The anti-solitude machine (Part 1)
| Objective: To plan the creation of a redoubtable anti-solitude machine's blueprint! |
Duration : 60 to 90 minutes
Material :
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A sheet of paper or cardboard
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Pencils, eraser
Instructions :
Imagine turning into a mad scientist! You're working to develop technologies that are at the cutting edge of today's knowledge, or even beyond the most innovative advances humanity has ever known! Your latest research has led you to the discovery of a device that can eliminate solitude. Your mission will be to draw up the blueprint for your groundbreaking invention: the anti-solitude machine!
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Prepare the sheet. To help you get lots of ideas and organize them, prepare your sheet by drawing a horizontal line to separate it into two equal rectangles. In the top rectangle, write "ideas" and in the bottom rectangle, write "draft."
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Think about your first ideas. Using the definition of solitude you gave for the Idea Stretching activity, think of a machine that would eliminate solitude. What would have to appear or disappear to eliminate solitude? What would this machine look like? What would its different functions be? Could it be an imagination remote control or a teleportation reactor? How would it work? Brainstorm in the "ideas" section of your sheet and let your imagination run wild!
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Sketch your ideas. Now that you've got a bunch of great ideas, it's time to see what they look like! In the “draft” area of your sheet, sketch the features and parts you've been thinking about. It's not your final creation yet, so these drawings don't need to be too neat. It's mainly to see if your ideas work for you and to change them if necessary. You'll find that you'll have lots of new ideas as you start to create!
That's all for now! Don't forget that this activity is only the first part of your creative project! You can start the second part—Creative Construction—right after this one or after you've done the Philosophical Picnic, but we recommend that you at least take a break. You’ve earned it!
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Bonus : To further improve your creation, you can imagine your mad scientist character and consider the consequences of its motivations on the invention. Are you a scientist who works for the good of humanity, wanting nothing more than to help people who are feeling lonely? Or are you a dangerous evil genius who wants to disrupt the world by preventing people from ever having alone time? |
| Tricks for tots : Walk around your house, pretending to be the mad scientist walking around their laboratory. Do you already have prototypes of anti-solitude machines in your lab: a phone, a book or a teddy bear? How could you improve one of these machines to make it even better? |
| Tips for teens : To enhance your machine, think about the opposite of solitude. What concept would be its alter-ego: companionship, chaos, friendship, community? Would you have to create a generator of this opposite concept in order to make an anti-solitude machine? Why or why not? Regardless of the concept you choose, be sure to explore different angles to make sure your machine is really effective! For example, if the opposite of solitude is presence... we could wonder: Can we feel alone even when we are in the presence of others? What should be added to presence to make sure that solitude really disappears? |
Share your creative reflections by sending them via email.
Include photos of your projects and notes of your thoughts, as well as your first name and your age!
