Buckminster Fuller's Universe
It’s no coincidence that I’ve referenced Buckminster Fuller a few times lately. Fuller is known for popularizing the geodesic dome — Epcot center and the crystal ball that dropped in Times Square last Wednesday are examples of such structures. Bucky’s also perhaps infamous for his utopian visions of floating cities or putting an energy-saving bubble around midtown Manhattan:
Image courtesy of The Buckminster Fuller Estate
Although Fuller’s legacy is still a topic of debate to this day, there’s no question that he saw the world differently from most people. In the book Buckminster Fuller’s Universe, Lloyd Steven Sieden gives you a sense of Fuller’s extraordinary psychology —of not just what he did, but why he did it—and all the events that shaped his life’s philosophy. Or as Bucky called it, his operating strategy.
On Ideas
Fuller believed that individuals, acting in cooperation, free from archaic bureaucracies was a more natural and efficient way to live. Most of his work was directed at helping solve problems that prevented people from being self-sufficient — challenges that limited one’s mobility or sustainability. In working on these problems, Fuller discovered the best way to express his comprehensive ideas was to turn them into tangible artifacts:
“Bucky had, however, concluded that merely talking about ideas does not support their advancement or the development of individuals and humanity. In fact, he found that the majority of people do nothing about their good ideas except engage in seemingly endless discussions. During such discussions, those with the good ideas perpetually attest to the value of their concepts and how their ideas would improve the human condition if only other people would abide by their wisdom.” (p. 258)
Awesome. That’s why Bucky built prototypes, both full-sized and to scale, and used them whenever he could to explain his ideas. He would carry trunks and trunks of models to his lectures, and amassed quite a collection over the years:
Just a small chunk of Bucky’s collection. (p. 301)
On Patience
Fuller also believed in a concept he dubbed emergence by emergency. He recognized that it was human nature to put things off until they’re of absolute urgency, like not calling the landlord about a leaky faucet until you come home one day and the entire apartment’s flooded. Bucky saw that this applied to broad, social issues too — that a problem would suddenly arise to the public eye, focusing the attention of a general population on solving that issue until it was solved and something else surfaced (climate crisis, anyone?).
So when nothing progressed with his projects, he just moved on to the next thing that required his attention, knowing that the previous idea would manifest itself when the time came.
“I just invent, then wait until man comes around to needing what I’ve invented.”
— Buckminster Fuller
Bucky’s experiences reinforced this belief. When he was driving through the Midwest in 1940, along the roads he noticed identical grain storage bins, all manufactured by the same company. Fuller, who had always carried an interest in efficient, mass-produced (and thereby much more affordable) housing, found a way to develop units using the same manufacturing processes that produced the grain silos:
Image courtesy of the Google-hosted LIFE photo archive
Bucky concocted a bunch of totally new construction and auxiliary processes, and his prototype impressed military leaders searching for inexpensive housing options for remote radar stations during the war. Thus, Bucky’s ‘Dymaxion Deployment Units’ began popping up in the Persian Gulf and the islands of the South Pacific. But when the U.S. officially entered the war in 1941 and steel was devoted to making guns, planes and ships, the project lost all its momentum.
It didn’t faze Bucky – he just moved on to the next thing. Then in 1944, as the war dragged on and affordable, industry-supporting housing in the Midwest became an issue almost overnight, Fuller was perfectly ready to deal with it. He was able to apply his previous learnings and not only design but also construct, within a single year, a set of ‘Dymaxion Houses’ for the Air Corps to examine:
Image courtesy of The Buckminster Fuller Estate
At 1100 square feet and 6,000 pounds (the weight of two Toyota Priuses), the aluminum houses incorporated much of what Fuller learned in building his DDUs. The parts for the Dymaxion House were mass-produced at a factory and designed so they could be easily shipped and assembled. In fact, no single component weighed more than 10 pounds and yet the structure was remarkably stable. Take that, IKEA!
The Dymaxion House would suffer its own setbacks, several of which were a result of Fuller’s adherence to only using the finest (and sometimes not-yet-invented) materials and technology, but Bucky took it all in stride, shifting his attention to his next project.
On Gratitude
Early in the book, Sieden describes Fuller’s severe myopia, which at the time that Bucky was four years old, had yet to be diagnosed by his doctors. When they finally discovered his condition and prescribed him thick, coke-bottle glasses, Bucky felt no remorse. In fact, quite the opposite:
“Bucky considered himself fortunate to be able to remove his glasses at times and consciously shift his attention inward, using his imagination and intuition, rather than his sight, for guidance.” (p. 6)
Even at a such young age, Bucky’s attitude was consistent with his eventual operating strategy.
Change your attitude. Change the world.
Buckminster Fuller saw each person as an experiment by the universe, and therefore each has important role in the greater story. Fuller believed that it was his responsibility to take on what the Universe called him to do and live as proof of what a single individual was capable of. With this sense of purpose, he was able to approach projects, successes and failures alike with gratitude and patience.
Image courtesy of kevinh_photos
As we work toward our resolutions for the new year, we can draw inspiration from Fuller’s remarkable mindset. Take a look at your list of resolutions. Instead of only asking “what do I need to accomplish?” maybe another question to ask is “what do I need to believe in order to be the kind of person who accomplishes these things?”
If you’re trying to to quit smoking, run a marathon, or work on your writing, it’s not going to last unless you get yourself to believe that cigarettes are absolutely disgusting, running is fun, and writing and rewriting (and rewriting again) is an enjoyable process. And if you can get yourself to believe that the universe wants you to write that screenplay, I guarantee it’ll last a lot longer than a couple of months.
“I look for what needs to be done. After all, that’s how the universe designs itself.” — Buckminster Fuller
Here’s to 2009 and beyond.
Update (Jan 15): Fuller’s ideas also inspired Stewart Brand to start the Whole Earth Catalog, which is returning after 40 years. The WEC online archive has a lot articles written by Fuller, such as this one: http://www.wholeearth.com/issue/2005/article/94/2025.if
