This should have more votes.

"Design is not good unto itself. Design is, in fact, neutral." Truth.

Takes a special kind of courage to deliver such a massive slap in the face to everyone in that room (and likely watching on-line right now) but it is certainly well-deserved and very well-timed.

Yeah this is pretty great. It's the antithesis of what most design talks have become, which is pretty sad.

Shocked there isn't more outrage in this comments section, seen as it's calling out the attitude of most of the users on this site.

Thank you for submitting this, it was truly eyeopening. I've since changed my resume title to Liberal White Guilt Practitioner.

I think this talk is totally on point. But it begs the question, why do people think design can change the world? Where is this idea coming from?

I would guess, I suppose, it has it's roots in the facism-tinged modernism of architects like Le Corbusier. The idea that it's possible to improve society on a grand scale just by redesigning buildings and houses. The idea that organic, vernacular design is inferior and actively worsens our lives compared to the vision of the architect.

This probably isn't what most designers believe, but it's a potent idea that most of us are introduced to during very impressionable years. "Perhaps Le Corb was wrong... but maybe I'll get it right."

Fantastic talk.

watching...pondering~