The essence of a gun

In his biography on Steve Jobs, Walter Isaacson quotes Jobs on saying:

“Products have an essence to them, a purpose for which they were made. If the object were to have feelings, these would be based on its desire to fulfill its essence. The purpose of a glass, for example, is to hold water; if it had feelings, it would be happy when full and sad when empty.”

Now consider this gun:

Look at the handle, with the spaces for the fingers for extra grip. You can see how your fingers would fit there snuggly, with your index finger on the trigger. Pulling the trigger would make your finger line up perfectly with the others.

The essence of this gun is to be shot. It begs to be shot. It’s not built for defence; it is built for offence. And I have to say, that scares me.

Index

1. UNDERSTANDING THE PROBLEM

On sustainability

2. UNDERSTANDING HOW THE WORLD WORKS

On nature

On human nature

On the meaning of life and living

On culture

On morality

3. UNDERSTANDING HOW CHANGE WORKS

On the Next Level Society

On behavioral change

On marketing sustainability

4-A. FIXING HOW WE DESIGN THE WORLD

On naturalness

On naturalness in behaviour

On naturalness in art

Artworks of interest

On naturalness in architecture

Architecture of interest: naturalness

On livable architecture

Architecture of interest: livability

On naturalness in design

Design works of interest

4-B. FIXING OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH OURSELVES

On well-being, self care and happiness

4-C. FIXING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BUSINESS AND SOCIETY

On responsible business

On Positive Design & design ethics

On privacy

Progressieve bureaus van Nederland, 2021

OTHER NOTES AND WRITINGS

On digital design, CX/UX, and technology

On the travel & hospitality industry

Miscellaneous

Other pages