In an AGDA talk last year titled “How can Graphic Design help save the planet?”, I posited that design has the potential to be such a powerful influence on society because it deals with the creation of context and our environment. My argument was that context and our immediate environs influence our behaviour far more than anything else.
To support this idea, I referred to the famous Milgram Experiment (conducted at Yale University in the early 60‘s) which aimed to measure the willingness of people to obey an authority figure who instructed them to perform acts that conflicted with their personal conscience. 63% of participants (playing the role of a “teacher”) administered extreme electric shocks to another human being (“learner”) when instructed to do so by the “scientist” in charge. It was recently replicated for a UK reality TV show, with very similar results.
The experiment offers a powerful and disturbing insight into the power of authority on obedience. Further to this, it reinforces the fact that contextual situations which we can to a great extent design, play a huge role in the way we perceive a situation, and subsequently the way we respond to it. Richard Farson provides a great reminder in his book The Power of Design, stating that “No matter how addicted nobody smokes in church”.
I hadn’t found any footage of the experiment until now so was excited to come across this short documentary online.
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For most people being sustainable doesn’t seem like a positive experience., but rather a choice between going without or feeling guilty. It’s about giving up things you like: you can’t do this, you can’t do that. It’s been portrayed to us as something we have to do, but probably won’t like much.
The great thing about design and art is that they allow people to imagine things in new ways. I think reframing the narrative on sustainability is one of the most important things designers and artists can do for society. To create objects/experiences that show that living sustainably can make you feel more connected with people and nature, feel healthier and feel happier.