7 of 17

Write now Article Tools

DOING MORE, TAKING LESS

-Buckminster Fuller and the arc of life-

Born in 1895, Richard Buckminster Fuller was unable to see anything in focus beyond a hazy blur until he was five years old and finally fitted with correctional lenses. By the time Mr. Fuller was 32 years old he had a wife and child and no viable means to support them. Due to failed businesses, shaky finances and social ineptitude he had decided that he was a failure in life and was determined to kill himself.

However, before drowning himself in Lake Michigan, he gave himself one last chance. He made the decision that every move he made from that moment forward would be towards the betterment of all humanity instead of just receiving a paycheck.
Then, the universe began to work in favor of his stated goals. He went on to invent the Dymaxion Car, the Dymaxion world map (which created a whole new way of looking at the world and remains the only navigationally-correct whole-world map of the Earth), the Geodesic Dome (which landed him on the cover of Life magazine in 1952), the Synergistic way of thinking (everything is connected, we can do more with less), coined the term "Spaceship Earth" (which became very popular in the '60's and remains so to this day) and published many books, including the sum-total of his life's work-Critical Path.

In short, R. Buckminster Fuller went from a suicide case to an inspiration and hope for all humanity, all within a few years time.

Some claim that his writings are either inaccessible or the work of a quack. In fact, Fuller's thinking was so ahead of his time that society has yet to catch up to him, even though he died in the 1980's. Fuller called his brand of thinking "comprehensive, anticipatory, design science" and his ideas about the future are coming more into play as the world looks for more resourceful ways to sustain itself.

Long considered the granddaddy of sustainability, Fuller preached long and hard against the myth of scarcity. Foreseeing humanity's technological and intellectual advances, he saw that our species could reach a point of viability without one person having to take from the other.
Of course, making a living means taking from someone else. Fuller's point was that no one ever had to go without to keep someone else with, and that we had reached a point in our evolution as a species on this planet to make it so. So far he has yet to be proven wrong in this arena, as he also correctly predicted the only thing getting in the way of this vision is

• 1
• 2
• next page >>

Add your voice

Know something about Inspirational biographies that will change your life?
We want to hear your view. Write now!