It’s been a while, but I’m back. The post is in stream of conscious.

Today we broach the subject of…

bum bum bum

…the fall of design!

Whut?

Something I see consistently in younger audiences is a lack of education and problem solving skills, combined with a taste in mediocrity fueled by those who are currently in charge of promoting musicians, tv shows, etc.

TV shows in the 80s and 90s tackled subjects like AIDS (X-Men), losing a loved one (Land Before Time), persecution, hatred, racism, drug use and other subjects that subconsiously and gently prepared us for a world full of serious danger.

I can literally pick the kids from my childhood who did not have such exposure to these issues, and as such, were unprepared and got involved with people who led them into dangerous and self-destructive lifestyles. I believe lack of exposure to these issues in a healthy level contributed to their choices later in life.

Cartoons, movies and content for us who grew up in the 80s did not exactly prepare us completely, but we were exposed to such issues in a healthy way much earlier than kids today are.

Honestly kids are not exposed to much concerning life-altering issues on TV, even with current action and feminine shows. Everyone wants to be non-offensive, non-aggressive. But what that has produced is a mediocre product that does not expose children to important educational subjects while diluting it to the point where they can psychologically handle it.

WHUT?

The counter argument is to say that “Kids today are exposed to things much earlier than we were.”

Note that I said in a healthy way. Today kids are introduced to sex before understanding the consequences of sex, and no amount of school-funded sex-ed or non-sex-ed can truly prepare kids for the consequences of getting pregnant, STDS, and other things if they are exposed to a subject like sex before their psychological development is able to process the complex concepts of sexuality.

Why are you talking about this?

I’m making the point that kids in new generations are not being raised with a level of psychological balance necessary to facilitate needed appropriate mental health levels as adults. Simply following a political affiliation means nothing if they have no problem-solving skills to understand how to weigh options and make choices based on logic.

Again, what does this have to do with Design?

What I see coming is a change in Design based on lack of education, over-simplification and lack of logical progression. I’ve seen more defenses for the mediocre and mundane in the last decade concerning major political, social, and economic issues than has occured historically in the US. The concern for this is that, combined with the “Either Or” mentality, that, if allowed to cement, we will see a drastic change in the logic of design, excellence in design, and adherence to the principles of design.

Are you sure? That’s kind of depressing, Mike.

Well, there’s a second possibility. The second possibility includes the total seizure of design by the educated, and a further widening of the gap between the uneducated and educated peoples. Not as depressing, but still concerning.

So what do we do about it?

Everything we’ve been doing. Educate, educate, educate! Educate yourself, your family, your friends. Because that little nugget of truth may stick with them, and the seed may grow into something palatable one day.

Coffee of the day: Community Coffee with French Vanilla Creamer.