The existence of pleasure is the first mystery. The existence of pain has prompted far more philosophical speculation. Pleasure an...d pain need to be considered together; they are inseparable. Yet the space filled by each is perhaps different. Pleasure, defined as a sense of gratification, is essential for nature's workings. Otherwise there would be no impulse to satisfy the needs which ensure the body's and the species' survival. And survival--for reasons we do not know--is inwritten, inscribed as nature's only goal. Gratification, or its anticipation, acts as a goad. Pain or the fear of pain acts as a warning. Both are essential. The difference between them, considered as opposites, is that pleasure has a constant tendency to exceed its functional purpose, to not know its place.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
In short, the building becomes a theatrical demonstration of its functional ideal. In this romanticism, High-Tech architecture is,... of course, no different in spirit--if totally different in form--from all the romantic architecture of the past.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
In the quilts I had found good objects--hospitable, warm, with soft edges yet resistant, with boundaries yet suggesting a continuo...us safe expanse, a field that could be bundled, a bundle that could be unfurled, portable equipment, light, washable, long-lasting, colorful, versatile, functional and ornamental, private and universal, mine and thine.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Indigenous to Minnesota, and almost completely ignored by its people, are the stark, unornamented, functional clusters of concrete...--Minnesota's grain elevators. These may be said to express unconsciously all the principles of modernism, being built for use only, with little regard for the tenets of esthetic design.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Well designed, fully functional infant. Provides someone to live for as well as another mouth to feed. Produces cooing, gurgling a...nd other adorable sounds. May cause similar behavior in nearby adults. Cries when hungry, sleepy or just because. Hand Wash with warm water and mild soap, then pat dry with soft cloth and talc. Internal mechanisms are self-cleaning... Two Genders: Male. Female. Five Colors: White. Black. Yellow. Red. Camouflage.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
The textile and needlework arts of the world, primarily because they have been the work of women have been especially written out ...of art history. It is a male idea that to be "high" and "fine" both women and art should be beautiful, but not useful or functional.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Stay-at-home mothers, . . . their self-esteem constantly assaulted, . . . are ever more fervently concerned that their offspring t...urn out better so they won't have to stoop to say "I told you so." Working mothers, . . . their self-esteem corroded by guilt, . . . are praying their kids turn out functional so they can stop being defensive and apologetic and instead assert "See? I did do it all."LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Your brain receives, stores, and processes information, dispenses results, and controls your biological equipment. When properly p...rogrammed, computers can do likewise, except that they control electromechanical rather than biological equipment. Beyond these functional similarities, computers and brains have virtually nothing in common. To begin with, the electronic circuits in a computer are not analogous to brain cells. The two differ in appearance, in structure, and in principles of operation. The key functions of information storage and information processing are served in computers by physically different components. In a typical computer, one finds separate CPU and memory units; but even in computer designs where processing circuits are intermixed, the two functions remain distinct. In the brain they are not distinct; they're distributed throughout the brain and intermixed in ways that we don't understand.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »