Creation/Speculation/Play

Speculative Everything introduces the idea of using design as a catalyst “for collectively redefining our relationship to reality.” The authors encourage designers to think of design not as a solution to the world's contemporary problems but as a “means of speculating how things could be,” aka, speculative design.

In the first chapter, the authors discuss the kinds of potential futures as illustrated by the futurologist Stuart Candy. These potential futures with differing levels of likelihood are: (1) probable future or what is likely to happen, (2) plausible future or what could happen (the space of scenario planning and foresight), and (3) possible future or scenarios that are scientifically possible with a link between where we are today and where we are in the scenario. Possible future is the space of speculative culture. This space, when separated from marketplace and industries, leads to designs about ideas or conceptual design as the authors call it. The authors also recommend looking beyond designs and “..to explore, hybridize, borrow, and embrace the many tools available for crafting not only things but also ideas— fictional worlds.”

I think the movie Brainstorm, a science fiction, does exactly that. It speculates and proposes an idea of a technology that could lead to a certain future. The movie explores the idea or concept of telepathy and allows one to experience others' feelings. The authors of the book highlight something really interesting—that conceptual designs are not only ideas but also ideals--and we should measure reality against ideals, not the other way around. As said by moral philosopher Susan Neiman, “Ideals are not measured by whether they conform to reality; reality is judged by whether it lives up to ideals.”

Brainstorm is also an example of dark design. As the authors point out, dark design is “not pessimistic, cynical, or misanthropic; it is a counterpoint to a form of design that through denial does more harm than good.(cite)” In these movies of science fiction, the creatives attempt to present ideas through dark design which presents a unpopular opinion.