The Future of Fashion?
- Thread starter Lena
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I just feel... that some things are better without the help of technology. I'm not yet educated enough on this new concept to decide whether or not it is. Though this concept is very far down the line (as I see it, anyway), I think it would be hard for many to accept...
A very interesting article.
A very interesting article.
didn't ani difranco say "every tool is a weapon if you hold it right"?
(travolta quoted)
Dr. Vandana Shiva:[font=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular] [/font]They are just using the fact that you are intervening at a deeper level in living structures and equating it with superior, with human progress. There is no correlation between these two things.
i think that we have been trained to think of evolution as a process of improvement, of progress towards something superior, rather than as random mutations, some of which prove to be longer-lived than others.
and i think that it is a good point that scientific researchis funded, often by the military or by wealthy individuals/corporations, through universities and colleges, and that that research is not without bias.
Dr Shiva contradicts him/her (?) self when implying that there is a causal relationship between 1) social engineers and scientists wanting something to prove racial/ethnic superiority and 2) the discovery of DNA. either DNA exists or it doesn't, right? these kinds of illogical connections weaken an argument that may have good points, IMHO.
because *intention* is everything. how the information is used, and who controls its use, is the real ethical question. if you must think of DNA as a property (which is as absurd as thinking of earth and sky as individual property, but these are the times we live in) DNA is the ultimate collectively, joint owned property. every living structure shares it. we share vast amounts of genetic information with every mammal on the planet, and quite a lot with bugs and plants and parasites. do we take that information and use it to help heal the planet (and to play dress up and grow feathers and night vision eyes and gills), or do we use it to create a master race where someone owns the right to the air you breathe and the microbes in it?
either way, it's clear, we are going to go somewhere! this is such an interesting discussion, i'm really enjoying it.
meme
(travolta quoted)
Dr. Vandana Shiva:[font=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular] [/font]They are just using the fact that you are intervening at a deeper level in living structures and equating it with superior, with human progress. There is no correlation between these two things.
i think that we have been trained to think of evolution as a process of improvement, of progress towards something superior, rather than as random mutations, some of which prove to be longer-lived than others.
and i think that it is a good point that scientific researchis funded, often by the military or by wealthy individuals/corporations, through universities and colleges, and that that research is not without bias.
Dr Shiva contradicts him/her (?) self when implying that there is a causal relationship between 1) social engineers and scientists wanting something to prove racial/ethnic superiority and 2) the discovery of DNA. either DNA exists or it doesn't, right? these kinds of illogical connections weaken an argument that may have good points, IMHO.
because *intention* is everything. how the information is used, and who controls its use, is the real ethical question. if you must think of DNA as a property (which is as absurd as thinking of earth and sky as individual property, but these are the times we live in) DNA is the ultimate collectively, joint owned property. every living structure shares it. we share vast amounts of genetic information with every mammal on the planet, and quite a lot with bugs and plants and parasites. do we take that information and use it to help heal the planet (and to play dress up and grow feathers and night vision eyes and gills), or do we use it to create a master race where someone owns the right to the air you breathe and the microbes in it?
either way, it's clear, we are going to go somewhere! this is such an interesting discussion, i'm really enjoying it.
meme
meme527 said:
One group does this:
>to help heal the planet (and to play dress up and grow feathers and night vision eyes and gills), <
Another group does this:
> or do we use it to create a master race where someone owns the right to the air you breathe and the microbes in it? <
When group two tries to enforce over group 1, group 1 assigns its best mutants to the task, and you get a conflict from which very good sci fi emanates. Maybe dragons slipped through from the future.
CBCB
PS: The novel Oryx & Crake by Margaret Atwood goes into mutant-land, with intriguing results supposedly - I haven't read it.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0385721676
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tinuvielberen
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Lena said:
Pearson should reference William Gibson, who anticipated this concept back in 1997:
http://www.williamgibsonbooks.com/books/idoru.asp
Remind me never to go looking for pictures again. The journal Indian Pediatrics has a case study of a 'True Tail in a Neonate' from 1998, with pix. I'll decline to provide the link. In this case, parents were urged to have it removed - and refused, even upon followup consultations! Which means, unless something's changed since, there's an Indian kid about 7 years old running around w/a tail.
(No to belittle the situation. Just interesting what genetics are 'acceptable' vs. shunned.)
(No to belittle the situation. Just interesting what genetics are 'acceptable' vs. shunned.)
I love the idea of emotionally responsive clothing. I'm not sure if I'd like the result.
Well...actually, I'm not sure if I do like the idea of it. One of my favorite things about fashion is finding pieces and ways to express my emotions, so this would just make it too easy. Hmmm...lots to think about...
Well...actually, I'm not sure if I do like the idea of it. One of my favorite things about fashion is finding pieces and ways to express my emotions, so this would just make it too easy. Hmmm...lots to think about...
