I’m not entirely sure that we want to go the full route on “small”. I read some proponents of “small” sometimes (like Dmitri Orlov) and they can sound like their ideal human society is one where we’re no different from animals, throwing aside quaint notions like exploration and progress. What is there to live for if there is no horizon?
Esn: Some primitivists certainly have that view — pretty sure Orlov is not among them.
No fear; in the future there will still be music and chess and sailboats and poetry and fashion and thousands of other human things. Culture will still evolve and have ideals and motives. There just won’t be things like jumbo jets and golf courses in the desert.
It’s no fun wearing a parka all winter because your house is so large you can no longer afford to heat it in winter. Those cathedral ceilings allow you to relive the cold misery of the medieval castle with a lot less drafts. I like my cozy smaller house.
August 21, 2012
I like this.
I’m not entirely sure that we want to go the full route on “small”. I read some proponents of “small” sometimes (like Dmitri Orlov) and they can sound like their ideal human society is one where we’re no different from animals, throwing aside quaint notions like exploration and progress. What is there to live for if there is no horizon?
August 21, 2012
Surely horizons are a tad 19th century?
August 21, 2012
Esn: Some primitivists certainly have that view — pretty sure Orlov is not among them.
No fear; in the future there will still be music and chess and sailboats and poetry and fashion and thousands of other human things. Culture will still evolve and have ideals and motives. There just won’t be things like jumbo jets and golf courses in the desert.
August 21, 2012
Both their flags in panel one are surrender flags.
Perhaps they’re saying don’t go big or small– either extreme will end with you having to surrender.
August 21, 2012
If you’ve never been in a Smart 4 Two on a highway surrounded by SUVs you’re missing out on a Funhouse Ride of Terror.
August 21, 2012
I’m voting for the “just right” party this November. Goldilocks 2012!
August 21, 2012
Keep the small sign, just get a big magnifying glass.
August 21, 2012
So what the beardo really means is that medium is the message.
August 22, 2012
I need more room for all my little stuff.
August 22, 2012
Let’s hear it for Cat! No longer are we, as modern people in a first world country, stuck with the false dichotomy of having to go big or go home.
August 23, 2012
I like home.
August 23, 2012
Richard: but that’s exactly what’s great about them! Striving for progress and the betterment of humankind is utterly retro-cool!
October 21, 2013
It’s no fun wearing a parka all winter because your house is so large you can no longer afford to heat it in winter. Those cathedral ceilings allow you to relive the cold misery of the medieval castle with a lot less drafts. I like my cozy smaller house.