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Yet another post hating on Fuller without understanding his work or ideas. I would like to quote what I posted two weeks ago about this: > I think there is a l
by _yb2s 4y ago
Yet another post hating on Fuller without understanding his work or ideas. I would like to quote what I posted two weeks ago about this:
> I think there is a lot of desire to 'cancel' historical tech visionaries like Fuller nowadays, because we are all burned out, depressed, and disengaged- feeling that our efforts have no real effect, and are pointless. It's easier to say people like Fuller didn't really do much, than to admit that we are capable of so much more.
> Instead of thinking of him as a con-artist and self promoter, realize that his actions also fit someone that - well into his late 80s, still felt the joy, open mindedness, and limitless possibilities that young kids feel, and is usually burned out of us. He was so excited about what was possible!
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32513327 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32513327
- hooverd 4y agolimitless possibilities?
- _yb2s 4y agoyes, fixed
- kibwen 4y agoThese articles aren't "cancelling" Fuller, they're just dispelling some of his mythology. Indeed, there may be a modern trend towards disillusionment with self-proclaimed visionaries, but that's not necessarily any worse (or better) than what came before. We can evaluate Fuller's legacy with clear eyes and manage to conclude that, while his energy and enthusiasm was laudable, that idealism alone will not save the world. (And I say this as someone whose favorite map projection is, by far, the Dymaxion map.)
- paulpauper 4y agoAgree. No one is trying to cancel him. It's just his legacy is greatly overinflated and his inventions had minimal or no impact on everyday life. It goes to show the power of marketing and perseverance if anything.
- hooverd 4y agoAnd yet, the spirit of the Dymaxion Chronofile persists here.
- Isamu 4y agoCan we appreciate someone’s contributions without idolizing them? I would agree, yes, he had some objectively interesting ideas and proposals. The idolizing masses surrounding him makes it impossible to critique things like his Synergetics textbook, which was … not good to be generous.
- cxr 4y agoThe thing that this article mentioned and that your comment doesn't pick up on is that there is a new biography out on Fuller. This article is a quasi review, and the contents of the new book doesn't consist solely of uncritical praise. It's a proper biography and contains details that weren't widely discussed before. Unsurprising: not everything about a person's life will be good. Opining about why people are talking about the less rosy aspects of Fuller's life right now is like if you transported yourself back to the release of Isaacson's biography on Jobs and concerned yourself with why people were discussing the negative details regarding the incidents that Isaacson wrote about. The author worked with bfi.org to write the book. Calling this "hating on Fuller without understanding his work or ideas" or an attempt to cancel him is silly. (Not least of all because, you know, he's dead.)
- _yb2s 4y agoThanks for the context. I have been confused to see so many seemingly out of the blue critical posts about Fuller recently, and wasn't aware of this biography. I'm sure he's far from a perfect person... but his ideas have really had a positive impact on my life, and it would be a real shame if he was relabeled as a con artist that created nothing of value, thus discouraging others from benefiting form his books and ideas.
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