I was reading a recent article on the world’s most powerful supercomputer, the Tianhe-2, literally translating to “The Milky Way 2”. The computer is capable of 36,860 trillion calculations per second! My initial thoughts were related to a specific question, how could human beings achieve such a feat of creation? We can look around at the world around us and see so many impressive things that were created by human beings. It makes me wonder, why do we have a desire to create? Or more appropriately, why do we want to design the world around us?
The World’s Most Powerful Supercomputer, the Tianhe-2.
The Tianhe-2 is a technological marvel, but the general idea of design started a long time ago. Since the beginning of humanity and our world we have discovered design all around us. Even within us there seems to be an innate desire to create and design things to improve our lives and the lives of those around us. Where does this desire come from?
As small children, human beings seem to have an insatiable desire for creation. For instance, this desire can especially be seen in the cliche of having a young child draw on one of the walls in the home. Yes, it can be a very detrimental act for the interior of the home depending on what drawing tool was used, but why do we feel this desire to take what we are seeing inside of our minds and bring it into reality?
This desire to express ourselves through acts of creation is what sets the human race apart from the rest of the animal kingdom. Yes, there are other animals with advanced intellectual capabilities, but there are no others that compare to the characteristics of the human brain. The human brain uses this ability of creation to improve the world around us. Humans have been using their brains to do this since the dawn of civilization. From the creation of tools like an axe, to the creation of the world wide web, we have been constantly creating things to help ourselves and to help other people. I will go farther, and say that the act of creation is the search for truth itself.
The act of problem solving is a desire to restore the truth that was lost through loss of focus and loss of stewardship. Problem solving done effectively is intuitive and seamless. If the solution to the problem is true, it will leave people in awe at how simple, how elegant, and how beautiful it is. An elegant design, creation, and/or solution is truly beautiful. I will say that every act of creation or design that has positively impacted humanity has been elegant or beautiful in one form or another.
Some reminders for me in physics are the equations of relativity from Albert Einstein, the equations of celestial mechanics from Johannes Kepler, the equations of classical mechanics from Isaac Newton, the research and inventions of Nikola Tesla, and the research of R. Buckminster Fuller. Reminders for elegant design in product or place design are Dieter Rams from Braun, James Dyson from Dyson, the architect Frank Lloyd Wright, and Jonny Ives from Apple. I am a big fan of Dieter Rams, and he has given a list of his ten principles of design, which heavily influenced Jonny Ives of Apple.
The 10 Principles of Design, according to Rams, are:
- Good Design Is Innovative
- Good Design Makes a Product Useful
- Good Design is Aesthetic
- Good Design Makes a Product Understandable
- Good Design is Unobtrusive
- Good Design is Honest
- Good Design is Long-Lasting
- Good Design is Environmentally Friendly
- Good Design is Thorough Down to the Last Detail
- Good Design is as Little Design as Possible
Design and creation have greatly improved our lives. Great acts of design and creation have been cemented into history. Just think about the seven wonders of the world, which are amazing engineering feats of design and creation. The great Pyramid of Giza is still standing today, and it is one of the most mysterious yet elegant objects of design and creation that we have today. Which brings me to why I think that we have design and the ability to create and design products and services for other people.
God is the true creator and designer. He formed the universe, every galaxy, our own solar system, and our own planet. The design in the universe is incredibly evident. So many physicists and scientists have agreed about the design of the universe. Wernher von Braun (Pioneer rocket engineer) said, “I find it as difficult to understand a scientist who does not acknowledge the presence of a superior rationality behind the existence of the universe as it is to comprehend a theologian who would deny the advances of science.” For other quotes about scientists discussing the design of the universe, please click here.
God created our third planet from the sun and placed it exactly where it needed to be to sustain his greatest creation, the human race. We are the pinnacle of his design because we are created in his image. The Imago Dei, the image of God, is why human beings are set apart from the rest of creation. By being created in the image of God, He gave us the ability that he has to design and create. We as the human race are to use this entrepreneurial ability to create and design solutions for our problems so that every person has a better quality of life. My relationship with God has greatly impacted my ability to see the incredibly designed systems in the world and universe around me. There are times when I spend in the prayer that the only thing that I can do is bow down before God.
There are situations when I spend time in prayer where God’s presence is so overwhelming and His glory is made known to me in ways that I have never been able to comprehend before. It reminds me that God is purpose and provides purpose. Purpose is the reason for which something is done or created for or for which something exists. Reason is a cause, explanation, or justification for an action or event. To reason is to think, understand, and form judgments by a process of logic. Logic is reasoning conducted or assessed according to strict principles of validity. Validity is the quality of being logically or factually sound; soundness or cogency. Cogency is the quality of being clear, logical, and convincing; lucidity. Lucid is defined as expressed clearly; bright or luminous. Luminous is bright or shining, especially in the dark. Light expels the darkness. Light is the natural agent that stimulates sight and makes things visible. It is also defined as making something start to burn; ignite. Light makes visible what was once invisible. Light displays and exemplifies reality. Reality is the world or the state of things as they actually exist. Scripture says Jesus is the light of the world. He expels the darkness and illuminates the world to show us reality. He ignites within us a purpose to have a relationship with him and create our own light, which shines forth to other people. Jesus is purpose, and He is light, therefore He is reality. We do not live in reality without Jesus Christ. When scripture says apart from him we can do nothing, it literally means we are blind, deaf, mute, and paralyzed when it comes to observing and processing the world around us. There is no purpose to design and creation without God. There is no purpose for anything worth doing without the existence of God. In essence, there is no life, no true existence, without Jesus Christ.
[…] when you choose to open a store. Foot traffic is important, and promoting your business to encourage foot traffic is going to grow your customer base as well as your profits. When it comes to foot traffic for your […]