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book:the-nature-of-order-volume-1-the-phenomenon-of-lifeThe Nature of Order, Volume 1: The Phenomenon of Life
The first volume of a four-volume treatise on the philosophy of architecture, life, and wholeness, of which this chapter is a part.
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Claims (21)
- As observers mature, their liking converges because they discover the deeper self that is shared.Developmental claim about aesthetic maturity.
- Knowledge of the fifteen properties refines one's ability to judge life accurately and predict staying power.How the theoretical framework aids the feeling-based judgment.
- Life, as it occurs in buildings or in works of art, can be measured, but only by a method that relies on the degree of development or enlightenment of the observer.The fundamental methodological conclusion of the chapter.
- Our everyday liking (subjective preference) often diverges from deep liking, but deep liking converges to agreement and corresponds to living structure.Distinction between superficial and deep preference.
- Performing the mirror-of-the-self test gradually brings the observer closer to contact with the original mind.The reciprocal effect: doing the test deepens self-knowledge and judgment.
- Somehow, the experience of real liking has to do with self. As we find out which things awaken real liking in ourselves, we find ourselves more in touch than before with our own selves.Linking real liking to self-discovery.
- The environment built since the 1950s is ugly and lifeless because Cartesian measurement excludes the measurement of life.A causal explanation for the failure of modern architecture.
- The mirror-of-the-self test helps observers escape subjective preference and learn to see the objective life in things.Describes the transformative potential of the test.
- The mirror-of-the-self test is not mechanical; its accuracy depends on the observer's level of personal development.Important caveat about the reliability of the method.
- The mirror-of-the-self test produces judgments of relative life that are consistent across people and correspond to objective living structure.Central methodological claim of the chapter, supported by multiple experiments.
- The more accurate we are about what we really like, in the sense of liking from the heart, the more we find out that we agree with other people about what these things are.Assertion of convergence among deep personal preferences.
- The reasons for the existence of this deep liking are mysterious, not obvious. To plumb them we shall have to examine the nature of things - even, ultimately, the nature of matter itself - very carefully. Nevertheless the reasons are empirical. We may determine, empirically, to what extent a thing has the ability to rouse this deep liking in us.Assertion of the empirical but mysterious basis of deep liking.
- The self is the ultimate measure of living structure; our own feeling is the only reliable instrument.The epistemological grounding of the mirror-of-the-self test.
- The things we like from the heart make us feel wholesome when we are near them.First numbered assertion about deep liking.
- The things which people truly and deeply like are precisely those things which have the mirror-of-the-self property to a very high degree.A strong identification of real liking with the mirror-of-the-self criterion.
- There is an empirical way in which we can help ourselves to find out what we really like from the heart. Nevertheless, it is not easy to find what we really like, and it is by no means automatic to be in touch with it. It takes effort, hard work, and personal enlightenment to understand it and to feel it.Fifth point introducing the empirical test and the personal growth required.
- We also feel wholesome when we are making these things. As we make them, and after making them, we feel whole in ourselves, healed, and right with the world.Second assertion linking creative activity with personal healing.
- What has self cannot be captured by any simple formula like formal/informal or ornamented/unornamented.A warning against oversimplifying the nature of life-quality.
- What is truly liked may be different from what is apparently liked; this is a matter of judgment and knowledge, not opinion.The epistemological distinction crucial to the argument.
- What we like from the heart coincides with the objective structure of wholeness or life in a thing.Core claim linking subjective deep liking to objective structure.
- When we find out the things we really like, we are also more in touch with all that is.Final point suggesting that deep liking connects us with universal reality.
Findings (9)
- 65% of respondents said the dime has more life than the quarter.Reinforces that smaller, brighter objects can be perceived as more alive even compared to larger coins of greater value.
- 85% of respondents chose a small mocha cup over a larger coffee mug as a better picture of their self.Shows that the test often favors modest, delicate objects over more practical, everyday ones.
- 88% of respondents judged an ax as having more life than a Phillips screwdriver.Illustrates consensus that a hand-forged tool carries more life than a mass-produced tool.
- A majority of respondents said the dime has more life than the nickel.Demonstrates the role of concentrated brightness and smallness in perceived life, independent of monetary value.
- At the 1985 Omega conference, 99 out of ~100 people selected the blue wooden bench over the gray steel stool as a better picture of their self.A large-group demonstration showing near-unanimous agreement that is hard to explain by individual preference.
- In a 1988 survey of architecture students, 70% liked the Botta house more, but 65% identified the traditional Swedish cottage as having more life.Evidence that the mirror-of-the-self test can dissociate from intellectual fashion and tap a deeper, convergent judgment.
- In a single-subject experiment, Bill Huggins identified the Ersari prayer rug (which he initially disliked) as a better picture of his self over the Daghestan rug he liked more.Shows that the test can separate real likeness from superficial appeal, aligning with expert judgment.
- In Alexander's experiments, >80% of participants chose the salt shaker over the ketchup bottle as a better picture of their self.Empirical evidence for the agreement property of the mirror-of-the-self test.
- The Omega participant who initially chose the stool later changed his perception to recognize the bench as more whole after a few days of letting go of attachment.Qualitative evidence that the mirror-of-the-self experience can facilitate personal growth and refinement of perception.
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Chapters (1)
chapter
- Chapter 8: The Mirror Of The Selfchapter_ofThis chapter introduces the mirror-of-the-self test as an empirical method to measure living structure and explores its connection to human self and real liking.