PAR38 reflector bulb via Phillips.
Many many years ago, while setting up an exhibition in architecture school, I noticed a fellow student struggling with a spotlight.
She was on a chair, that was on a desk, reaching up to adjust a lit spotlight. It was one of those incandescent PAR lamps, which ran very hot.
She reached up, grabbed the plastic collar of the lamp, and quickly withdrew her hand going "ouch ouch." She looked at the lamp. And repeated the whole sequence again. She did this multiple times before finally giving up. I was gobsmacked.
This pattern is widespread throughout society and history. Often more deadly, and less funny.
We, as the world, did not address the root causes of the global financial crisis for example. We just kept on engaging in the same behaviours. Ouch ouch.
Web designers continue to use intrusive pop ups today, when we knew way back when in the early days of web design that pop ups piss off users. Ouch ouch.
Morally bankrupt religions continue to vehemently oppose social progress, sometimes with violence. And yet history has consistently shown us that a religion's very survival is dependent on its ability to adapt to and embrace social progress. Ouch ouch.
As designers and problem-solvers concerned with improvement and betterment, we really need to make sure we are not burning ourselves repeatedly because we are unable to perceive ourselves being caught up in a given situation.
