people and, although I’ve done keynotes and commencement speeches in front of thousands and thousands of people, you scare me. So, just be generous, okay? I am putting myself up here with vulnerability. Please know that. I want to take a moment to thank Bill Brinkman and Sybille Zeldin for extending the invitation to share thoughts with you and, Bill, I hope I don’t get you kicked out, that’s my biggest fear. I also want to thank Annie Westcott for giving me the opportunity to modify the focus of my presentation, and to Jeremy Schoenrock, who graciously received three iterations of this presentation, the most recent of which was last night, because I’m a workaholic insomniac. So, thank you, Jeremy. I also want to apologize to all the physicists in the room, and in particular to the Society’s new inductee, Dr. Sandra Faber. I apologize for appropriating physicists’ information in this presentation. I am a landscape architect who has a passion for understanding all things in the cosmos, as there are so many parallels with the human condition. I also want to ask: Are there any sci-fi nerds in the audience other than me? Oh, thank God! Great! Good. Okay. Let’s begin.