Pair Comparison / Which-is-more-like-my-eternal-self Test

The iterative method Alexander uses to make design decisions: compare two versions and ask which is more a picture of one's own eternal self, repeating until convergence.

Neighborhood — ranked by edge-count

Concepts (2)

concept

The I (eternal self)
about
Central metaphysical concept of the chapter: the universal ground of selfhood that living centers reflect and connect to; what makers must yearn toward to produce living structure.
Picture of the Self (as measurement criterion)
implements
The experimental criterion by which degree of life in a center is measured: which of two things more resembles the observer's own eternal self.

Artifacts (1)

artifact

California Cement-Sack Wall
about
An ordinary garden wall made from hardened cement sacks and gunite, used to demonstrate how even utilitarian objects can be made I-like through pair comparison.

probe (1)

probe

Wall cross-section pair comparison probe
implements
Alexander uses this probe to demonstrate the pair-comparison method as a practical design tool for making dimensional decisions about ordinary structures.

Chapters (1)

chapter

Chapter 5: The Practical Matter Of Forging A Living Center
introduces
Working chapter of Volume 4 of The Nature of Order; describes practical methods for creating living centers in buildings, carpets, walls, and color through connection to the I.

Related by similarity (8)

cosine ≥ 0.65 · no typed edge

Entities in the same semantic neighborhood but without a typed relation to this one — candidates for new edges or unrecognized duplicates.

Paired Comparison Methodmethod0.764
Experimental protocol asking observers to compare two systems A and B for degree of life; used to establish objectivity through inter-observer convergence
Paired Comparison for Degree of Lifemethod0.760
Experimental method where subjects choose which of two items has more life, yielding agreement and a relative measure of life.
The feeling that there is more life in one case than another is correlated with a structural difference in the things themselves, which can be made precise and measured.claim0.749
Forward‑looking claim that the life quality has an objective basis, to be demonstrated later.
With/without comparison test for helping relationmethod0.746
A practical test to determine if center B helps center A by comparing the life of A with and without B.
Contrast Pairsconcept0.744
Pairs of statements with opposite truth values used as input to CCS; e.g., cities and neg_cities paired statements
Mirror experiment cross-cultural agreement: people consistently choose the same objects as resembling their eternal self.finding0.739
In the mirror-of-the-self experiments, people from the same culture and even different cultures agree to a significant extent on which objects embody their eternal self.
Is there really any comparison?question0.734
Rhetorical question highlighting the superiority of the Shiratori plan over conventional high-rise.
Piza de Toledo's paired comparison experiments found surprising and profound inter-observer agreement about which of two things has more lifefinding0.733
Empirical support for the objectivity claim; unpublished master's thesis UC Berkeley 1974