Reading Response #5

to Artful Design Chapter 5

Reading Response: Bodies Matter

From this week’s reading, I’d like to respond to Artful Design principle 5.4 “Bodies Matter”. When reading about how our bodies are the ultimate user interface between humans and the world, I couldn’t help but think about all the times I consciously think about who I am and what does that mean. As a recent example, on Sunday I bought peanut butter pretzel snacks from Trader Joes. They are already almost gone because they are so addicting. Two nights ago, as I sat working on my visualizer, I was eating some of these and was acutely aware of how my brain’s response to eating one was that it wanted another immediately. Even if I consciously am thinking that I’ve had enough, want to save them for later, or some other reason to stop eating them, my brain tells me I want more. This leads me to question how much of me is actually me. As the chapter states, our body is just an instrument to experience the world. But is our body us? I certainly don’t have a great answer. As I type this, I am noticing that I am craving eating some of those peanut butter snacks right now. Wild how our brains work. Anyway, I like how the book frames our bodies as interfaces to the world because it triggers me to think about who I am and what it means to be me. I think the best answer, as is often the case for these kinds of questions is that it’s a balance/combination of things, in this case my body and brain. But then some could argue that the brain is part of the body which implies that we are just our bodies. But then if we are our bodies then how are they interfaces to the world? I’m starting to confuse myself. I guess part of the beauty of life is the fact that we can grapple with ideas like this, and I think this book does a great job of introducing these kinds of crazy topics and framing things in interesting perspectives. While grappling with many of these ideas that the book prompts me to think about, such as what our body is and is it us, I find myself spending some amount of time thinking about it, failing to find a concrete answer, and then ultimately feeling a sense of satisfaction that the world is so complicated/fascinating/beautiful and we are just here to try and experience it.