[-empyre-] seeing yourself a prototype - the limits of open source

[christopher sullivan]

also, if the diaper is comfortable, there is no incentive for the child to
become potty trained. Chris

Quoting davin heckman <davinheckman at gmail.com>:

>  I ran
> > into the case of the disposable diaper and the result it has had in
> > increasing by an average of several years now how long it takes for
> children to be potty
> > trained. On the surface it is valuable to eliminate children's discomfort
> by
> > optimizing the diaper.
> > In fact current diapers increase general comfort by expanding in a
> > soothing way and becoming warm. Likewise diaper changers appreciate all
> > the gadgets to facilitate the change.
> > The problem here is that the same object (the result of dozens of years of
> > prototyping and field testing) is ergonomic at one time scale and not at a
> larger one
> > in time or at the scale of an entire society.
> 
> What a brilliant example!  These sorts of discussions circulate in
> natural parenting groups.  And, in fact, various conceptions of
> comfort circulate around discussions of cloth diapers.  On the one
> hand, there is an argument that children wearing cloth diapers get
> uncomfortable faster, learning to associate the feeling of having to
> pee with immediate discomfort, which alters the parent/child dynamic
> in such a way that you change your child's diapers more quickly and
> frequently, your child might hold it for longer periods of time, and
> will also potty train sooner.  Beyond this, there are folks who
> advocate different kinds of cloth diapers, as well as no diapers (this
> method requires extremely close living, learning to recognize signs,
> and develop awareness at an early stage).
> 
> But at its fundamental level, you (and Cynthia, too, in reaching
> towards an open exchange of knowledge in your fine arts program) are
> gesturing here towards developing singular relationships based in
> trial and error, adaptation and refinement.  I suppose the utopian
> aspect of this type of emergent consciousness is that it is utterly
> directed at improving the communication between two very different
> people.  It cannot restrict itself to a single quality (comfort) and,
> in fact, resists any effort to reduce relationships to a simple
> measure of "effectiveness."  In each case, it involves seeking out the
> other's needs, seeking the other's desires, recognizing the other's
> limitations.....  bringing these uneven and changing considerations
> closer to one's own needs, desires, limitations (all of which, I would
> argue, might be just as surprising as those of the other, when put
> into conversation with the other)....  and forging a relationship that
> is itself just as rich as any of its constituent parts.  Of course
> these things to do not always come up roses, but I'd like to think
> that the terrain of community/communication itself is just as
> rewarding as the ends which we seek.
> 
> As usual, I've gone on too long.  But, I should also recommend an
> article by Irving Goh (which was recommended to me by a bright light
> name Nick Knouf) on Structural Rejects:
> http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/theory_and_event/v012/12.1.goh.html  It
> works very well with the discussions we are having here.
> 
> Davin
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> empyre at lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au
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> 


Christopher Sullivan
Dept. of Film/Video/New Media
School of the Art Institute of Chicago
112 so michigan
Chicago Ill 60603
csulli at saic.edu
312-345-3802