ABSTRACT
As we’re multi-level beings – body, life, soul, spirit – places should nourish every level. Our bodies need material practicality. Life needs health. Place-mood, although sensory, manifests social activity. What people do and the values they imprint in places affect place-spirit; although aesthetics, life-energy and soul-nourishment overlap this. As we won’t care for surroundings that don’t sustain us, this makes sustenance critical to sustainability. Material-quantity-based thinking doesn’t address this. As all problems result from how we approach issues, it’s vital to synthesize spirit values with material practicalities, sustainability with aesthetics. Science informs. Art sensitizes. Everyday life needs both. Our values underpin how we choose and use technologies. Values are essentially spiritual: centred on care. ‘Care’ raises a whole range of completely non-material issues. The widespread assumption that only technology can save the world misses this point. Technology, although essential, can’t care for anything. Only people can. This chapter investigates the implications.