Actually this all will probably happen within our time. Right now they have a crude version of optical camoflage like right out of predator. They also have pigmy goats right now with spider genes that produce the silk in their milk which then can be processed into one of the toughest threads ever, stronger then metal, which is mostly being developed for military and police industries. Eventualy all this will trickle down from specialized industies to the rich, and then the rest of us which is the same thing that happened to the Hummer and now the middle class got the watered down version H2. The thing is that all this techno fashion will only be a segment of Fashion like athletic wear is now since not everyone will embrace or desire this. It will be interesting but may end up being just a bust and a fad in the same way that Hypercolor was in the 90's but on a larger scale. It is typical with humanity that when there is an unlimited access we quickly get bored and even depressed with the overall situation. We as people actually prosper within visible limitations since there seems to be a strong feeling of comfort in having them. Not to say that limits shouldn't be challenged, it's just that when there are no boundry lines we quickly become disoriented and sink into an abyss. We realize that this is more fancy decoration but where is the soul in it. I think what will prosper out the other side of mere cute ideas is clothes that have more of a medical point and actually help heal and protect the body from diseases. This has been currently worked with by some designers and should continue to become more realized as time goes on. I'm sure we'll also see this more with different segments of the work force like mailmen, stockbrokers, and such where their clothes are designed with intergrated technology to help accomplish whatever desired task. I think what will be more of a future sticky issue is when we all can have body cameras filming every moment in our life. There are very strong pros and cons on both side of this and there will be numerous legal ramifications. The genesis of this is with the podcasting that is the "new thing" with the geeks of the world. What it all comes down to is that our world is going to mirror more the computer metaphor for society. So instead of us operating in industrialized fashion where the material item is the end goal, "in the future" software will be more valued over hardware. There is paper right now that acts like a black & white video screen but buying one of these won't be the end of print media. It just shifts the emphasis over to content, actually websites and especially the blogs are already doing this, so you'll pay more for data than actual object. This will be the same with the clothes since you'll still have to buy the designer image/patterns, and the information will be the industry. These will be some interesting times.
Maybe as they futher develope transparent ceramics and metal you'll get your wish. Here are some pics of the opti-flage in its infancy.
Now as I said this is crude, done with projectors, but it is only a matter of time till the outfit has the abillity to scan its surrounding and is a self-supporting system.
Now as I said this is crude, done with projectors, but it is only a matter of time till the outfit has the abillity to scan its surrounding and is a self-supporting system.
That's nuts.Apparently style's selective for survival!
Stegosaur Plates And Spikes For Looks Only, Researchers Say
The bizarre plates and spikes that lined the backbones of the long-extinct stegosaurs were probably extreme examples of the often elaborate and colorful displays developed by animals to recognize fellow members of their species...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/05/050517112628.htm
Stegosaur Plates And Spikes For Looks Only, Researchers Say
The bizarre plates and spikes that lined the backbones of the long-extinct stegosaurs were probably extreme examples of the often elaborate and colorful displays developed by animals to recognize fellow members of their species...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/05/050517112628.htm
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cbcb said:
cbcb, have you heard of sexual selection?:
"...male courtship extragances reflect the innate tastes of females without abandoning the idea that those tastes are of use to the females in that they select the best genes for the next generation. A peacock's tail is, simultaneously, a testament to naturally selected female preferences for eyelike objects, a runaway product of despotic fashion among peahens, and a hadicap that reveals its possessor's condition."(Ridley 1993: 167, The Red Queen)
the (basic) idea being that females (peahens, in this case) select males based on traits that only the most fit for mating will possess (wide shoulders, flashy cars), and so female sexual selection is one of the driving forces behind evolution.
gotta love that idea!!!
meme
Meme,
Was vaguely aware of the peacock-strutting phenomenon but hadn't pegged a term to it. The ways in which modern humans exhibit similar is a marvel, isn't it?
Forgive me for this, but a friend forwarded this stupid little story that for some reason made me laugh:
Was vaguely aware of the peacock-strutting phenomenon but hadn't pegged a term to it. The ways in which modern humans exhibit similar is a marvel, isn't it?
Forgive me for this, but a friend forwarded this stupid little story that for some reason made me laugh:
An old man was sitting on a bench at the mall. A young man walked up to the bench and sat down. He had spiked hair in all different colors. Green, Red, Orange, Blue, and Yellow. The old man just stared and stared.
Every time the young man looked, the old man was staring. The young man finally said sarcastically, "What's the matter old timer, never done anything wild in your life?"
Without batting an eye, the old man replied, "Got drunk once and had $ex with a peacock. I was wondering if you were my son."
Every time the young man looked, the old man was staring. The young man finally said sarcastically, "What's the matter old timer, never done anything wild in your life?"
Without batting an eye, the old man replied, "Got drunk once and had $ex with a peacock. I was wondering if you were my son."
