In a world of mass consumption, over indulgence, and wastefulness (all of which seem to be pretty much the same thing) it’s not hard to see why we don’t want to face the music.  Our symphony which we are scoring is about ourselves tomorrow and next week, but not about the next generation, or the one after that.  Tim Brown writes “…Designing with time means thinking of people as living, growing, thinking organisms who can help write their own stories.” This truth is manifested in the fact that human beings are distinguished in our ability to be self-aware (yes, dolphins and a few others may claim this trait), but no other species has the ability to, that we know of, plan.

We can anticipate our own future.

Depending on your stance, the future could look despairingly grim: natural disasters, pandemics, economic meltdowns, global warming, overpopulation, oil spills, melting icecaps, energy depletion, big brother (Google), privacy invasion, and a host of other soon-to-be present dangers.  With considerate and sustainable design becoming a trend however, we may indeed come to welcome what lay ahead – that is, if we treat people as thinking beings and not as a  means to an end.