May 19, 2008
Aadividya :
Original, Authentic, Axiomatic Knowledge
The philosophical design basis for
AND
C
Three Points of a stable
Philosophy
1. Radical
Innovation (In-Ovation)
2. Permaculture
(True Sustainability)
3. Appropriate,
Tangential and Homeopathic use of Technology
My design principles:
1.
Human’s are endo-skeletal creatures. Our world (products) are increasingly exo-
skeletal. Thus, we cannot
interface smoothly with out own designs.
2.
All good design is functionally and schematically
fractal.
3.
We persist in designing for first order effects
(slap-ouch) while either ignoring or damping higher order causes and effects.
4.
Two of the greatest technical minds of the last 2-3
centuries, Nikolai Tesla and Viktor Schauberger worked in the space of harmonies
and resonance. Tesla had intuitively mastered electromagnetic resonance and Schauberger
had done likewise for bio-mechanical resonance. Buckminster Fuller was the one
who brought the subtle idea of a mechanical matrix into the picture. He coined tensegrity as the balance of
opposing tensions. When evolved into tension which I believe visible
(measurable tension is always a subset of, you get torsional integrity. These
are the three cornerstones of my design philosophy :
v Design for
the endo-skeletal creature
v Harness
harmonics
v Torsional
Integrity
v The
visible universe, fractally speaking is mechanically centripetal for growth and
centrifugal for dissolution. Our
designed world is entirely centrifugal for deceptive growth (deceptive because
the entire lifecycle is never taken into account) and only occasionally
positively centripetal.
v All
designs should embody relaxed tension.
v We are
lopsided in our expenditure and focus if we study the current technology
adoption curve. Far too many technologies get buried in the dusty, un-evolved,
while we raise to spend money on user interface design. The missed point is that
the root is weakly developed, you will never get a big tree.
v The exact
same argument as above, when it comes to product life-cycle spending far too
little in code development and far too much on market development. It looks
like as a technological people, our Souk mentality has reached critical
mass.
v We have to
contort to our designs, whereas, our designs should mould to us. The magic is in designing for second and
higher order effects of two dis-similar planes / waves meeting. Call it, ripple effect design.
Some
Core Observations & Guiding Ideas
v Permaculture
is sustainable philosophy in action.
v Appropriate
technology is always the better solution.
v Properly
empowered, people can move mountains
v Change is
always uncomfortable and always possible.
v Small
changes can have big impacts (Trim Tabs).
v Holistic
analysis always gives you the big picture.
v A properly
honed instinct will always provide a better answer than even the most careful
analysis.
v Rules are
always contextual and not only can but should be flexible and related to as
such.
MY WORLD VIEW ( Deeply
considered but by no means fixed)
v We always
speak of six-sigma as a statistically improbable outcome in any normal
distribution. I firmly believe, we don’t
live under the same bell curve that all our assumptions are based on. We live in a four or even five sigma world
from our current code assumption set.
Worthy of pondering.
v Macro
economic trends: The US Dollar is under severe, sustained pressure. If true impact
of “Real” inflation is accounted for, the canary has already fled the coal
mine.
v
v The sub
prime mess (and all its attendant tentacles of cause and effect in the world
financial systems) is scary with just the lit fuse sparking. When it really goes off, all bets are
off. Talk of lack of understanding of
higher order cause and effect.
v Energy
prices are reset in the public mind at dizzying rate (12 dollars a barrel of
Brent Sweet Crude is not such old memory), currently 130 dollars a barrel. Associated inflationary impact is hitting the
majority of the world’s population.
v On a
similar somber note, a discussion on our world’s geo political situation. Every
major war in history was a resource war as is every major conflict today. There
is a relentlessly hawkish bias in the global dialogue, with too many vested
interests in the war – pie. Oil,
minerals, territory / markets and now water. Also, in large theatre wars,
multi-generational trauma creates multi-generational conflicts. Grim but true.
v An
increasingly nuclear world adds the requisite potential for a runaway
reaction! Our world is ever increasingly
polarized with ever greater potential for conflict.
MY
PERSONAL JOURNEY:
A Short
Biography:
VivekAnand can be best described
as a unique, out of the box thinker, with a deeply intuitive understanding of
the world, technology and business and the ability to connect dots in new and
unique ways.
Key Posts and timelines:
12 years in the Indian Navy (Cadet
through Lieutenant), various tours of duty as Electrical Engineering Officer,
finishing service as Aide-de-Camp to Governor of Karnataka in
12 years in The United States of
America, MBA in Entrepreneurship and NPD at Rensselear Polytechnic, Director of
Technology Strategy for a Fortune 50 Defense and technology Conglomerate,
various posts in successful
3 years in
Champion Sportsman (various
Sports), Multi-instrumentalist musician, incisive writer, Etymology buff,
Digital Artist
The last six
years have been about a deep invert spiraling, “know thyself” has been my core
driver and has brought me some astonishing in–sights into our world. Also, was completely impecunious for many
years (post the dot com bust) and learned that lack is a great teacher. I was guided to various practices, most
considered “ Esoteric”.
The
trigger event that launched what I call the second design science revolution
was watching the movie “The Chronicles of Narnia”.
NEW
PARADIGM :
The body
is central to design. Everything, going deep into the rabbit-hole is User
Interface design, at every layer.
v In a
fractal world, that makes our task really, really easy. With the right block design, we could live /
play in a legoland.
v A well
designed structure needs a well designed infra-structure and so on down the
rabbit hole. As close as we can reach to
the heart as to why we do and what we do, the more minimally elegant,
effortless and graceful the outcome.
v As we would
all be well advised to use Occam’s Razor in life, we should apply it with
equal, ruthless skill to the art of design.
v Force /
Vector flow is always an excellent start point for design visualization. Feeling that flow, is even better since the
optimal design then simply suggests itself.
MAJOR
FOCUS AREAS :
1. Motive
product design
2. Retrofit
systems enhancing, core safety, performance and Reliability. Radical/Alternative
Motive systems design
v Bicycle
v 3-Wheel
vehicle
v Alternative
steering mechanism for ALL vehicle classes
v Alternative
suspension systems
v Redesigned
Parachute system
v Regenerative
braking system
v Aeronautical
systems
3. Core
products :
v Water
treatment systems
v Sewage
Management Systems
v Alternative,
low-cost, super – dwellings
v Man-Machine
Interfaces
4. Sporting
gear redesign
v Every
major sport
v Primary
and safety equipment
5. Musical
Instruments :
v Various
For Potential Partners:
Aadividya (AND C) is being birthed as a demand-side
oriented, experimental product design company, with radical takes on new
product innovation. Primary spend will be on people and rapid prototyping
(technology demonstrators) of experimental designs, to be brought to market
through licensing deals with innovative start-ups or major industry players.
We also hope to put many useful designs, like a radical
Prosthetic Design into the public sphere for the greater good.
Most of all, Aadividya is designed to grow organically
and since it’s seed has been nurtured in incubation for many years, it is a visionary
tour-de-force whose time has come!