Really interesting post . . . BUT I kept asking myself, what about those XL-scale moments that produce not a sense of discomfort but rather a sense of awe, for precisely the same reason you state (that place/building/whatever doesn't give a damn about you)-- say, the plaza in front of Amiens Cathedral or the Forbidden City or, or. What makes the difference between Too Big (Bad) and Too Big (Awesome), assuming there is one. Davide's point about sense of scale not changing is indeed brilliant. Hope your bruised parts are healing well. S
Yes, Sarah, it's an enigma we've bashed our heads against in lab Ellard for a long time as we've seen both positive effects of immensity and negative ones. I can think of other weird examples as well. I have had some immensely happy experiences in Tiananmen Square for example, even though it's mostly a huge empty plane. I've seen others have what seemed like similar experiences. But others, of course have had some pretty dreadful times there to say the least. Part of it at least must be about function. La Défense wasn't meant as a place to share a drink with a friend or a quiet moment of repose. Santa Margherita wasn't designed as a statement of power. As always, generalities based on perception and neuroscience eventually fail at some level of granularity I've found.
Really interesting post . . . BUT I kept asking myself, what about those XL-scale moments that produce not a sense of discomfort but rather a sense of awe, for precisely the same reason you state (that place/building/whatever doesn't give a damn about you)-- say, the plaza in front of Amiens Cathedral or the Forbidden City or, or. What makes the difference between Too Big (Bad) and Too Big (Awesome), assuming there is one. Davide's point about sense of scale not changing is indeed brilliant. Hope your bruised parts are healing well. S
Yes, Sarah, it's an enigma we've bashed our heads against in lab Ellard for a long time as we've seen both positive effects of immensity and negative ones. I can think of other weird examples as well. I have had some immensely happy experiences in Tiananmen Square for example, even though it's mostly a huge empty plane. I've seen others have what seemed like similar experiences. But others, of course have had some pretty dreadful times there to say the least. Part of it at least must be about function. La Défense wasn't meant as a place to share a drink with a friend or a quiet moment of repose. Santa Margherita wasn't designed as a statement of power. As always, generalities based on perception and neuroscience eventually fail at some level of granularity I've found.