In a celebration of Mahatma Gandhi's birthday, a speaker told students Thursday about the idea of achieving 100 percent humanity.
William Perk is a professor at Southern Illinois University and former colleague of R. Buckminster Fuller, a philosopher and architect whose ideas were similar to Gandhi's.
Perk walked to the middle of the stage, closed his eyes and folded his hands in a praying position.
"Bucky (Fuller) used to begin all his presentations by standing like this for a few minutes," Perk said. "Then he would say, 'I don't use notes. I'm just going to think outloud with you.' Then he'd talk for somewhere between three and seven hours."
Perk said he has maintained a steadfast commitment to sharing the extraordinary genius of Fuller.
After attending one of Fuller's several-hour discussions in the 1960s, Perk decided he had to get to know this man and his work, he said.
"Gandhi spoke truth to power when facing the British Empire in nonviolent protest," Perk said. "Bucky did the same when speaking to his audiences. He was known as the planet's friendly genius."
According to Perk, Fuller's idea of achieving 100 percent humanity involved doing more with less.
"The best example is our electronic or computer industry," Perk said. "They keep shrinking the size of electronics but increasing the capabilities."
Perk said Fuller believed that the past cannot be changed. Therefore, Fuller told people that they should know that every failure teaches. What matters, Perk related, is that people organize their energy for the survival advantage.
About 50 people attended the second-annual celebration of Gandhi's birthday in Pruis Hall.
The event, sponsored by the Office of the Provost, the Center for Peace and Conflict Studies and the Department of Architecture, also featured a musical concert by Anupama Sharma on her sitar.
She played a song Gandhi used to sing at each prayer meeting he participated in. The song is about the attributes of a man of God or of a true saint.
Music performance professor George Wolfe accompanied Sharma.
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