Smart But Not Wise

All those years ago, way back before I got into housetrucks, even before I left the cradle of Los Angeles, I was deeply into Geodesic Domes. I read everything about them I could get my hands on, built popcicle-stick-and-thumb-tack or soda-straw-and-tape models. Leading the popular movement in the stead of R. Buckminster Fuller was Lloyd Kahn and the Whole Earth Catalog crew.

Then something happened that threw my fascination off the tracks. Lloyd penned the now-prosthetic "Smart But Not Wise" in his book Shelter, presenting it early in the chapter "Domebook 3". In it, Lloyd disavowed domes, railed against them, in fact. I was heartbroken.

I got over being crushed by the demise of dome allure, partly (mostly, actually) because of some photos and descriptions of housebuses and housetrucks in Shelter "that flipped-my-trip". But that's another story, one told elsewhere.

"Smart But Not Wise" is still a good read, available on the Shelter Publications website. Some of the descriptions of computers and such seem a bit quaint, but otherwise, this missive, penned in 1973 is as relevant today as if it were written last week. Take a few minutes and read it, then consider how it relates to the "tiny house" and "green building" movements that are currently popular. After re-reading it just now, I remembered where I picked up the term "chemically rearranged oil" to describe windows with plastic glazings.